Off the wagon

Location : Burrard and Dunsmuir

This cart used to be better known for frequenting the rounds at the local farmers' markets, but has now been given a Downtown space and a premium one at that, serving some very tall office buildings and shops.

I've tasted their wares before in the form of their pulled pork taco, eaten whilst sat in the car in the middle of January, fingers sticky and Neil watching my every move should I get any juice on the upholstery. I remember thinking it was very good back then, full of slaw, salsa, guacamole and cilantro, classic Mexican, almost a pleasant change from the many hybrid varieties abounding around.

The day we visited, the pulled pork was sold out by 12.30pm. Instead we tried the rotisserie pork, cooked like a donair or shawarma meat, turning and crisping slowly on a vertical rotisserie. If you read my blog at all, you will know that I adore meat that has crisped and browned, crispy probably being the adjective I use the most. This meat was just like that, better than pulled pork, in my opinion, which can sometimes be too wet. It was served simply with guacamole and a choice of either pineapple or tomato salsa. I chose the tomato, Neil the pineapple.

As good as the tacos were, full of (yes), crispy pork with a savoury, spicy seasoning and a tangy tomato or sweet - tart pineapple salsa, I'm beginning to feel taco trucks are saturating the Vancouver food truck scene. Where are the Thai carts, selling curries, fried rice or street foods, serving this kind of food because it's what they know and are good at, (for example). I hate to make comparisons to a major cart city like Portland, but there the carts are much more authentic, food sold by people of that country trying to make a living, not 'what's my concept' from some chef with 'celebrity' status from a stint at a well known restaurant. Of course, we have some carts like this here also and I'm generalising somewhat.

The reason I mention this is because what excites me most about a city like Portland is the opportunity to wander the little cart 'towns' where a dozen or more are nestled together in a parking lot and know that you will be able to try many different types of cuisine from all over the World at very reasonable prices. We have a long ways to go to match a place like this and I'm worried that here in Vancouver we are travelling in the wrong direction.

La Brasserie Street 2

La Brasserie Street 2

Location : Burrard & Georgia

$6.25 for the sandwich $2.00 for the butter tart

The phenomenal success of La Brasserie restaurant and their first food cart was always going to overshadow their next concept, like the difficult second album syndrome. This new cart offers one sandwich only again, as many of the more successful carts do, which allows them to get every aspect just right. This time round we have house smoked chorizo with roasted red peppers in a tomato sauce, topped with rocket (arugula) on a buttermilk bun. 

The sandwich is nice, (what a horrible adjective which I unfortunately can't improve upon). If you are a fan of smoked chorizo, you will enjoy the sweet, earthy taste of the pimenton. The rocket lends a touch of peppery heat, the peppers and tomato sauce a little sweetness and tang, but overall, this isn't a patch on their beer brined chicken. I appreciate that they are trying to compete with the likes of re-up bbq who offer the classic brisket and pulled pork and kudos to La Brasserie for offering different options, but this sandwich is lacking a little substance for me. 

Perhaps another element to add a little crisp or bite such as the crisp fried onions from their first sandwich or a little apple slaw would add a little more interest. Time will tell how they do, which I hope is as well as their other truck. 

The butter tart, (image below), which is touted as the World's best, is incredible. The pastry is flaky and light enough to set off the rich, dense caramel-y filling. (These are available at both of their carts).

Mom's grilled cheese truck

Mom's grilled cheese

Location : Howe & W Georgia

'Classics' $5.50 Additionals: 50c or $1.50 Specials range from $8.50 up

It's not often you are offered free samples while standing in a busy line at a food cart and watching how the people around you react is very interesting. Most people look at each other, the floor or find something exciting to peruse behind them, anywhere but at the person with the piece of sandwich. Nobody wants to be the first or only person to take the offered tidbit. Maybe they feel it would be considered greedy or impolite. 

Well, not me. "Yes please" I usually answer when offered something edible, especially when the server is thrusting it towards the crowd with exasperated cries of  "C'mon, free cheese"! The illuminating sample in question was a piece of the 'Jackson 3', a  gourmet menu item at this new food cart. Sourdough bread with Brie, Boursin and Gruyere melted inside. It was nutty, creamy, cheesy and toothsome. Exactly what you want from grilled cheese.

October seems a strange month for a whole load of new carts to be opening and you would imagine that to survive the Winter months they would have to offer more comfort food standards, exactly as this one is providing. Grilled cheese was a new concept for us Brits coming to Canada, where we are more likely to eat it as an open sandwich, which we call cheese on toast. Either that or a 'toasty', which requires a Breville toasty maker, but never fried in a pan as seems traditional. This truck used a type of panini / toasty making press to grill the bread from both sides. 

We chose a classic combination of marbled rye, cheddar and added a deluxe option of red onion. For $6.50 we had a decent sized lunch complete with thin, crispy potato chips and a dill pickle. Perhaps my choice of bread was a mistake as it seemed a little dark, maybe a touch burnt, but the filling was excellent, melty, savoury cheese and onion still retaining it's bite but slightly softened. Neil and I both agreed that a different choice of bread, maybe sourdough or white and something sweeter and juicier, maybe tomato, would create a better sandwich and the fun is to return and try the many combinations possible.

More offerings : Both deluxe choices with bacon (first image) and red onion and gherkin in the second. 

