Tapa Boy Truck

I love beef tapa and langonisa but tocino is my fave Filipino breakfast dish. It was juicy and tender, but kinda fatty/​greasy but that’s how it usually is. Garlic rice and fried egg compliment it well.
I also had the dalmansi juice — combo of dalandan (tropical orange) and kalamansi (like Philippine lime, basically a tangy citrus). Very refreshing.
Glad to see Filipino food done well and accessible to the masses via food trucks like this one. Will definitely try other menu items next time, especially the turon desserts. I remember making the ‘old school’ version of turon with my mom, adding the jack fruit and rolling them up.

In a pointless effort to be semi-​useful for a change, I give you this Unilocal review/​educational Spanish lesson…
How to say BACON in Spanish…
TOCINO.
Repeat after me.
TOH CEE NOH.
It was one of my daughter’s first words.
You’re welcome!
PORK TOCINO BOWL.
The tapa boy translation is just as delicious… all you need to know is that it’s pork and it’s really damn good. Basically a sweetly cured pork with a little caramelization and tons of flavor. It is served with fresh chopped cucumber, a killer side of garlic rice AND topped with a fried egg!
The pork goes great dipped in their vinegar sauce followed with a big mouthful of hot, garlicky rice drizzled with a little egg yolk… so good.
Oh right, almost forgot… final exam… how might I use the word TOCINO in a sentence…
answer?
YO QUIERO MAS TOCINO POR FAVOR!

I know this place is known for their Filipino breakfast but this review is based JUST on the Turons:
We got an order of each:
— Old School Turons (x3) — a fried banana egg roll coated in brown sugar
— New School Turon (x3) — a fried banana egg roll with Nutella
I have this compulsion when it comes to bananas, so if I ever see banana on a dessert menu, I lose all restraint… I mean fohhhggeettaabout it if it has Nutella… I’m sold! And I tend to look favorably on banana desserts because… in my book… you really can’t mess up a banana…
And these were just ok… I coulda easily made them at home with some wontons from the freezer section and a couple bananas from the produce aisle.

I was on the fence whether I would get anything from Tapa Boy but after being left unsatisfied by Piaggio’s, I took the plunge and ordered their Crispy chicken adobo and New school turon. I would have to agree with Fia R’s previous review cost-​wise. Each of their bowls are now $ 8 (gasp!) and my adobo felt like a rip off because it was a sad looking bowl with measly scraps of meat on top. I would have been okay with the $ 8 price tag if the quantity justified the cost. I also know how good Filipino food tastes like and this was just alright.
Sadly, I didn’t have a stellar experience with the turon either. First of all, $ 2.50 = 3 teeny tiny (3“x1″) pieces of wrapped hard banana slivers with nutella. D only had one and said he didn’t like them because they were hard to chew. I forced myself to finish one and would have to agree with him. That was probably the worst turon i’ve ever had! =(Turon was supposed to have a flaky and crunchy wrapper with a soft and sweet banana!
The concept of Filipino food trucks are cool, but i’d rather get my food fix somewhere better (and cheaper!).

I was told by my friends at the Lime Truck that the food here is awesome. Every time I see them around Jason from the Lime Truck is eating this stuff. I had to order some for myself. I got the Longanisa plate. It came with Longanisa sausage, fried egg, garlic rice, cut up tomatoes and cucumbers. The meat was tasty and you could taste the garlic in the rice. You can never go wrong with a fried egg. The sweet garlic sauce that came with it was strong but went well with the mix. The food here is good. The best of the Filipino trucks for sure.
Recommendation: The Longanisa bowl

Not sure if it was partially due to my low expectations but I really enjoyed my meal here.
Pork tocino bowl. Good flavor to the pork. Weird that there are two types of diced fruit in there but somehow it all worked when mixed together. Breaking the egg made for a nice sauce to mixup even though the egg seemed to be more cooked than it should have been.
I’d get the same thing again.
Coworker had the adobo chicken bowl and didnt like it. Said it was dry and bland.

