Marination serves spam sliders!

November 9, 1:17 PMSeattle Lunch ExaminerLara Papadakis

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This Spam is totally worth the weirdness you feel while ordering.

Lara Papadakis

Two words that together make you feel funny: SPAM and SLIDE. Unless of course you're standing in front of the menu at Marination, another favorite of Seattle's new wave of street food vendors. Because somehow, the girls behind the truck handle their spam with love and precision, creating a new classic out of a cult classic.

Interesting combinations come easily to co-owner Kamala Saxton, who is of Hawaiian-Korean descent. She draws heavily from the two cultures to whip up new itineraries for your tongue, then brings you home in familiar envelopes like white mini buns, tortillas or hawaiian sweet rolls. There's the aloha slider, with Hawaiian kalua pork. Sweet and wonderful. Or the kalbi beef taco, with hunks of pungent Korean beef short rib meat, rolled into a cornmeal sleeping bag. Gamey weird-good. And of course the strangely attractive spam sliders. Everything is topped with their distinctive slaw, adding a refreshing crunch to every bite.

Let's talk about the kimchee fried rice. It's just rice, right? It'll assume its typically underdoggish role in your meal, right? Stereotypes like these are exactly what earns this spectacular bowl the Surprise Favorite Award. The key to its success? Saxton is only HALF-Korean. Giving her enough perspective to understand that kimchee can be overwhelmingly kimchee-like to the rest of us. There's just enough in here to keep things interesting, without being indulgent, plus an addictive toothiness to the rice, all christened by the generous outpouring of yolk from the egg on top. Scrumptious.

If that isn't enough to roust you out of your Seattle wintry hibernation cave, just you and your internet, know this: everything is basically $2. Well, enough things to make it absolutely worth the trip. More than once. More than twice. You get the idea.

Marination is braving the winter months, unlike a lot of other vendors. But you'll have to track them down, they relocate all the time. Follow their Twitter feed at @curb_cuisine.