Food

Road Test: Wassub, a Fusion Sandwich Shop on Wheels

In which we take a new food truck for a spin . . . on our taste buds.

Sandwiches aboard Wassub include a kimchi-enhanced cheesesteak and the chicken "sweetie." Photographs by Anna Spiegel.

Payment: Cash only.

Price Range: $8 to $9 for subs so big you definitely won’t need to eat until dinner.

Frequent Stops: The typical downtown DC suspects like Farragut, Metro Center, and L’Enfant.

Good for: Big appetites who need more than a Yoplait to make it through weekday lunch.

Fusion and mobile cuisine are both tricky propositions, and all the more so when combined (RIP Sâuçá). The best of the bunch are arguably the Koren mashups around town, which draw long lines for the likes of caramelized kimchi sushi rolls (Seoul Food), hot dogs topped with bibim bap slaw (Kimchi BBQ Taco), and bulgogi tacos (Takorean, among many others). The newest face on the global-mobile scene: Wassub, a bright yellow van that started hawking Korean barbecue “fusion subs” just last week.

Co-owners Yongi Yi, Min Sup, and James Choi all grew up together in Fairfax, and collectively spent ten years in a range of restaurants, from eateries in Flushing, Queens, to Momofuku Ssäm Bar in Manhattan. You wouldn’t find any of the subs on David Chang’s menu, but one can imagine the hard-boozing chef chowing happily on the “B” sandwich the morning after. The Korean riff on cheesesteak combines provolone cheese, scrambled egg, griddled kimchi, and bulgogi tenderized in a soy-based marinade that softens the bread like a delicious jus. Another offering, the chicken “sweetie” with pineapple and ham, runs all too true to the name and requires a squirt of spicy Sriracha for balance.

Related:
Meet the Food Trucks of Montgomery County
Dorothy Moon’s Triple Decker Cures Hangovers

Food Editor

Anna Spiegel covers the dining and drinking scene in her native DC. Prior to joining Washingtonian in 2010, she attended the French Culinary Institute and Columbia University’s MFA program in New York, and held various cooking and writing positions in NYC and in St. John, US Virgin Islands.