Washington, DC (location varies)
I don't remember where I first read about these guys but the concept alone piqued my interest. A bunch of white boys in turbans and fake moustaches drive around DC in a truck serving Indian food claiming to be brothers from the imaginary country of Merlindia (the whole story is on their website, linked above). I'd read that the truck aspired to be a bit of a moving carnival, with jugglers, music, and general spectacle (naan bread and circus, I guess). We arrived at Franklin Park and actually started heading toward another truck because it had a bigger crowd in front of it. We eventually found our way to Fojol, with a decent crowd of its own and a little music playing (but not much else in the way of spectacle). The guy taking the orders was clearly very friendly and tried to somehow strike up a conversation with everyone that came up. His line to me was "did you come last week?" I hadn't and asked if he knew me from college (I'd read that a few of the guys went to my school). He told me he'd gone to another school and then asked if my girlfriend and I were "an item," and told us we'd have beautiful children. Nice, fun guy. Things took a turn for the worse when I went to the back of the truck to get my food and, expecting the dude would be as friendly as the first guy, asked the guy there if he was one of the ones who'd gone to college with me. He awkwardly dodged the question and refused to "break character," referring to the first guy as his brother and some other gibberish. Come on, man . . . let it go. Have your cheesy (paneer'y) shtick or whatever but don't take yourself so seriously!
chicken curry, cauliflower and potato, and a mango lassi pop
People will come check this place out out of curiosity re: the gimmick, maybe, but once that's worn off it has to be the food that keeps them coming back. So about that, it was perfectly serviceable Indian- no complaints; but the size of the portion (pretty scant as you can see) was an issue. Also, the eco-friendly hybrid plastic fork snapped while i was trying to mash a potato with it and rained rice/curry on me so that my gf was still picking bits out of my hair hours later.
As an ambiguously ethnic person who is often identified as Indian/South Asian (though I'm not) I could certainly object to the guys' whole concept (and I certainly understand how a real Indian would not be amused) but ultimately it's the poor value that I found most offensive. Ultimately, a well-intentioned idea (I give the guys the benefit of the doubt that they just want to have fun) but ultimately a bit of a gimmick without enough substance behind it. Having satisfied my curiosity, I have no need to go back.
As an ambiguously ethnic person who is often identified as Indian/South Asian (though I'm not) I could certainly object to the guys' whole concept (and I certainly understand how a real Indian would not be amused) but ultimately it's the poor value that I found most offensive. Ultimately, a well-intentioned idea (I give the guys the benefit of the doubt that they just want to have fun) but ultimately a bit of a gimmick without enough substance behind it. Having satisfied my curiosity, I have no need to go back.
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