Tianbula

I took today off from the Thanksgiving Sandwich Project since I heard that Bian Dang was giving out a free lunch in connection with the LevelUp app. Originally, I had been thinking of taking the lunch off for the $1 Groupon specials, but there were so few and none of them were nearby, so that idea was quashed fairly quickly. Not only was Bian Dang near me, but the deal sounded easy. Order up to $10, pay with the LevelUp app and you're done! Free!


The free lunches were to launch their new loyalty program on the LevelUp app. I think this is a genius idea. My problem with most of my frequent buyer cards is that I always forget them. But, using the app, it's all on your phone and I always have that with me. What a great idea.


I got the tianbula (fish cake) over rice with extra pork sauce and a tea egg. I had wanted to try the fish cake last time I was at the truck but they ran out, so I figured this was a good time. I was very tempted by the zongzi (as I love zongzi) but I thought I should try something new. Lunch was exactly what I expected, and a nice filling meal. The fish cake meal is usually $8, but I added extra pork sauce and the tea egg and used up the whole $10 credit on the app.


I wasn't sure if I would like the tea egg as I don't usually eat hardboiled eggs. A told me it was similar in taste to the eggs in the zongzi, which I really like, and he was right. I took the first bite of egg and that's exactly what it reminded me of - the delicious egg yolk in the zongzi. Now I want zongzi...


There was definitely an extra serving of pork sauce. Doesn't it look so good? As for the fish, it was interesting. It reminded me a lot of schnitzel.


What a good lunch. I would definitely pay for it... but it's even better for free!

It's so strange to me that, with all the good food available, people still go their generic spots. As I left the truck with my awesome free lunch, I walked by an office building with a large group of people who had just bought sandwiches or salads or something else. Right across the street from their office they could have gotten free food! It's not like there was a long line to avoid or something difficult needed to be done to qualify for the deal. Why would you turn down free Taiwanese food? I obviously wouldn't!