Yogio

Yogio is a food truck in Portland, Oregon, serving up their take on Korean-inspired street food. All their menu items are gluten-free, and they promote that on their truck.

I went with their BingoBowl ($7), getting spicy pork as my option. The spicy pork also has corn, peas, and green beans inside, served over seasoned rice (using flavorings such as sesame oil), fresh slaw, and house-pickled veggies.

Bingo Bowl

The star for me in the dish was the spicy pulled pork. It was temperature-hot, had nice flavor, and possessed that bit of kick (but not overwhelming). The mixed vegetables in the pork included corn, peas, and green beans. I'm pretty sure Koreans don't do that with their spicy pork (at least I've never come across anything like that), but the contrasting colors and textures were OK by me.

The slaw and house-made pickled vegetables gave a nice crunchy, refreshing feel to the dish. It brought great color as well, making for an appealing picture (as shown above). The rice was perfectly cooked, and I liked the seasoned flavors that spoke "Asian-inspired flavor" to me.

Overall, the dish worked, but I wanted to see more Korean influences (since that's what Yogio promotes...Korean-inspired street food). Perhaps topping the dish with kimchi instead would have been better for me. I also would have liked a little more flavor overall to really get me talking. Korean food has such bold flavors, I felt a little let down that the flavors in the Bingo Bowl didn't pop as much as I would have wanted them to.

The woman taking my order was very friendly and personable.

I've heard from Food Carts Portland that Yogio (on NE 22nd and NE Alberta St.) is up for sale, but is NOT closing. According to Timber Adamson (whom I believe is the owner), "Yogio is selling due to a car wreck that has made it impossible for me to physically handle 2 carts at this time." Yogio will stay open until the sale is final.

I hope my loyal readers can get out to Portland and try Yogio's food for themselves. 6.5/10