Mumbo Gumbo

I was craving crawfish as I opted not to go for a buffet with my friends, as I can’t eat large portion, and buffet tends to be low quality ingredients. As I followed my hunger instinct I had precisely 20 minutes to eat before my haircut appointment. So good cart near the salon sounded reasonable.
As I walked around sniffing and reading all the food menu, I saw crawfish est… two… Feh? *brain fails* (apparently it’s spelled étouffée)
Whatever it was smelled savory, it had rice (must for Asian like me), and some protein (just worked out two hours earlier). Price was reasonable and whoever ordered it before me disappeared — time saver!
It was raining and cold but food was hot and warmed my soul. Definitely got what I’ve wanted!
Customer service was good and during weekdays I do vegetarian so I’ll come back for more.
6÷10÷16
Returned for gators — caught in Florida! Now in Oregon to be my morsel of the day. It’s deep friend and at $ 10.50 it’s not your school cafeteria nuggets. Because it’s tiny. Like. Tip of my thumb size. Which was rather saddening. Very juicy and the flavors… Well no gator as the crumb and sauce is so overpowering my taste buds didn’t get any gator taste. So ultimately alligator hype.
Next Time: Organic Buttermilk Fried Chicken $ 12.50

One of the hardest things to do in Portland is pick what to eat! After walking the full loop of the food pod block my wife went for Thai food and I settled on a Florida gator po boy.
I did get a sideways look when I said no pickles on my sandwich, but what can I say I don’t like pickles! I have never had gator before but love to branch out and try new foods and this definitely didn’t disappoint.
Excellent flavors and a pretty good amount of gator meat. Over all I would eat here again for sure. But when there are so many options it’s hard to eat at the same place twice!

Pretty decent gumbo place (probably the only one) around the food truck area. The portion is generous, but the actual ingredient content is small compare to the price paid. $ 9 Bayou gumbo only have a few pieces of shellfish in them. The flavor is pretty decent though.

If your in the area and your interested in trying out one of Portland finest food truck, look no more and stop for some gumbo. I was a little skeptical when I got here but I figured what do I have to loose. As I walked up to the food truck there was a line and you can smell the food and hear the person cooking. I order the gumbo and to my surprise it was tasty. Fresh seafood, thick broth, spicy and lots of flavor. The guys were friendly and very excited about their creations. They were not Cajun but they stated that they enjoy making foods for people the way they would like their food to taste. I can understand that and it made me even more interests In trying their food. Just remember when coming here there are no places to sit. Grab your food and find a place to sit! If I was in the area I would def come back :)

Excellent! Had Jambalaya for 1^st time here. One of my favorite dishes out there. Not cheap @$ 9.50 for lunch cart truck, but very flavorful without adding hot sauce. My mouth is on fire, but I’m a wimp relating to spicy food. Lots of chicken and sausage in it. He was fast as well, promised 6 minutes and delivered. Only thing that could make it better is a larger portion for the price. Will get again.

My usual go-​to food cart was closed today (sad face) so I decided to give Mumbo Gumbo a shot. There aren’t any straight vegetarian options unfortunately, so I pulled out the pescetarian card again and went with the crawfish étouffée (priced at $ 12.50). It was pretty good!
The great thing about these food carts is that everything is made to order, which means food comes back HOT! Love love love. This cart is no different. It took about 5 minutes for the étouffée to come out, and it was very flavourful and creamy — I surprisingly loved the crawfish! The shrimp, not so much. I wasn’t a big fan of the complimentary cornbread either but then again, I’ve never been much of a cornbread fan. Although it is a bit on the pricey side, the portion size was perfect and kept me full for a good 3 – 4 hours, which believe me, is pretty good. I usually get hungry about 30 minutes after eating heh.
Bottom line: I would definitely try again whenever I come back to Portland.

The étouffée with crawfish and shrimp is OUT OF THIS WORLD! Tried this cart for the first time today and I will be back!

So many food options on this block! We circled around a good three times before deciding what we wanted.
Mumbo Gumbo stood out because it was the only cajun vendor and it seemed unique. (Side note: can someone tell me why there are so many gyro/​falafel vendors on this block?!)
We ordered a cup of Bayou gumbo to share (Dungeness crab, clams, and shrimp) and thought this was really flavorful. I also enjoyed the mini cornbread that came with it. Portion was big for $ 9 (lots of seafood!) and kept our tummies warm and happy while walking around rainy Portland.

He said it was gonna be the best red beans and rice I’d ever had and damned if he wasn’t right.

Yummy!!! This place definitely caught my eye, I ordered the red beans and rice, and oh man it is delicious!!! Their service is awesome too, can’t say anything bad. If I had to complain a bit, the cornbread that was given with all their meals was too small, but definitely hit the spot!!!

