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Food Carts

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Takenaka Food Truck has hit the road serving up Japanese Izakaya in Vancouver. If you love places like Suika, Rajio, Kingyo, or Raisu, you’ll also love Takenaka Food Truck.

They have been very very popular since they just opened, so be prepared for a bit of a line up, but it’s worth it. Takenaka Food Truck is usually located outside a brewery on Fridays to Sundays. It is always best to follow them on Instagram to see where they will be next.

We were invited to check out a few items from their food truck menu.

Menu

Chicken Karaage

The crispy chicken karaage is mixed with their special spice mixture. It was beautifully fried, so it had a nice crisp exterior. The chicken was very tender and full of flavour.

Ebimayo

The ebimayo is made with large plump tiger prawns in a rich and creamy Japanese chilli mayo. We felt like there was a bit too much batter to it, so it took a way from the prawns.

Snow Crab Roll

This roll has snow crab meat, avocado, and tobiko wrapped in rice and seaweed. It was a solid roll and you can really taste the quality.

Wagyu Shabu Shabu Udon

This bowl of comforting udon has thinly sliced boiled beef, radish sprouts. seasoned boiled egg, yuzu zest, Sanuki udon noodle, and their original udon broth. It was a pretty good bowl of udon and that wagyu is really soft and tender.

Wagyu Foie Gras Aburi Nigiri

This has a slice of wagyu nigiri topped with foie gras, truffle salt, and SANSHO sauce. It was so damn good! It was fatty and so tasty that it just melt in your mouth.

Final Thoughts

Overall, we find this is a fantastic option for Japanese Izakaya if you’re ever at a brewery or special event. The food is fantastic and pairs so well with beer. Highly recommend you check it out.

Best to go early before the large rush arrives so you aren’t waiting in line for too long.

Website:
https://takenakavancouver.com/menus/menu-food-truck/

The area around The Amazing Brentwood has transformed a lot in the last few years and will continue evolving to bring more people into the area. The latest event to pop up is the Brentwood Great Takeout, a Food Truck Festival presented by Grosvenor and organized by the Greater Vancouver Food Truck Festival.

With the Covid-19 pandemic, it’s not your ordinary food truck festival, but a adapted version to keep safe with their families.

This festival will now taking place weekly every Saturday until September 26 from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. on part of Grosvenor’s latest development site in Burnaby. The ‘Brentwood Great Takeout’ series is part of Brentwood Community Days presented by Grosvenor and demonstrates the developer’s commitment to building engaging and meaningful public spaces.

I personally loves these types of event happening in our city as it brings our community together and makes it more lively, plus it makes the neighbourhood much more tasty.

The food trucks do rotate, so make sure to check back weekly on the Greater Vancouver Food Truck Festival website.

We were invited to check out the food trucks at the Brentwood Great Takeout.

Parking

There is complimentary parking available if you decide to drive. There is also lots of public transportation options like the Brentwood Skytrain Station and buses.

Safety

To ensure your family’s safety, hand sanitizers are offered at the entrance and wearing masks are highly encouraged. They limit the amount of people into the festival, one way entry, and social distancing.

Also, note you can’t eat on the premises.

Food and Drink

As the food trucks do rotate weekly, keep an eye on their website to see if your favourite food truck is at the Brentwood Great Takeout. When we were here, we got to check out:

  • Salt Spring Noodle Bar
  • Wing’s Outdoor Grill
  • Indian Delicacy
  • Slavic Rolls
  • Los Tacos Hermanos 
  • Lenny’s Lemonade
  • Betty’s Greek Honey Ballz – Loukoumades 

I personally loved Betty’s Greek Honey Ballz – Loukoumades and Indian Delicacy (butter chicken poutine is amazing).

Indian Delicacy – Platter
Betty’s Greek Honey Ballz – Loukoumades 
Slavic Rolls with Strawberry and Barvarian Cream
Wing’s Outdoor Grill – Salt and Pepper Wings
Indian Delicacy – Butter Chicken Poutine
Los Tacos Hermanos  – Fish Tacos
Salt Spring Noodle Bar – Teriyaki Chicken and Veggie
Lenny’s Lemonade – Pink Lemonade and Blue Raspberry Lemonade

Final Thoughts

Overall, it’s a quick stop to grab some food. You can’t eat inside the event area, so you’ll have to eat it somewhere close by or take it home. We opted to grab it all to go and enjoy it at home as we live close by.

Address:
 2150 Alpha Avenue, Burnaby

Website:
https://greatervanfoodtruckfest.com/events/

Santapan Indonesian Grill is the latest food truck to launch in Vancouver. They are currently just waiting for a few permits before hitting the road, but we got a sneak peak of the truck and the menu.

Once they get all their permits, they are planning to be in Kitsilano on West 4th. As they have a commercial kitchen to prep all their food, their dishes and drinks are available for pick up and delivery through UberEats, DoorDash, and FanTuan 饭团.

Sustainability is top of mind, so all their bowls and utensils are compostable/recyclable. The menu is simple and customizable to your taste. love how they use healthier ingredients like fresh vegetables, olive oil (instead of canola), Himalayan pink salt, organic chicken, and no MSG to name a few.

Menu

You first choose the types of dish you want – rice bowl, wrap or salad. Then your choice of chicken, steak or tempeh skewers.

Bali Bowl

The Bali Bowl is the works with coconut rice. It also has romaine lettuce, carrots, edamame, cucumber, green beans, baked potato, radish coins, boiled egg, and standard sauces (Peanut Parti, Sumatra Spice, and Surabaya Citrus).

It’s bigger and more filling compared to the salad. The coconut rice is so good and fragrant. Everything was cooked perfectly.

