Caribbean-Latino food heavenly as a breeze in Austin
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Photo: Asher Price/Axios
Asher recently happened upon the delicious Caribbean-Latino food at Nyam Sunshine, a truck stationed in the charming grounds of Ani’s Day and Night in southeast Austin.
Picture colorfully painted picnic tables beneath strings of Christmas lights with planters of elephant ear and bamboo.
Operated by a married couple — Chris is Jamaican, and Yadira is Honduran — the food truck opened in July and serves dishes inflected with fresh, tropical flavors.
- It's a family operation: 11-year-old Gideon helps cover the weekend lunch shift, and 15-year-old Jocelyn runs the cash register some nights. Chris tells Asher that nyam means "eat" in Jamaican Patois. Jolly and genial, he wishes everyone an "irie day."
What to get: The corn fritters were perfectly crisped, and Salvadoran red beans stewed beautifully. A "sunshine slaw" was crunchy, and the grilled coconut shrimp — marinated in a guajillo-coconut milk adobo and served with diced mango — were juicy and delectable.
As a side, try the Caribbean street corn — corn on the cob dipped in a spicy coconut broth — and finish with a key lime tartlet, a kind of pillow on which your stomach can nap.
Close your eyes and you could feel a beach-side breeze.
Next time, Asher wants to try the curried, bone-in goat with habanero mustard sauce; the Yawdy taco — jerk chicken served with grilled guava, sunshine slaw and corn salsa; or maybe the Roatán — achiote marinated tilapia with guacamole, smoky red pepper mayo, escabeche and pickled red onion.
If you go: Nyam is open Tuesdays through Saturdays from 11am-3pm and 4:30-9pm and on Sundays from 11am-3pm.
Pro tip: Inside the old, brightly lit home that serves as a bar at Ani’s, grab a Tequila Me Softly, essentially a grapefruit-lime frozen margarita, or a refreshing, mint-hibiscus iced tea — each pairs nicely with the Nyam menu.