Let’s face it. Vegetables aren’t usually a part of the trailer experience. So I was pleasantly surprised to find grilled veggies on the menu at Trey’s Cuisine, the newest trailer next to Odd Duck and Gourdough’s, on South Lamar.

Despite the truck’s unfortunate and puzzling Celtic logo, Trey’s Cuisine serves up some fine meat and vegetable kebabs (it used to be called Pick Up Stix but changed its name after a messy legal entanglement). My favorite was the flavorful blackened pork, served with a skewer of red bell pepper, mushrooms, pineapple, and sliced onions. Each kebab comes with a thick slice of buttered wheat bread and your choice of sauce from four categories of worldly dips, from Asian and Mediterranean to Spanish and “Cowden Weird” (thirteen sauces total). I ordered my skewer with the intriguing (and recommended) honey mustard ancho, but instead I was presented with an overly sweet sauce that I think was actually the sesame glaze.

I wish that the lamb had lived up to the pork’s high standards. But the meat was tough, and the mint-and-sweet-soy marinade was sticky and saccharine, without a trace of mint. I had been reassured that it would mesh well with the chimichurri, but even a good garlicky chimichurri couldn’t save the lamb. The vegetables, on the other hand, disappeared quickly.

Now, now, don’t get too worried: There is plenty of creative junk food on the menu too. Take the Steak Mac croquette slider. Just in case mac and cheese with New York strip wasn’t enough for you, the trailer fries it up into a delicious crispy patty and serves it on two thick slices of toasted white bread. Drunk food paradise, my friends.

The Greek Chick croquette slider, on the other hand, not so much. I was expecting an oregano-and-thyme-marinated chicken croquette sandwich, dripping with feta and tzatziki sauce. Instead, it was a bland fried round of rice and cream cheese, with a few chunks of overcooked chicken thrown in. The white bread might have been the best part.

The trailer claims to be mostly Mediterranean, and I can see the influence in some places. But though there wasn’t much opa! in his pierogis, they were delicious: a blend of creamy mashed potato and cheese with prosciutto, hand-rolled in homemade pasta and deep-fried. The sour cream dipping sauce was hard to resist.

So perhaps I should retract my earlier statement about vegetables. Sure, they made a rare appearance at Trey’s Cuisine. But it’s near impossible to beat a deep-fried mac-and-cheese sandwich.

1219 South Lamar Blvd (512-234-2103). Open Tue–Sat 11–3 & 5–10. Closed Sun & Mon.

Posted by Megan Giller. To read more from Megan Giller, visit her website at www.megangiller.com.

Tagged: Mediterranean, sliders, Trailer Thursday, Trey's Cuisine

Photo by Sean Dunn

In Texas you can’t lift a fork without brisket raining down on you, à la Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs. In the trailer scene, slap a bun around that baby and you’ve got the ubiquitously uniform brisket sandwich, ready to be eaten on your way to the bar, stumbling home, or the next day, in recovery. But once in a great while, a sandwich comes along that deserves a moment of pause, or at least sobriety. Behold, the Barbacoa-Style Brisket slider at Along Came a Slider.

Sure, the all-natural brisket was tender, the fluffy bun buttered and grilled. But the starring role belonged to the lime-infused crema sauce gently ladled on top of the meat. Believe me, it didn’t stay there for long. Slightly tangy and somehow simultaneously smooth, the crema brought together the flavors of the beef, the generous fresh cilantro, and the pickled onions into one giant, delicious mess.

Less messy but just as heavenly was the Natural. It’s hard to beat fresh, organic ingredients prepared with care. The Natural is just what you’d think: a classic burger with iceburg, tomato, red onion, thick-cut pickles, and mayo on a delectable bun. The house-made ketchup was too watery to be a dip for the slider or the slightly dry sweet potato fries, but fortunately, the burger stood on its own.

I wish I could say the same for the Chicken-Fried Guac. I liked the bite of the STR (smoked, toasted, and roasted) red pepper sauce and the thin, crunchy tortilla strips. But whoever thought of taking thick guacamole, swirling it with corn kernels, and deep-frying it in a golden crust had probably been smoking something toasty themselves. The concoction needed a solid element, not a condiment, to sink your teeth into.

Of course, it’s hard to live up to the meaty goodness of the WD (Wired and Drunk) Pig. The slider’s coffee-rubbed pork shoulder had a deeply rich, sweet taste, and the minimally creamy jalapeño slaw added a needed crunch. The pork was loaded with salt and the sodium-heavy red wine barbecue sauce didn’t help, but that didn’t get in our way. The excursion ended with my lunch buddy and me grabbing the sandwich out of each other’s hands in order to gobble the last bites.

My belly full of sliders and my head feeling a little cloudy, I stumbled, WD-like, on my way out of the trailer park on East Sixth. To that I say, Texas, bring on the rainy season.

Posted by Megan Giller

Tagged: Along Came a Slider, burgers, sliders, Trailer Thursday