Taking It To the Street: Immigrant Food+ Pop-Up Menu

Walking the streets of any major city, carts, stalls and trucks line the streets with tantalizing bites. Over time the most popular street foods become ingrained in the city’s culture, whether it be a Philly pretzel, a gyro or pão de queijo. In this vein, Immigrant+ Food recently created a menu to bring beloved global street food dishes together for their current pop-up menu, running through October 7.

The menu features six dishes all influenced by blending popular street food dishes and ingredients, including Middle Eastern-Thailander lamb larb skewers, Korean burger (brought back by popular demand), and French-Caribbean tropical beignets

In true Immigrant Food fashion, co-founder chef Enrique Limardo and chef Mile Montezuma‘s fusion dishes are crafted with the utmost care by balancing authentic flavors from two different cuisines to create a new notable dish. Take the octopus takoyaki, which combines creamy yucca dough from Brazilian-style croquettes with umami Japanese ingredients from takoyaki croquettes. The result is an addictive bite.

Octopus Takoyaki. Photo by Nicole Schaller.

Another standout one bite is the Peruvian and Japanese inspired tuna tartare tostada, which is accented with briny trout roe, and plated with a sweet and spicy mango habanero sauce. 

For a more substantial dish from the limited-time menu, the vegan chaufa is the answer. The Chinese-Peruvian fried rice dish is an already-established fusion dish in Peru, but Immigrant Food+ puts its own spin on it. Instead of incorporating eggs, Immigrant Food+ piles the dish full of vegetables, like crispy fried eggplants, zucchini and bok choy, and then coats the rice in a spicy ponzu sauce.

Vegan Chaufa. Photo by Nicole Schaller.

As the only dessert on the street food menu, the ricotta based beignets are a satisfying conclusion to the meal. Accompanied with vanilla ice cream, passion fruit, peaches and lemon zest, the well-balanced dish is sweet and indulgent, while still acidic and light.

Following any Immigrant Food+ dining-in meal, the server hands you the receipt in a passport where you can add a note about the meal. This final touch exemplifies the overall dining experience: From start to finish thoughtful details are incorporated to transport you to places other than downtown D.C. Immigrant Food+ delivers on its mission to celebrate multiculturalism by highlighting global culinary similarities while embracing what makes each country’s food unique.

Immigrant Food+: 925 13th St NW, DC; immigrantfood.com // @immigrantfood

Nicole Schaller