I’ve been in an Indian mood all week, and a discussion on Twitter really got my hungerdander up, and seeing as it’s Wednesday and they have combo specials today, I walked up to SW 5th Avenue to The Real Taste of India.

It’s not the best Indian food in town by far; it’s also not the worst. It is one of only a few Indian carts downtown, and the $6 Wednesday special is tough to beat.

I usually go for the veggie combo, but I was in the mood for wads of animal, so I opted for the meat combo. A Tandoori drumstick, chicken tikka masala, stewed veggies, jasmine rice, and the biggest naan in town.

The tandoori chicken is by far the best here. It’s just slightly overcooked, which is good for a cart to do, but the spices seal the inside and it’s tender and juicy and very flavorful.

The chicken tikka masala is a good attempt. The meat itself is a boneless breast, cooked, then sliced, then stewed in. Again, well cooked, and the sauce is not powerful but adequate.

The stewed vegetables include peas, carrots, potatoes, cauliflower, zucchini, broad beans, and Lima beans. Some of them were fresh when they went into the stew pot, and some were probably frozen. Overall, a decent background dish.

They got the rice right. It’s easy to let jasmine rice get stale, but it was firm yet thoroughly cooked and very lightly spiced.

Their naan is one of my favorites in town. Chewy and flaky inside, just a little charcoal on the outside. Greasy and as big as a county fair elephant ear.

I give it one ear up and a tail wiggle.

Today’s foodventure is at another downtown food cart, another relatively new one called Thien Nghi’s, featuring Vietnamese-infused bento as well as pho.

For lunch today, I chose the lemongrass chicken bento with white rice.

The chicken is stir-fried with onions and spiced with sesame oil, lemon grass, and red chili paste (possibly Sriracha). It’s very flavorful, carries a nice warm punch, and the chicken itself is well cooked — done but tender and flaky.

The salad of cucumber, lettuce, and tomato is very fresh, and all the ingredients are nicely sweet and crisp and tame the chicken’s fire just a bit.

I can tell the long grain white rice has been in the steamer for a few minutes after finishing, but it’s not sticky at all, great vehicle for the spicy oil dribbling off the chicken.

Very satisfying bento. Next I’ll try the pho.

Today for lunch, I decided to go to Hog Time, a relatively new cart near my work location.

I’ve eaten there once before, and the pork was quite good, and being in a porky mood, I gave it another shot.

This time, I had the Sloppy Hog, a sloppy-joe-like contraption made with pulled pork, creamy chipotle sauce, and habanero sauce, along with a side of fries.

The pork is of high quality — slow roasted, tender, juicy but not messy, just a bit of fat for sweetness. I don’t think it’s spiced at all, it’s just left to stand on its own, and, being that it’s central to every dish here, it does a good job.

The creamy chipotle sauce is my favorite of the four sauces available at Hog Time. It’s got lots of flavor and just a little tinge of warmth. It compliments the pork very well.

The habanero sauce tastes good and provides some heat, but it’s tough to compete with Secret Aardvark habanero sauce.

Everyone is doing hand cut fresh French fries these days, and these were done very well — just a bit crisp on the outside, tender inside, and tossed with a dash of salt in just the right amount.

All in all, I’ll certainly come back again. Pork tacos next time.