Coma Food Truck

Coma

Location : W Georgia @ Seymour or Homer

Price: around $7 for each item

Neil finally got his food cart wish today in the form of a burger. A burger with Korean flavours; gochujang sauce, kimchee and pickled daikon. He commented that it was very, very good, different even, he said.

Click on image for a link to the website

This cart used to live far away, necessitating a ride on a sky train. Thankfully for the people of Downtown, they have been granted this new, busier spot. The menu is Korean fusion, but as far as I could see the only deviations away from traditional Korean were the use of bread products: burger buns, tortilla and tacos, oh and I suppose the burger and fries. 

The rest of the menu featured bibimbap, (a rice bowl with lots of separate ingredients to stir in, including beef or pork, jap chae, a Korean noodle dish using cellophane noodles made from potato starch and quesadillas, burritos or seaweed rolls. I chose the tacos and was handed a free bowl of miso while I waited. A nice touch I thought, especially considering how good it was, full of enoki mushrooms and seaweed.

The food did take quite a long time, but to watch the chefs in the back prepare everything to order lessened the frustration. While we waited the owner took a bowl of miso and some burritos into the clothes shop right behind us, imagine how happy they must be to have lunch right on their doorstep.

Neil's burger, an interesting example of fusion, but a no brainer really. A burger can be dressed in any fashion it desires, whether that hails from Mexico, Korea or Chile and in Vancouver we have a very famous Japanese hot dog stand called Japadog that deftly blends hot dogs with Japanese inspired dressings. Like Korean / Mexican tacos, is the Korean burger going to be the next big thing? (They have amazing fried chicken in Korea also).

Tacos. $5 for two. A little on the light side for someone with a big appetite, (like me), but outstanding in the currently saturated field of Korean tacos. Lots of well marinated bulgogi beef, grilled until caramelized and slightly crispy, pickled daikon and kimchee, adding just the right amount of heat, sweetness and crunch. There are several more items I would really like to try and recommend this cart not just because of the food but also for the very friendly owners.

Nostradamus

Location : Granville & W 10th

$7.75 for a sandwich and $5.90 for a hot dog

After commenting to Neil the other day that there are no street carts preparing really good burgers, (to which he replied he would definitely visit if there were), I came across this new cart. The name is strange, sending shivers down my spine, (why name your cart after a legendary prophet of unspeakable bad stuff)? but, the menu is long and varied, at first glance. Offering Chilean style sandwiches or hot dogs with a choice of beef or pork, I was momentarily distracted by the choices as I looked up to see a piece of beef dangling from the end of a pair of tongs, held forth and being offered to me by a man with a big smile. It tasted good, a little chewy as this kind of thinly sliced meat usually is, you know the kind, cooked almost like one continuous strand, but there was no need for the sample to sway me as I was going to buy anyway.

There are about 17 options (as you can see below), choices of toppings you would like to accompany your sandwich or dog. Ranging from bacon, melted cheese, red peppers, green sauce, mayonnaise etc., I was recommended to try the Mediterranean, full of bright green basil and cilantro sauce, but after my healthy first lunch from Num Num, I wanted something sticky and stodgy, so opted for the Rodeo, beef topped with melted cheese, bbq sauce and bacon. I was given a small tub of Chilean salsa as well, to dab on if I required. "it's not hot", said the owner, it wasn't and it added a real fresh zing to the sandwich, which was good, but I found the bbq sauce slightly overpowering with that smoky edge you sometimes get, (or maybe that was the bacon)? Either way, it was a little strong. I would definitely go back, however and try various other combinations, even with Neil who would find this cart the closest 'burger' like offering. The cart had a video playing of Anthony Bourdain's foodie journey to Chile, to promote the food, I suppose. Watching Anthony Bourdain oohing and ahhing over virtually anything he eats with extreme pleasure is a welcome distraction while waiting for your own lunch and has you thinking: 'will this taste as good?'

Num Num

Num Num

Location : Granville Street & W 10th
$7 basic price, additional extras

For this cart and the one following, I embarked on a little journey. Feeling like an intrepid food writer, (I wish), I took two buses to one of  the smartest  areas of the city known as South Granville, just to visit these two carts. I was slightly disappointed at how quiet they both were during the lunchtime period, which was obvious when they showed their delight at seeing me, a customer. The first cart, Num Num (complete with the cutest little superhero graphics) is a definite healthy option among carts, apparent immediately as I looked through the menu. It brands itself as 'Vietnamese fusion for people on the go' and features two proteins; chicken or pork or the vegetarian tofu option. The next choice is regarding how you would like your protein and veggies (no choice) presented. On top of a rice bowl, (with optional fried egg), tucked inside a rice paper wrap, in a baguette or in a tortilla shell. I opted for the rice bowl without the egg and also chose the peanut sauce over the alternative chili vinaigrette. 

The peanut sauce was poured with a scant hand but enough to lend a sweetness and nuttiness that only peanuts can. The pork was curious. I was expecting thin strips, perhaps marinated in lemongrass sauce and grilled until slightly charred on the edges, reminiscent of my local Vietnamese restaurant, but what was served was more like pulled pork with no discernible taste other than of itself. The veggies common to all the dishes were beansprouts, shredded carrot, lettuce and cilantro, very fresh and crisp. The overall effect was indeed what the brand states: Fast, fresh, fusion, very healthy as I mentioned earlier.  Of course, sometimes healthy options unfortunately can be a hindrance to the taste, which can be lacking. Maybe opting for the additional extra of a fried egg on top would have been a good idea, adding an extra texture and possibly some creaminess.