By this point, most people are familiar with the DC Food Truck scene. Names like Red Hook Lobster Pound, Takorean, Fojol Bros., and CapMac bring to mind a great food truck renaissance in DC. What you may not know is that over the last few months, several great food trucks have started up in Montgomery County.
In the last few weeks, I’ve had the pleasure of trying out food from GoFish! and Carmen’s Italian Ice. We have also heard great things about Suburban Bros, Tops American Food Company, and the upcoming Corned Beef King . All of these trucks primarily serve Montgomery County, and I have consistently looked out for them whenever they come to Bethesda. I should also mention that Red Hook Lobster Pound has made several appearances since acquiring their MoCo permit, and when they do roll into town, it becomes the highlight of my day. Can’t beat that lobster roll, but I digress.
GoFish! operates as a food truck during daytime hours while offering home delivery to residents in the DC area, Tuesday through Saturday. The menu includes items such as jumbo lump crab cake sandwiches, colossal crab rolls, crawfish rolls, blackened shrimp Caesar salad/wraps, as well as market items to take home by the pound like crab cake mix and crawfish salad.
They made their first trip to Bethesda recently so I had to try their crab cake. It was essentially all crabmeat and no filler, huge, and a great deal at $10. I was curious to try the colossal crab roll which consisted of lump crabmeat, scallions, old bay, and mayo, but a co-worker said it didn’t have enough seasoning to it. I’ll definitely check them out again and maybe try something else next time like one of their specials. I’m always a fan of fresh fish and their delivery model seems intriguing as well.
Another new truck to hit the streets of Bethesda is Carmen’s Italian Ice. They have had a stand-alone store, Carmen’s Italian Ice & Café, in Rockville since 2001. In additional to gourmet Italian Ice, they also serve frozen custard and gelato. Carmen’s has carts and food trucks that roam throughout Montgomery County, and the truck can now often been seen in downtown Bethesda.
Brilliantly, they were parked right next to Red Hook and while people were waiting for their lobster rolls, they gave out samples of their Italian Ice. I tried the mango, and it was so refreshing that I knew I had to get more for a post-roll dessert. I decided to try their strawberry-lemon mini ice, which basically tasted like strawberry lemonade. For $1.50, the mini was a perfect size and inexpensive afternoon treat.
We hope that this is just the start of more trucks in Montgomery County, and we will continue to look out for more trucks to try and write about. Given that I work and live in Bethesda, I’m always looking for new food options to add some variety to our dining routine.
