At a recent food truck roundup, I intended to try one truck, which will remain nameless. My mind
changed quickly when it appeared no one was eating there and the workers inside looked like they’d
been bored and disengaged for some time. If there’s one thing I’ve learned eating street food in
countries around the world, you’ll save your digestive system a lot of distress if you go where the people
are.
As I was looking at the multitude of other food options, I came across a truck that was offering
somewhat of a rarity in the food truck world – free samples. Never one to pass up free food, I quickly
grabbed the proffered toothpick, popped the morsel in my mouth, and continued my stroll around the
circle of trucks. Well, the tried-and-true free sample method worked fantastically – nothing looked as
good as what I was already enjoying, so I completed my circuit and let Comfort Bowl take my money.
Comfort Bowl bills themselves as a truck that specializes in Asian comfort food, and that is a great
description. Their best-seller is katsu, which is the epitome of comfort food. Katsu hails from Japan and
can be any type of meat cutlet that is breaded in panko crumbs and deep fried. It is delicious in its
simplicity.
Katsu has actually been around since the late 1800’s. This would be the Meiji Period in Japan, a time
when the island nation was focused on modernizing and adopted many Western dishes. If you’ve ever
had French côtelette de veau, Italian cotoletta alla Milanese, or German schnitzel, you’ll have a pretty
good idea of what to expect with Japanese katsu. However, wanting to tailor this European food to
Japanese tastes, Japan tweaked the recipe a little, creating an early fusion food that is still immensely
popular today. The breadcrumbs used in Europe were replaced with Japanese panko breadcrumbs,
which are lighter and fry up crispier, and deep frying in oil was used in place of pan frying in butter,
which was a little rich for Japanese tastes at the time. If you find yourself in Tokyo, the restaurant
Rengatei, which is credited with developing katsu, is still serving the original katsu recipe today.
While European versions of the dish were frequently made with veal, and the original Japanese version
with lean pork, today you can find a variety of meat cutlets cooked in the katsu style. One of the most
popular, torikatsu, is what Comfort Bowl serves. This is a butterflied chicken thigh, breaded in panko
crumbs, deep fried, and topped with a flavorful sauce. Comfort Bowl serves their katsu with a roasted
garlic and ginger aioli sauce, which is different than the traditional dark katsu sauce, but absolutely
delicious.
It should also be noted that you get a lot of food for your money at Comfort Bowl. I opted to order their
combo plate with chicken katsu, tempura shrimp, gyoza, lemongrass steamed rice, and salad. The
flavors were fantastic across the board. The gyoza were crispy and well complemented by the dipping
sauce. The tempura shrimp were enormous and perfectly cooked. The sesame dressing on the salad was
excellent, and the katsu was crunchy, juicy, and paired with the lemongrass rice perfectly. My only
complaint was that some of the items weren’t as steaming hot as I thought they should be. Overall, I left
very full and very satisfied. And, writing this article, I’m craving more.
Know Before You Go: Comfort Bowl has been in business for about 6 years, has two trucks, and they
cater. Check social media to see where they’ll be next. In addition to the food I had, they also were
offering grilled chicken, Alaskan pollock, and soft shell crab – not something commonly seen at a food
truck! My meal cost $17.42 after tax, which seemed like a great deal for the amount of food I received.
