Albert T.
Yelp
The aroma of sizzling meat tantalized our noses well before we ever reached the blue capped tent of Carrillo's Caldo, situated in the middle of Marine Park in Juneau. As we rounded the corner southbound on Marine Way, we saw a cloud of smoke wafting in the wind, and a huge line of people. Would we join it? Of course; the smell was too good to pass up. The line ended up taking about 20 minutes, and soon afterwards we sat down at a nearby picnic table to eat.
Combo 1 ($19) - This combo dish comes with two skewers and rice. We went with one of each skewer:
Chicken Skewer - Fantastic char on the exterior with blackened almost charcoal-like crunchy bits, but no burnt acridity at all. The skewer is covered with a supremely tasty sweet and savory glaze. The caramelized glaze penetrates every bite of the meat. The chicken is a little dry, but the flavor is phenomenal. (5/5)
Pork Skewer - Similar to the chicken, great char, great flavor, but unfortunately the meat on this skewer is a little too far gone in terms of moisture. It's almost like eating a pork jerky given how desiccated the meat is. (4/5)
The rice is not good. It's very undercooked with a disturbingly firm texture, making it difficult to eat. The only way we could stomach eating it was liberally pouring condiments on top. Luckily, the truck has a plethora of condiments to choose from. There's white vinegar, spicy apple cider-ish vinegar, and plenty more. Even with all the flavor enhancements, we ended up not finishing the rice. (1/5)
We also ended up ordering dessert here:
Karioka ($5) - Pretty nice sweet skewer... or at least it would be if it had been fresh. I could tell that the inside used to be bouncy since it seems to be made from glutinous rice flour. It's fried, so there's a doughy chew as well, but it's too far on the firm side, indicating lack of freshness. It does have a good coconut flavor and the outside is nicely sweetened. I think the exterior used to have a crisp sugar shell ala tanghulu, but again it's softened by the passing of time and moisture degrading the dessert. Still, it's tasty enough and nice to eat. (3/5)
If I'm ever in Juneau again, I'd visit Carrillo's again, but for the chicken skewers only! I would definitely not get anything containing rice again. Maybe Filipinos like their rice undercooked and hard, but not me!