I followed Stuffed Food Truck on Facebook since they opened for business last year, and they’ve been doing well through the pandemic. Last week, I suggested to my mother that we should pick up lunch from Stuffed Food Truck and she agreed. So, I called them on Friday, April 23 since Fridays are when the truck is at the Scotty’s Highway 88 Plaza in Jackson.
My call went to voicemail, so it was clear that we would have to order on site. After a trip to the bank, we popped over to Scotty’s Highway 88 Plaza and parked in the parking lot to the east of the Plaza building. The truck was at the north end of the parking lot, so we walked up to the Order window to order and pay for our lunches.
My mother ordered a Crusted Cod Sandwich and a side of rosemary potato salad. I ordered lumpia, which are Filipino spring rolls. I was happy to discover that I snagged the last lumpia of the day. We waited in the shopping plaza for a few minutes to soak in some vitamin D, and once our order was called, we walked up to the Pickup window to find our food and silverware stacked on the counter.
I was surprised that the food wasn’t in a bag, but when I asked for a bag one of the staff members (maybe one of the owners) put all the food into a plastic bag for us. When we got home a few minutes later, we discovered that my mother’s sandwich was in a Styrofoam box and my lumpia was in a foil wrapper.
My Meal
There was a good reason why my lumpia was wrapped in foil: There were only two rolls. Yet both were large with crispy shells. A side of pickled ginger dipping sauce was also in a lidded Styrofoam cup, but it seemed that the large cup was all they had left because the cup was only one-quarter full.
Once I took my first bite of the first lumpia piece, I got a large mouthful of pork in between the crunchy shell. The pork itself was tasty, and as I ate I found bits of carrots throughout the pork. The pickled ginger sauce was also a good complement to the pork without being overwhelming, unlike the smell of the sauce by itself when I poked my nose into the Styrofoam cup.
My mother said she had too much potato salad, so I took one of the two lumps of potato salad in her Styrofoam container and put it on my plate. The salad had plenty of potatoes with the skins on, bits of red onions and celery, as well as bits and sprigs of rosemary that were all tossed in mayonnaise.
At first, I only tasted the ingredients and the mayonnaise. The potatoes were firm and the vegetables were fresh. Then, right after I finished the first bite, the strong taste of rosemary kicked in and I knew I was eating rosemary potato salad.
Mom’s Meal
The Crusted Cod Sandwich was unlike anything my mother and I have ever seen. We were used to seeing a fish filet shaped in a flat square or circular patty on a bun. The filet in this sandwich was shaped as a long, thin tube that resembled a foot-long hot dog. The length of the filet easily exceeded the size of the lobster roll on which (most) of the filet sat.
It was impossible to tell how the fish was cooked because plenty of tartar sauce, cabbage, scallions, carrot slices, and a few bits of cilantro sat on top of the fish. My mother had a little difficulty trying to get the first bite of fish into her mouth because the “fish dog” was so long, but afterward, she had no problems eating through it.
As she reached the halfway point of her sandwich, she stopped to say that her sandwich, though unusual, was very good. The roll was crunchy on the outside and soft inside, the vegetables were crispy, and the fish was nice and warm. She didn’t even complain about the cilantro as part of the toppings, which is a good sign that all the ingredients blended well.
My mother also noted that though she could taste the celery and onions in the potato salad, she couldn’t detect any rosemary. That may have been because the taste of the tartar sauce on the sandwich obscured any taste of the herb.
The Verdict
Though there were only two lumpia rolls, they were both filled with more meat than I would find in four egg rolls. The outer shells were crispy but not hard. And having only two rolls along with the potato salad gave me a good amount of energy to do my chores that afternoon.
After my mother finished her fish sandwich, she said that the sandwich brought back good memories of the fish tacos she enjoyed during her vacations in Hawaii.
Those verdicts add up to a green light for Stuffed Food Truck. The price for our lunches was $19.
Want to Try Them?
Stuffed Food Truck is usually open on Thursdays and Fridays. On Thursdays, you’ll find them in the parking lot of Red Baron’s Bit of Everything Vintage Store at 20051 Highway 88 in Pine Grove from 11:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. On Fridays, you’ll find them in the parking lot Scotty’s Highway 88 Plaza at the corner of Highway 88 and Court Street in Jackson from 11:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m.
The latest menus and availability of Stuffed Food Truck are available on their Facebook page. This page will also let you know if they’re not available on a scheduled date because of outside issues (such as equipment or supply problems), and/or if they’ll be available on an additional date. For example, Stuffed Food Truck was at Red Baron’s in Pine Grove on Saturday, April 24.
You need to order at the truck. Stuffed Food Truck staff apparently don’t answer the phone while they’re open, but you can call them after hours at 209-304-9115.
Amador Business Ticker food reviews are adventures in local dining with Editor Eric Butow and his mom.
