Summer = Meat on a Stick

For years The Critic and I have agreed... one of the best things about the summer is the season of "Meat on a Stick".

Restaurant name: Pho Cyclo Cafe (with a mention of Espi's as well...)
Food type:  Vietnamese
Category: First time!
Location:  Tacoma, Washington
Reason for dining out:  Taste of Tacoma
Bonus features:  The most surprising gorgeous weather with the most amazing family ever... honestly a perfect family day
Food ordered:  Chicken on a Stick, chicken skewer, pork skewer, meatball skewer.  Elsewhere we enjoyed green bean fries, fried macaroni and cheese tastes, and bottomless flavored lemonade
Items of inspiration: There is no recreating this food.  Just eat and enjoy.  And lick your fingers well.
Chance of repeat visit:  Absolutely!  We go to the Taste of Tacoma nearly every year.

Today we were able to get ourselves to Taste of Tacoma, this wonderful event is in its 20 somethingth year and we have gone for at least the past 7 or 8, give or take a year we miss it.  Today was practically perfect in everyway.  Even the weather cooperated and we received clear blue skies and 70 degree temperatures.  The only way it could have improved is if The Guys and I had been in shorts and t-shirts.  But we all had our favorite moments.  The Big Guy got to ride The Scrambler for the first time.  The Little Guy enjoyed a spinning bear ride on his own (he said it was like driving a car).  The Critic found some art by an artist which really caught his eye and will likely grace our living room walls in the future.  But of course, the Taste of Tacoma is mostly about, well, tasting the good food of Tacoma!  And for sure, today did NOT disappoint.

A new restaurant to us!  Pho Cyclo Cafe

The first thing we noticed was a new sign for a Vietnamese restaurant which offered a variety of foods we love.  What immediately caught our eye was their $2 chicken, pork, or meatball skewer.  We went back and forth on which to get before finally deciding to just try one of each.  While looking at that we noticed an additional sign of "Chicken on a Stick" which was described as "Deep Fried with a Tangy Sauce".  So for good measure, we had one of those too.  Four meat skewers to share with all four of us is hardly overkill, and really this buys you a lot for $10 at The Taste of Tacoma.

Chicken on a Stick (with Tangy Sesame Sauce) + 3 meat skewers:  meatball, pork, and chicken

What we enjoyed was nothing short of delicious.  Truly.  We ended up going back later and getting a few (5) more sticks.  We were not shy about letting them know it was our favorite food of the event.  The chicken on the stick had the PERFECT balance of sweet crunch with that tangy sauce.  I wanted to lick that paper boat down once it was gone.  The meat skewers had a fabulous flavor of lemongrass which was an awesome surprise.  Not one of us could refuse those.  And it was a new place to us, which makes it all even better.  At least for us, this was advertising at it's best.  We will be searching out this restaurant to see if we can enjoy those tasty meats again.  Somehow I wonder if they will taste as good if they don't come in a red and white cardboard boat.

We do know that not all the places which frequent these festivals have a sit-down restaurant.  Luckily that just makes the event that much sweeter.  In our case, it doesn't get any sweeter than Espi's rice balls.  Only available at food events like Taste of Tacoma.  And we always end up with a skewer or two (or more) per person.  Nothing says summer like food on a stick around here!

Espi's Sweet Rice Balls ($1/skewer of 3)