I was so excited to see a food cart that’s inspired by the food in New Orleans. I was so sad when I tasted it though.
I ordered the Étouffée with chicken. It was a little pricy for a food cart, but I was having a strong craving for some southern food. I was excited as it smelled yummy. However, when I opened and tasted it, the food was bland and need a lot of Louisiana hot sauce to flavor it up. The chicken pieces in there tasted like the chicken you can get out of can– cheap and flavorless. The best part about this dish was the little cornbread muffin that came with it.
The guy selling the food was very nice and helpful. The food takes a while to get out to customers so don’t come in a hurry. The good thing is that the food does come out hot and fresh.
I don’t expect the best Cajun food from a food cart in the Pacific NW but the taste was just not hitting it.

Decent food and friendly cook but the wait can be +15 minutes.

I got the vegetable étouffée dish, and I just thought it was ‘okay’. I kinda like my street cart food to have an addictive quality to it and this didn’t have it for me. I actually feel bad giving a mediocre review since this cart seems kinda special and I had high hopes! I think maybe my dish would have been much better with added salt/​pepper/​garlic? Not sure, but I had gone too far away when I finally dug in to go back for seasoning. I don’t think I’ll ever crave this dish again.

The vegetable étouffée was pretty much just steamed veggies over white rice. Tasted nothing like étouffée and was the most expensive food item we bought all day. I brought it home to put sauce on it and re-​heat. Bland! I was disappointed because I love étouffée.
Maybe some of the other food is good, but I don’t think I’ll be going back to find out.

In town for the weekend, and did a self guided «food tour» of the carts. This one was my favorite of the one we sampled. Solid Jambalaya!

My son loves all things New Orleans, so you can imagine his delight when he found this cart on our recent trip to Portland. We had decided to have lunch at the «food carts» and he was very excited with this find. We had the Uncle Sam’s gumbo (Andouille Sausage and Chicken) and the spice Mac n Cheese with bacon. Both were served in big portions, and both were delicious. The gumbo was flavorful and spicy without being too over the top. The Mac-​n-​cheese, to my delight, also had the perfect amount of heat. I would definitely eat here again, as the had several other dishes that we wanted to try.

This cart opened in early May and has the usual New Orleans cajun/​creole options. They even have maque choux, which is more a French-​American Indian dish of cajun chicken and veggies over rice.
Their Jambalaya ($ 9.50) had a healthy dose of Andouille sausage and chicken. Very flavorful. Perhaps just a tad oversalted for my tastes. The meal came with a tiny piece of cornbread.
A few hot sauces are available there. Most notable for me was the Swamp Gator sauce they have. Gator Hammock has some good flavor.
I also saw a Swamp Float ($ 5) on the menu — basically a root beer float. The panda has been on a root beer bender as of late…
They’re open six days a week (Mon-​Sat). A nice experience overall.

Got the Vegetable Étouffée and was pretty disappointed. The flavor was just kind of bland, which is the opposite from what you would expect from a cart whose motto is: «Take pleasure in well-​seasoned food.» I do, but this wasn’t. The quality and amount of this dish was really lacking compared to the price, with is $ 9. I know Portland is getting more expensive, but for $ 9 I expect a veggie and rice dish to be a bit more substantial and flavorful. I imagine the dishes containing meat and seafood are more flavorful, and I would have loved to try the Bayou seafood gumbo, however the source of the various shellfish (shrimp, crawfish, clams, crabs & oysters) was unknown (from the local Cash and Carry). There are pretty major differences in health and environmental considerations with shellfish depending on its source, so that’s something I’d like to know. I understand the cost of specifically sourcing all that difference seafood, and I would suggest that maybe cutting down the list and locally sourcing a few shellfish types would be preferable. I am not sure I’d come back here, except maybe to try the Mac & Cheese.
I do appreciate the cart’s honesty, and its participation in Go Box, which is awesome.

Seemed good to me! I ordered a «cup» of Mac & Cheese and the Uncle Sam Gumbo (Andouille Sausage and Chicken). Both were more than I’d consider a «cup» to be, and either would be a sufficient meal.
The gumbo was exactly what I want in a nearby food cart. Something quick, appropriate for lunch, and that tastes good.
The mac and cheese wasn’t bad, but it wasn’t great either. I’d go with the gumbo.

Lick-​the-​bowl good! Great flavor and spicy kick. I can recommend the Uncle Sam Gumbo (chicken and andouille). I ordered a cup size and wouldn’t have minded a slightly larger serving for the price, but it is quite filling, anyway.