Fish tacos and a rice bowl with pork belly from Meet on the Street at the Bridge StrEAT Food Park on a recent Wednesday. Photo by Sean Gray
Here is my No. 1 relationship tip: Find a partner who doesn’t mind sharing their food.
I’m an indecisive person. I overpack for trips because I have a hard time choosing my outfits. I will spend a half hour scrolling through Netflix before I pick a movie. And I absolutely need to look at a restaurant menu hours in advance to strategize my order.
Luckily, I married a person who doesn’t mind when I steal a few bites of his dish. We’ve been together for nearly a decade, and he has learned to cut down the time I spend making a pro/con list about my entrée by suggesting that we share a couple plates. That’s exactly what he did on a recent date night, when he saw my brow start to furrow as I read the options at Meet on the Street.
We found the truck among nearly a dozen others at Bridge StrEAT Food Park at the Westbrook Community Center. It started as a food cart last year and recently upgraded. Its tagline is “The Way Food Should Be,” and its focus is on smoked meats, fish and vegetables. The menu includes tacos, sandwiches, rice bowls and dips. We decided to split the Bridge Street Blackened Fish Tacos ($14 for two) and the Mechanic Street Rice Bowl with roasted pork belly ($15). The rice bowl could also be ordered plain ($12) or with seared salmon ($16). We also grabbed two cans of LaCroix seltzer.
Meet on the Street parked at the Bridge StrEAT Food Park in Westbrook. Photo by Megan Gray
While we waited for our food, we scanned the lineup of trucks. We saw grilled cheese and mac and cheese, Thai food and empanadas, hot dogs and steak bombs, fried dough and ice cream. (The Bridge StrEAT Food Park is open Wednesday nights at 426 Bridge St. from 4-8 p.m. through Aug. 30. Check the Westbrook Community Center Facebook page for the weekly lineup.) The rain had cleared up for a beautiful summer evening, and the park was buzzing with families.
A cone of honey vanilla ice cream from Naturally Jammin LLC at the Bridge StrEAT Food Park in Westbrook. Photo by Megan Gray
Our dinner was ready in less than 10 minutes, and we found a picnic table. We polished off the tacos first. The seasoning added a nice kick to the fish, and the pineapple salsa gave it a freshness and acidity that we both enjoyed. But when we dug into the rice bowl, we agreed that it was the winner. The rice came topped with a generous portion of pork belly, cabbage, dilly beans, pickled vegetables, jalapeños and garlic mayo. The pork belly was flavorful and nicely crisp, and the pickled vegetables brought a welcome tang for a summer night.
We each found a dessert (a warm sugary order of Fred’s Fried Dough and a cone of honey vanilla ice cream from Naturally Jammin LLC) and traded bites. Our marriage intact and our bellies full, we agreed that a return trip to Meet on the Street and the other trucks at Bridge StrEAT Food park would be an easy decision.
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