“Fatty tuna” refers to toro, or the belly of the fish. You may notice in some sushi restaurants toro is subdivided into chu-toro which is the sides of the belly and o-toro which is the underside of the belly and has the highest fat content. This fatty tuna is unbelievably rich and tender, melts in your mouth, and commands a premium at high-end sushi establishments. Think of o-toro as the wagyu steak of the fish world.
I would have been shocked if a food truck were selling toro and, despite its name, Fatty Tuna does not. Food trucks never cease to surprise me with their innovation, creativity, and willingness to add interesting ingredients to their dishes, but toro would be taking things to a different level entirely. That said, as I approached the bright yellow Fatty Tuna truck, I was impressed by the scope of their offerings.
Neither sushi nor ramen are terribly common food truck offerings in Utah. Fatty Tuna has four types of ramen and six sushi rolls – a decent amount considering the space limitations inside a truck. In addition to sushi and ramen, they also sell a number of buns, dumplings, edamame, and more. I’m a sucker for Asian food (okay, let’s be honest – I’m a sucker for food in general, but I do have a soft spot for Asian cuisine) and frequently find myself in the mood for sushi and ramen. The variety Fatty Tuna offers definitely sets it apart from its food truck peers.
I decided to try a few of their highlights. I chose the tonkotsu ramen which is their most popular ramen. I also ordered their namesake Fatty Tuna roll (which does not contain toro) and Fatty Tuna bun (which doesn’t contain fish at all). While not on the main menu, they also offer boba drinks, and I couldn’t resist an ice cold coconut one to accompany the rest of my food. The food was ready more quickly than I thought it would be, which is a good thing but also left me wondering how much preparation was going on in the truck versus being done beforehand. Each item deserves its own review.
Starting with the sushi, I was impressed with the size of the roll which looked more appealing than I was expecting from a food truck. The Fatty Tuna roll contains crab salad, avocado, cucumber, spicy tuna, spicy mayo, a sweet sauce, sesame seeds, green onion, and fried onions. It should be noted that all of their sushi contains crab salad, which I usually avoid in sushi restaurants as I view it more of a filler than a top-notch ingredient. In this roll though, all the ingredients worked together and tasted great with a little soy sauce and wasabi. The weakest part was the rice – it was too cold and somewhat mushy. If you’ve ever watched the fantastic documentary Jiro Dreams of Sushi, you know how important proper sushi rice is. I talked with the people running the truck and was told that the sushi rice is made each morning and they roll the sushi in the truck as it’s ordered. This roll was better than grocery store sushi, but not as good as sushi available in some restaurants around Utah. That said, hand rolled sushi from a food truck is not a frequent find and I give them credit for doing something different.
Next was the tonkotsu ramen – a pork bone broth with noodles, sliced roasted pork, bean sprouts, egg, corn, fish cake, green onion, and sesame seeds. This came out steaming hot, as it should, and the broth was surprisingly rich and unctuous – definitely the highlight of the dish. The pork was tender and delicious. The noodles were fine. The weak point was the egg. A properly cooked ramen egg should have a soft, almost jam-like yolk. This was completely hard boiled. I still enjoyed the ramen, but that detail was severely lacking.
The Fatty Tuna bun is a steamed roll, deep fried, and drizzled with sweetened condensed milk. They actually get their buns from a supplier and just cook them in the truck. The first few bites were delicious. Then, much like French fries, it got cold and became much less satisfying. So if you order this, and you should, make sure you eat it while it’s still hot and delightsome.
Finally, the boba drink. I’ve had hundreds of these while living in Taiwan and mainland China and a good boba drink comes down to one thing – the quality of the boba. If these black, chewy balls of starch are old or prepared poorly, they will be tough and rubbery and then it doesn’t matter how delicious the surrounding beverage is. Fatty Tuna’s boba were fantastic – perfectly soft and toothsome with just enough chew. The surrounding blended coconut smoothie was a little on the icy side when it first came out, but after a couple minutes it was the right consistency. I enjoyed every sip through the fat boba-sucking straw.
Know Before You Go: Fatty Tuna has been in business for about five years. They post their weekly schedule on social media and set up shop in a variety of areas. The four items I described above came to a total of $29.29. While there’s a couple details they could improve (the sushi rice and ramen egg), if you’re looking for a quick Asian food fix, the variety at Fatty Tuna is worth your dining dollar.
