Last week I decided to venture out of my much loved and cherished comfort zone and try Mediterranean food– straight from a food truck– whose most popular dish included lamb. Please, join me as I take a dive into The Halal Gurus, a Mediterranean food truck located at 539 W. Oltorf St in Austin. The dish I decided to review was the combo plate, which contains chicken, gyro, basmati, lettuce, cucumbers, tomatoes, tahini sauce and a spicy red sauce.

Gyro? Basmati? What are you saying? Chill out, it’s just lamb and rice.

To start off, I thought the dish was neatly prepared and looked really tasty. The presentation was pleasing to the eyes, with pops of color from the tomato

es, lettuce, and sauces. I snapped a few shots of the food, and dug in. Immediately after taking my first bite, my taste-buds started bursting from all the different flavors. The basmati rice had hints of nutmeg and cinnamon, unlike anything I had ever tasted before. It was new, different, but nevertheless, it was delicious. The gyro and chicken were cooked perfectly in a tasty fusion, with just the right amounts of juicy-ness, flavor, spice, and everything else. The tomatoes and cucumbers in the salad portion were superbly ripe, giving the overall dish a nice crunch to it. However, I found that the best way to enjoy this Mediterranean dish was to mix it all together and add extra tahini and red sauce.

Although the food was excellent, the location was not very pretty, which prompted me to be iffy on eating here. However, the truck was appealing with its bright yellow paint and shining red name atop. The service was speedy and earned a big thumbs up, only taking about 10 minutes to prepare the cuisine. I give The Halal Gurus four out of five stars, due to location.

And I would definitely recommend this little food truck to anybody willing to take a step out of their comfort zone and try something new and allow themselves to experience this Mediterranean fusion. I know that the men working here are trying to share their culture and show people what they are all about, and they did a fantastic job at doing so. Go give this local business a shot and tip them big, they deserve it.