Rebel Heroes
The food truck craze that began in NYC is slowly beginning to saturate the DC area. One of the first food trucks to hit Clarendon up is Rebel Heroes. Rebel Heroes specializes in sub sandwiches with a Vietnamese and Cuban twist. Some of the common ingredients you’ll find in the subs are seasoned mayo, scallions, cilantro, pickles, and your choice of meat or veggie, such as pork, chicken, or tofu. All are served on a split french baguette.
You’ll spot the truck along the orange line in either Rosslyn, Courthouse, Clarendon, or Ballston during lunch and dinner hours.
Today, Rebel Heroes rolled into Clarendon for lunch service, so hubby and I decided to try it out. (if you want to know where and when RH will be, follow @RebelHeroes on Twitter or ‘Like’ their Facebook page). One of the many perks of being married is that we always get to share each other’s food, and in this case, we each took a half of each other’s sandwich. This perk came in especially handy today since one of the heroes clearly won out over the other.
Hubby ordered the #1 ($5.50 Roast Pork Bahn Mi) and I ordered the #7 ($6.00 Macho Meatball). We also ordered a Vietnamese coffee to share as a scorching-hot-afternoon treat.
The #1 Roast Pork Bahn Mi consisted of sliced roast pork, lime mayo, scallions, cilantro, cucumber, pickled daikon, and carrots. It had great flavor, but the bread was a bit stale (somewhat difficult to chew), and the filling wasn’t as plentiful as what the bread needed. We both agreed that the sandwich either needed less bread or more filling.
The #7 Macho Meatball, on the other hand, was absolutely perfect. The filling consisted of juicy crumbled pork, melted swiss, spicy mayo, scallions, cilantro, and pickled daikon and carrots. The bread was soft and fresh, and the savory juices from the pork seeped into the bread (without making it soggy), making every bite much more enjoyable.
The Vietnamese coffee was delicious. I’m a sucker for iced coffee drinks, and I can drink them like water if I’m not careful, so I tried to pace myself from slurping the entire thing down too quickly. It was rich, refreshing, and sweet (but not too sweet.) It needed a bit more ice (took about 5 minutes before the ice had completely cooled it), but it was worth it.
Even though one of our subs was less than par, we would definitely order from Rebel Heroes again. The Macho Meatball was unlike anything we’ve ever ordered from a truck, and at only $6 per sub, it’s about as affordable as you can get in this city.
Score: A-
