January has brought much-needed rain to the Bay Area. In addition to replenishing the water levels, this inclement weather seems to be reducing the length of the lines at the food trucks that gather outside of our office. Thus, I was able to eat at The Chairman on a recent visit, as I did not have to queue at one of Off The Grid’s most popular providers.
The Chairman offers four of five different dishes; each one served either in a soft steamed roll for $4 or in a larger sweet baked roll for $7.50. I wanted variety, so I choose two of the taco sized steamed rolls; tender pork belly with turmeric pickled daikon and cocoa-cola braised pork with savoy cabbage & kewpie mayo.
Both of the dishes offered a wonderful contrast of spice, sweetness, crispness, and softness in each mouthful. I preferred the tender pork belly, but mainly because the pickled daikon was more flavorful than the cabbage that accompanied the cocoa-cola braised pork.
In the past, I have ordered a single dish in the baked roll. Whilst I prefer the texture and flavour of this type of roll , on balance the variety offered by ordering two different dishes outweighs my bread preference.
The popularity of this truck is reflected in its success in winning Best Food Truck from SF Magazine and that it has now opened a brick and mortar restaurant in San Francisco at 670 Larkin Street.
