(Update: Despite moving to Houston and shifting to a brick and mortar model, Spice Runner closed back in 2016)
Well, the nice think about the Boardwalk on Bulverde is that, on any given night, there are almost a dozen food trucks there hawking their wares, so after you’ve started a meal at one truck, you can work your way through the many other trucks to find your next course. In our case, Food Truck #2 at the Boardwalk was Spice Runner, a food truck serving sandwiches and “Pocket Pies”.
I’ll admit, at first I was a little concerned about the “pocket pie” terminology. I’m used to dumplings. I’m used to empanadas. I’m even used to Cornish Pasties. And I’ve even eaten all of those from food trucks. But somehow the phrase “Pocket Pie” made me think someone wasn’t doing this right. It’s like someone offering you a “Cali-Mex Tortilla Wrap” instead of a “burrito”, in that it raises an alarm. But despite my Spidey Sense telling me to be wary, I wandered up to the ordering counter, and ordered up two “pocket pies”, one Thai Coconut Curry Chicken, the other Louisiana Creole.
And this is where I had to admit that my “Spidey Sense” was wrong. What I got were two perfect little empanadas. Or dumplings. Or pocket pies. Call them what you want, both of these were perfectly executed. The Thai Coconut Curry pocket pie had a really rich sambal oelek-style rich pepper sauce, softened with some coconut milk, resulting in a rich little pie with a filling that I probably would have loved as a standalone bowl of curry. Similarly, the Louisiana Creole pocket pie had a rich gumbo filling, a savory brown roux filled with a nice mix of rice, veggies, andouille sausage, and some nice tender chunks of chicken. Perhaps a bit heavy on it’s own, it worked perfectly as a filling for a pocket pie.
So, despite the odd terminology, I really liked Spice Runner, and they were a strong follow-on to the wonderful kebabs I had a half hour before at Rickshaw Stop. Overall, they’ve got a great thing going here, and I’d love to come back and try more of their food. Unfortunately, it’s about 6 hours of flying each way… In any case, the Boardwalk was 2/2 after this stop.
Both of these were excellent, and I’d actually like the filling on both as entrees.