Although I have a filipino roommate, I’m ashamed to admit I know very little about the food of her people. I do know it’s getting very hot these days — I feel like I can’t go anywhere without non-​filipino people talking about their favorite dishes straight out of the Philippines. So it didn’t surprise me to see a filipino truck parked in the food truck lot at the last Downtown Artwalk. My girlfriends and I shared one of their bowls, the pork tocino bowl for $ 8. When we requested that the egg be runny, the guy behind the counter assured us: ‘It’s ALWAYS runny.’ Now that’s what I like to hear! He was also nice enough to give us a sample of the pork so we could see if we liked it before ordering.
Did we like it? Yes! I loved the garlic fried rice that came with the pork, and the pork itself was amazing — flavorful and tender. My roommate said it wasn’t quite as great as the homecooked version she’s used to, but she was happy with it and that was a good enough review for me!
Next time I’m dying to try the spam bowl as well as their desserts, 3 versions of turon, which is like a banana egg roll.
I’ve been craving more runny egg over rice ever since I visited this truck, which is a sign that their unique flavors really caught my attention. I can’t wait to get to know this food more!

Before you read this review about Tapa Boy, just know that I have absolutely no knowledge whatsoever of Filipino food, so don’t be offended if you are Filipino. Moving on…
Their first impression was horrible. If it wasn’t for the food, I would’ve given Tapa Boy 2 stars. Right after the person in front of me, suddenly, they told me «This might take a minute,» and so I waited, at first, patiently. But then I waited. And waited some more. Then I see a man come to the truck who is given two bags of four or five meals. Why is this irritating? There is a sign on the truck that specifically says «We limit five meals.» UHHH…
So there I was standing, waiting, tapping my feet, whatever.
Then I finally get to order. Not knowing what anything on the menu was but wanting to try this truck, I decided to get, for namesake, the Tapa Bowl.
It took half the time it took to wait in line to get my Tapa Bowl. It’s a handful, so try not to spill it when they give it to you. The garlic rice was pretty good, and the egg was also good. The pork tocino was done well and so was the slaw. Good food, just not impressive.
Overall, THIS is the truck to go to if you want to get full. I usually go to about 3 – 4 trucks, but with the meal from Tapa Boy, I was stuffed after 1 truck. You definitely get the bang out of your buck if you get something from Tapa Boy.

Aw no Filipino musubi?
I was really looking forward to those
How about those egg rolls aka lumpia?
Yes!
Oh wait what is this, they’re tiny?!
Damn!

Awesome Filippino food.
Went with the Longanisa Bowl and the Crispy Adobo bowls with Turon New School to finish it all off.
The garlic fried rice and the egg were excellent touches.

Yay: New school turon and flan b turon are pretty tasty. Nice twist to the traditional turon. The size is teeny tiny– 3 bite-​size pieces for $ 2.50.
Nay: Adobo bowl. Garlic fried rice had massive pieces of raw garlic and tiny pieces of bay leaves– yuck! They also have a heavy hand on the soy sauce on the dish– so salty that I coudn’t taste anything but that. The tiny portion of atchara doesn’t even try to cleanse my palate after tasting this dish. The egg was done in typical Filipino fashion– overcooked and dry.
P. S. The service could be a bit friendlier when ordering. I tried to joke around with the guy and he never once cracked a smile. Dude, there was no line at your truck and three other Pinoy dudes inside were just staring at each other. Sheesh.

Not bad. Pretty good Flilipino food.
We tried the spam and garlic rice which was pretty good. The spam and pickled veggies and eggs were fresh. But the garlic rice seemed a little old. But I enjoyed every moment of it.
Also tried the banana egg roll with the jackfruit (talong old school?). That was good too. The jackfruit really made it taste Southeast Asian!
Didn’t have to wait too long for the food. Good stuff! Credit cards accepted.
@ The Los Alamitos Din-​a-​Go-​Go on 4÷12÷11.

