Giovanni's Shrimp Truck

The best thing about making the trek out to the North Shore isn't the waves. It's not even Matsumoto's. It's Giovanni's Shrimp Truck.

Giovanni's shares a packed parking lot with a couple of other trucks, protected by the shade of humungous trees. The line can get crazy, but persevere, and you shall be rewarded.

Because the menu only has four items, my friends and I naturally ordered everything. I mean, what are we? Shrimps?

First up, the Jumbo Garlic Hot Dog. It's long. It's delicious. It's plump. It's juicy. It's garlicky. It's everything I'd want in a hot dog with a name like that. Beyond that, it's nothing particularly special, but it's a great way to break up all those shrimpy bites.

The "No Refunds" Hot & Spicy Shrimp is spicy in the best way possible. Don't go eating a dozen of these guys without some rice or a few bites of that hot dog. It won't light your face on fire, but it'll get you gasping for some air. The sauce is slightly sweet and lemony, with a heavy hand of garlic. If you're into spicy food, you'll love this dish.

I thought the Lemon Butter Shrimp would be my favorite because I thought the shrimp would shine through the simplicity of this arrangement. While the shrimp was still juicy and flavorful, my first bite lacked the lemon and butter the menu advertised.

Oh, wait. It comes with a side of lemon butter sauce. Yup. It's fantastic.

My favorite, by far, by very very far, was the Shrimp Scampi. If you don't like garlic, please excuse yourself from this post, because this plate comes with a ton of it. The shrimp is marinated in olive oil, garlic, and that delicious lemon butter. On top of just regular heaps of garlic are special, caramelized heaps of garlic. The shrimp, like all the other dishes, was perfectly plump and incredibly meaty. I felt like I was eating a shrimp three times the size of a normal shrimp. Then I realized that it was probably because I ate three of my four allotted shrimp without taking a single breath. Holy shrimp, this was shrimping good.

What makes anything you order especially amazing is the side of two scoops of rice topped with buttery, lemony, caramelized garlic. If you're watching your carbs, don't. Unless you have a good excuse. But seriously, calculate at least one scoop of this rice into your carb count for the day.

When the battlefield settled, there wasn't a single morsel of meat left in any of the shrimps' shells. The only remnants of what we had just experienced was under our fingernails. Our oh-so-tasty fingernails. I washed my hands with hesitance, and eventually, absolute regret.

My friends and I left crying from the joy of deliciousness and the sadness of leaving the truck. I could go on and on about how we attempted to plan another trip up to the North Shore just for this truck and how I started to crave this shrimp at least every subsequent Sunday, but...

Enough said.

Giovanni's Shrimp Truck

56-505 Kamehameha Hwy

Kahuku, HI 96731

(808) 293-1839

http://www.giovannisshrimptruck.com/

GET: Shrimp Scampi. Followed by the "No Refunds" Hot & Spicy Shrimp. Followed by some Lemon Butter Shrimp to cool things off. And then more Shrimp Scampi.