beers and food truck

My boyfriend and I started dating almost two years ago and our first date was at Noda Brewery on Davidson street across the street from Amelie's. Back then, I was not a huge fan of craft beer but I went along with it as I was new to the city and obviously try to get on my boyfriend's good side. Well almost two years has gone by and we haven't been back to Noda Brewery! Why didn't we go back sooner? I'm not sure and I have no good excuse.

Anyways, awhile back while scrolling through Instagram, we saw a posting from Noda saying they were releasing two beers call Minty Thin and Samoan Blonde in honor of the girl's scout cookies. We just couldn't pass this up! Also we really wanted to check out their new location on Tryon street. Since we had a free Saturday with no real plans before Superbowl Sunday, we decided to check it out.

Let's just say that the beers did not disappoint at all. The Minty Thin was so spot on I could've sworn was eating a box of Thin Mints. Although it was a dark beer, it was not heavy at all and was just the right balance of chocolate and peppermint. A few other I tried was the Two to Tango, Rambles on Red and the Premium Roast. If you love coffee, you go to go for the Premium Roast. If you like an IPA but not a too heavy one, the Two to Tango would be your best bet!

Obviously while drinking, you most likely will work up an appetite right? Well, we were in luck and they had a food truck there which most breweries around the Charlotte area always have one on site. This food truck was called "The Tin Kitchen". Why does this sound familiar you may ask? That's because it was also on the food network show, "Diners, Drive-ins, and Dives" (who else watches this show religiously like I do?!). I just couldn't not try something from here. So we decided to order some Cripsy Pork Belly Tacos, a Crab Cake Slider and their Brisket Nachos. Let's just say, I wanted more of everything. It was all so unexpected flavor mixed together along with just the right textures for each bite.

Let's break this down shall we? First up- Pork Belly Tacos.  The taco had some salsa verde, some quick Kimchi and Hoisin sauce (which is an Asian sauce if you are not familiar with the product). Just by reading that some may say, that's just too much on a small taco. However it was probably the most crispy pork belly I've ever had but in the inside just melted in your mouth. and the flavors of the sauces just blended together to give you the right amount of heat to spice it up a little bit. Definitely could've went back and had 10 more of these.

Second thing we had was the crab cake slider. I believe this was just a special they had that particular day and I'm glad I was able to have a bite of it. I've been searching for the perfect crab cake in the city of Charlotte and was unable to find it until now. The slider was small brioche-like bun with some mixed greens and a chipotle aioli to top it off. What I loved about this was the crab cake itself. I hate when people use so much breading to keep the cake together but the Tin Kitchen did not do that all. Just like the Pork Belly Tacos, it was nice and crispy on the outside and and tender on the inside.

And last but not least, their nachos. Usually when you think of nachos, you think of it being drenched in cheese to the point that you literally have to use a fork but this was completely not what I got from them. It was a bowl of tortilla chips topped with salsa verde, a layer of goat cheese, juicy tender sweet brisket and some sriracha sauce to top it off. It was delicious. The goat cheese is not really a melting kind of cheese but balanced out the sweetness of the brisket and the heat from the sriracha. The only thing I would've recommended was to layer it up more so the chips at the bottom could've gotten more of that goodness on them.

All in all, I am definitely tracking down this food truck again and can't wait to get my hands on some more of their delicious food! Again, as always if you have any recommendations please pass them along!