I love food trucks so much I came to this one in the pouring rain!
I know they do not come down to OC often to I had to make my move. I ran to the truck with all these other foodies hunching under the little awning. I ordered 2 bowls. The Tocino Pork Bowl I didn’t love this one the pork was hard and a little too sweet for me. But the second bowl I got the spam bowl. NOW is what I am talking about! I am huge span fan especially with an egg. I love the fried egg on top and the side papaya relish is really good too.
I enjoyed this meal more than the White Rabbit Truck. However, have your rolls next time! :P he he.
Stars 3.5

Now this is what I call a «Flip truck» ;). Don’t know what I’m talking about:
Anyway, so enough of me messing around, but I’ve encountered Tapa Boy, twice. One was only for their dessert, the Turon Tri Star ($ 2.50) & the other was for the Tapa Bowl, aka Tapsilog ($ 7 – yup, a 50-​cent increase roughly 3 months later). So, if this is the 1^st time you’ve ever read my review, as a Pinay/​Filipino female I tend to be considerately brutal when evaluating cuisine of my own ethnicity. Although a good amount of my Unilocal buddies are fans of this truck, I, on the other hand, find Tapa Boy d-​e-​cent.
I didn’t want to write this review until I consumed the main course, but that said, the Tri Star offers you all 3 diminutive, different-​flavored yet crispy turon, or «dessert eggrolls.» B/​c of their plain presentation I wouldn’t be surprised if someone saw this & mistakenly assume they’re just the typical eggrolls. In spite of that, the Turon New School was the YUMMIEST of the bunch: mmm to the glorious Nutella to pair w/​the banana & jackfruit! The Old School, in contrast, had nothing when it comes to the 2.5x bigger, crisply glossy & tastier version at a local bakery, while the Flan B was okie-​dokie creamy, coming from that flan filling.
In the 2^nd visit I honestly expected a lot from this $ 7 Tapsilog. What I did LIKE was the authenticity, as well as great quality & this non-​unctuous value, as opposed to the ones served in – what we Filipinos call – point-​point restaurants. Maybe it is b/​c of those last two factors, but when it came to overall taste I really wasn’t impressed w/​the weakly marinated beef tenderloin. I even deluged the meat w/​more vinegar, which was tolerably spicy, & it only improved slightly. The egg & rice, at least, were respectively pleasantly salty & just-​right garlicky. Overall: mahal! (Fyi, this adjective means «expensive» in Tagalog. But in a different case, if it’s the noun, it means «love.»)
Regardless of nationality if you do follow this truck, I’m actually suggesting you to at least try the Turon NEW School. For the main courses, if this is your 1^st ever Filipino food, go right ahead & spend that $ 7 – really =)! As for me, I may be pretty unsatisfied that I immediately went to Jason & his Lime Truck as the rescuers, but I’m glad I ended my experiment from this «jeepney» truck. Ingat (meaning «Take care.»)

Crispy Adobo Bowl, Spam Handroll with a side of Fried Flan please!!!
I finally came out for South Bay Din Din A GO GO, and the longest line was clearly the TapaBoy truck. I saw on twitter they were having a foie gras silog, but the price tag was a little too steep. Our choice of food this time was 5 stars for me! I wasn’t too excited about their Tapabowl last time (although dude loved it) but i really enjoyed the Crispy Adobo Bowl. It had generous amounts of meat and was super tasty. The egg again was perfectly fried and runny.
I should have ordered more handrolls, cuz one was not enough. The spam handroll was nice with the touch of furikake and pickled veggies in it, rather than just pieces of spam.
We of course got the fried flan again and was the perfect yummy dessert!
Check em out on First Fridays in City of Industry!

