Continuing the theme of my recent Moab trip that I’ve been commenting on the last three days on here, I was just pondering how the best food I found in Moab was at an upscale bistro and at a food truck. Note, these were not the same place. I just mean that one of the best places I ate at was an extremely upscale bistro and the other was a food truck.
The first, the upscale bistro, was the Desert Bistro. Set in what appears to be a converted house, this place was definitely at the upper range of cozy fine dining. The bread served before the meal started was actual fresh-baked and was fancy enough that I can’t even remember all of the ingredients (the dipping sauce was a mix of a vegetable oil I don’t remember, pumpkin seed oil, and lavender seeds). I had the elk tenderloin wrapped in bacon served in a sauce too complex for me to remember. I forget what my wife had, but it involved a 1/4lb prawn. In short, this place was amazing. There were definitely real chefs as opposed to cooks in the back. Gordon Ramsay would have had nothing to complain about.
The food truck was the Quesadilla Mobilla. And, though this was a food truck, it was an upscale food truck. Fresh ingredients, imaginative and tasty quesadillas, this was far from stale sandwiches served by a hairy old guy in a wife beater that somehow has pit stains. It wasn’t the standard food truck experience, but it was still a food truck. This place was so good that we actually ate there twice.
Now, if I had to say what I’m actually going on about here, it would just be that it struck me as funny that the two best places in Moab were a fancy bistro and a food truck. I highly recommend both places, but I do note that the meal at Desert Bistro was about $150 (pre-tip) whereas we went overboard at Quesadilla Mobilla and still only spent $30. I’m not sure why this contrast strikes me as so funny, but it does.
Which would I recommend going to? Well, both. Quesadilla Mobilla is a bit more affordable, but it isn’t sit down fancy and you are limited to quesadillas. Also, it leaves town sometimes when the state park traffic dies down (it has already left town by the time I’m writing this) to roam state fairs and such and may not be around if you aren’t visiting in the summer. Desert Bistro is far pricier, but is worth the money if you have it. Still, I don’t think you can go wrong with either.
