Chinese Food Truck Satiates Famished Students

Some Cantabrigians are surprised to see Chinese food sold out of a truck on Oxford Street.

But Jack X. Yang, who owns and operates Chinese Kitchen, thinks it's only natural.

"There are many pizza trucks, sub trucks," he said. "And many people like Chinese cuisine."

Yang first put his meals on wheels five years ago, when he parked his truck near the Law School and sold his wares to hungry law students.

The truck moved to its current spot near 42 Oxford St. early this summer because of construction of the Maxwell-Dworkin building, according to officials at the University Parking Office.

Yang said he feels a special tie to Harvard because of his largely University-affiliated clientele.

"We devoted ourselves to the Harvard community," he said. "We're here Friday, Saturday, even holidays. Some days we don't have transmission, so we tow it here and tow it back."

The truck's hours of operation are Monday through Saturday, 11:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.

Many Law School and Divinity School students are daily customers of the truck, according to Yang.

"Even before they come we already have food prepared for them," Yang said.

Manoj S. Mate, a first-year law student, said he eats there "almost every day."

"I usually get tofu with fried rice or shrimp with fried rice," he said.

But Yang does not prepare Mate's dish in advance.

"He doesn't know my name yet," Mate said.

Ian Shapiro, a first-year law student, said he objects to one of Yang's mannerisms. "If he thinks you're interested in the Mideast truck he'll give you a dirty look," Shapiro said.

A competing truck which sells Middle Eastern cuisine often parks near Chinese Kitchen.

Likit Q. Kittisakdinan, a second-year graduate student who frequents the truck, said he appreciates Yang's style of service.

"I like that he's always in a good mood," he said.

But Kittisakdinan said that he did not like the food.

"They put too much MSG in it," he said. "I feel kind of sick afterwards."

Kittisakdinan said that he is a returning customer because "there's no other truck around."

He added that it serves "the cheapest Asian food in the area, in terms of quantity."

But not every dish prepared at the Chinese Kitchen contains the food additive, and Kittisakdinan said he has experimented with other menu options.

"Sometimes I order everything steamed, but it gets kind of boring after a while," he said.

Yang said that his offerings contain monosodium glutamate because "we couldn't find soy sauce without it."

But the Chinese Kitchen does have a low-fat menu of "Granny-style" dishes, which are popular, according to Yang. "We say that Granny's very busy," he said.

Ulf Fuerloin, a graduate student who said he eats there at least five days a week, did his part to bring Yang's business into the information age.

Fuerloin and David S. Patterson '97 co-wrote a Web page dedicated to the business.

"We were frequent patrons of the foodtruck and thought making a Web page would be fun," Fuerloin wrote in and e-mail.

"We've gotten a lot of hits and many comments from alums who remember the food truck fondly," he added.

The address of their Web page is www.doylegroup.harvard.edu/foodtruck/. The truck is affiliated with the Allston Village Buffet, a Chinese restaurant on Harvard Avenue in Allston that features a lobster dinner buffet.

The restaurant owns another truck which parks daily near the Medical School in Boston.