In the past year, I’ve become quite a fan of Filipino Phood. This truck only makes it easier to get in areas outside of Cerritos and Carson. The tapsilog is good, and the spam musubi thingy (I forgot the name) was really tasty, but don’t wait too long or it’ll get the seaweed soggy. Another time I ordered a Tocino, tasty tasty. Be sure and get that.
I’ve eaten from this truck 3 times. Every time I do, the food is good. However, the wait can vary depending on the time that you go — my last time was nearly 3 – 5 mins. another time was almost 45 mins.
If you’re a casual walk-​up, you’re probably a bit late and will have a wait. If you’re following them on twitter, you can make sure you get there right when they start and no line — that’s what the smart people do.
You are smart, right? Good, I thought so. (c:

So we held our babe expo at falcon in LA some days ago, and the absolute first thing I noticed as we drove by was the tapa boy truck parked near the entrance. WOooot! I get to fill my belleh! I had been excited to try this truck out ever since I read about ‘em a few weeks ago.
The menu was a beautifully familiar sight. It was a list of comfort dishes jumpstarted my belly to a gargle. The bestie and I wanted to try everything, but decided on the crispy adobo rice bowl, tosilog (pork) bowl, and all three versions of their turon (old school, new school and flan).
The crispy adobo rice + egg, basically adobo meat flaked and pan fried, atop garlic rice and a fried egg. It was absolutely deelish, especially since i’m a fan of fried, crunchy things.
The tocino was sweet and tender, perfect pairing to that garlic rice and another perfectly done fried egg. She likes hers with some spicy vinegar concoction thing, which I’m not a fan of so I had her separate her sauce into a little container.
The desserts were a novel idea: the familiar kind with banana and jackfruit, the new version with banana and nutella and flan wrapped and fried in the same skin. These were really good, but not what I’m accustomed to in terms of the skin. Wasn’t the sugary sweet wrap, rather, it was more reminiscent of lumpia. Nonetheless, still a delectable ending to the meal.
Melon juice was yums too.
Love the simplicity of the menu and the execution is impressive. I am definitely expecting great things to come out of these guys.

Lunch time and i’m i El Segundo. I’m looking at what my options are. check my twitter and. BAM! Tapa Boy in El Segundo. 2 mins from where i’m at at the moment. SHaaaaaaaaaaaaaoOowwWWW.
They were at the new 360 Condominium complex that day.
I pull up and order their Tocino (Pork) bowl. Within minutes I get my order. Nice.
I get to a place where I can eat my meal and it smells so good. The tocino was yummmmmmmmmmy. The garlic fried rice… delicious! But I LOVE garlic so my opinion may be biased. They even topped it off with an egg. Sunny side up? Or something. Not scrambled.
I definitely will seek them out again. Gotta try more items on their menu! :)
Another plus for the Tapa Boy Truck — They use reusable tupperware. Microwave and dishwasher safe! So, I can reuse my container on another day. :D

So I tried this food truck for the first time at FPAC. It was either White Rabbit or Tapa Boy. The line was shorter for Tapa Boy, so I decided to try it because I was hungry. Unfortunately, I think the wait would of been the same because it seemed like this truck was a lot slower. I asked the guy taking the order how long they’ve been up and running, and he said about a week or so. Ah ok. Makes sense. I’ll forgive you for the wait.
I was soo looking forward to the desserts, but they ran out of the new school turon I wanted. It was only 1pm? Instead I ordered the flan turon, which was ok. $ 2 for 3 pieces the size of vienna sausages. Really? I think I’d prefer at least one normal sized one, even though it should be two. I also ordered 2 bowls which were $ 6 each! — pork tocino and crispy adobo. I agree with Jamie A.‘s review. The portions were way too small. They are nothing like what is on their site or currently on Unilocal.However both of the bowls I was served did come with an egg, and I also thought it was weird how one came with veggies and the other didn’t. I also got buko which was sour and watered down.
Oh… I really wanted to like this truck. But I was really disappointed. I’m still willing to try this place again. But Tapa Boy if you’re listening — go back to what was advertised, or adjust your prices to reflect the über scaled down portions.

word!!!