Good Times readers voted Drunk Monkeys the Best New Restaurant in 2009. Since then, owners Dameon and Laura DeWorken have shuttered their Seabright restaurant and gone mobile, serving Asian Street Food from a ferociously painted catering truck.
This self-proclaimed Westside Lurker is often found on Mission Street at CVS Pharmacy or U-Save Liquors, and is also is known to haunt the corner of Encinal and Sylvania by Costco. In this new business model, roach coach meets high tech, as DeWorken occasionally updates the Drunk Monkeys facebook page with his location. Fans, currently numbering 678, or anybody else can also text him for a real-time update.
I spied the conspicuous quilted stainless steel and pumpkin orange catering truck refueling at a Mission Street gas station, and followed it to Ingalls Street where a customer was already waiting. The concise menu on the side of the truck listed sandwiches and rice bowls as well as Kokoda ($5), a Fijian ceviche with coconut milk, Green Papaya Salad ($5) and a pair of desserts ($3) including Chocolate Chip Cheesecake.
For the Rice Bowl ($6), making a difficult decision, I chose the pulled pork topping and yellow curry instead of red pepper yuzu citrus sauce. Brown rice was topped with cooked green soybeans, crisp bean sprouts, fine shreds of pork in a sweet herbal sauce and lightly pickled purple cabbage. It was a perfect balance of sweet, tart, and spicy flavors with chewy, soft, and crunchy textures.
The Shaved Beef Sandwich ($5) was served in a fat, crusty French sandwich roll. A generous layer of finely shredded, exotically spiced beef was joined by tufts of fresh cilantro, shredded carrot and radish.
His two customers satiated, DeWorken turned his truck onto Swift Street, and disappeared down Delaware Avenue.
Drunk Monkeys Asian Street Food. Serving lunch and dinner from various locations on the West Side. Closed Sundays. Text or call 818-9523 for the current location.