Gado Gado Salad

The Gado Gado Salad is the works on salad. It also has romaine lettuce, carrots, edamame, cucumber, green beans, baked potato, radish coins, boiled egg, and standard sauces (Peanut Parti, Sumatra Spice, and Surabaya Citrus).

It’s the healthier option compared to the Bali Bowl. Still tastes great.

Roti Wrap

The roti wrap has everything in a whole wheat wrap minus the baked potato. If you’re looking for a grab and go option that isn’t messy, this is it. It’s handheld with no mess. You’ll probably be about the same fullness from the Bali Bowl too.

Chicken and Steak Skewers

Both the chicken and steak skewers are nicely seasoned in bite-sized pieces. During our visit, we did find it was a touch overdone as we would have liked it to be softer and tender.

Tempeh Skewers

This is the vegan option if you do not want any meat. It’s essentially fermented soybeans. It’s not bad at all. Good texture and flavour to go with your meal.

Indo Ice Coffee

This drink has cold brew coffee, coconut milk, and lightly sweetened. Very light and refreshing. The layers are very distinct and the green pandan syrup give is an excellent aroma that pairs with the coffee.

Jakarta Jelly

This dink has organic Indonesian cold brew coffee, coconut milk, grass jelly, and lightly sweetened. It’s a unique drink that you don’t see often. This drink has the addition of the grass jelly.

Final Thoughts

I love seeing the new wave of food trucks opening in Vancouver. Santapan Indonesian Grill gives us a new twist on Indonesian flavours for the West Coast all packaged in a compact food truck.

The sauces can have a kick of spice to it, so if you want a different spice level, definitely ask them for their recommendation.

If you see them rolling around town, definitely give them a try.

Website:
https://www.santapan.ca/

Chai Wagon is that adorable cart at Commercial-Broadway Skytrain serving their delicious hot chai, sweets, and snacks. As people are staying at home, Shivam, the founder of Chai Wagon had to innovate fast. They have decided to close the cart for the time being and focus on delivery.

This is where the Chai Box was born and it comes straight to your door.

Chai Box

The Chai Box is 96oz for $20. It can last 7 days and be served hot or cold. This comes in their signature ginger and cardamom chai.

The chai is very smooth and has strong notes of the ginger and cardamom. They hand grind the spices so they really stand out. I’ve had lot of Chai from other restaurants before but this will definitely wake you up. If you love ginger, you’ll really really enjoy this.

Vegan Chai Box

They have a Vegan Chai box made with an oat milk base for $30 a box.

Contactless Delivery

Delivery is free for orders of $50 and up in Greater Vancouver.

How Order

There are a few ways you can order your Chai Box.

Supporting Health Care Workers

For every 5 boxes sold, they will be donating 1 to Vancouver General Hospital for their front line workers to enjoy. A great way for them to give back.

Final Thoughts

If you’re looking for chai delivered to you or sent to someone else as a gift, Chai Wagon has got you covered. It’s delicious and definitely warms you up with the spices.

Website:
https://chaiwagon.com/

Walnut Cake and Mini Taiyaki Food Truck is located in Hanin Village of Coquitlam on North Road. This is the same plaza where H Mart is located. I’ve see Walnut Cake and Mini Taiyaki Food Truck many times but I usually don’t have cash with me, so I always tell myself I need to visit.

Today, I finally had some cash and saw them open, so I decided to go grab some as a pre-dinner snack.

Menu

Walnut Cake (호두과자 hogugwaja)

I went with the 7 pieces for $5 as it’s a good size to share with the family. It is filled with red bean in the centre. The walnut cafe was soft and squishy with the mixture of red bean in the centre. It was good and not too sweet.

Mini Taiyaki (붕어빵 Bungeoppang)

These mini taiyaki are really cute and they are filled with custard on the inside. At 10 for $5, it’s not a bad price either. The custard filling was very delicious. It was also soft, squishy, and looks very cute.

Final Thoughts

Overall, Walnut Cake and Mini Taiyaki Food Truck is pretty good. I know a lot of people will ask how it compares to Kim’s Korean Waffles & Pancakes across the street and it’s all comes down to personal taste. I like my waffles crunchy, so I gravitate towards Kim’s. My family likes the softer waffles, so they like Walnut Cake and Mini Taiyaki Food Truck.

While you’re here, you might as well go to both places.

Address:
329 North Rd, Coquitlam, BC

NaMì Food Cart is located in the heart of Downtown Vancouver right by the City Centre Station on the Canada Line. It’s bright and blue so you can’t miss it. They specialize in Banh Mi and vermicelli bowls as those are their 2 main types of items they offer.

We were invite to check out a few of their signature items.

What are the hours?

It can vary, so best to check out their website for the weekly schedule.

Menu

Chasu Pork Belly Banh Mi

This banh mi comes with pickled carrots and daikon, cucumber, mayo & pate, pork belly, hoisin glaze, and spring onions. The pork belly has a good portion size and the flavour was really nice with the hoisin glaze. It didn’t feel too greasy either.

The price is a tad high, but then again, this is located in Downtown.

Garlic Beef Vermicelli Bowl

Garlic Beef vermicelli bowl comes with shredded cabbage, bean sprouts, pickled carrots and daikon, cucumber, mixed herbs, garlic beef, vermicelli, and a Vietnamese herb dressing.

There is quite a bit of dressing that comes with the bowl, but good thing it’s on the side. The garlic beef has a very strong taste of garlic which is nice for this bowl, but it felt greasy because of all the oil in the herb dressing.

The herbs were very nice and vibrant to freshen up the bowl. Make sure to grab a bit of everything to get all the flavours in one bite. The pieces of beef could be a bit bigger and meatier.

Final Thoughts

The menu item seems a bit fusion to fit with what Vancouverites are looking for. The food quality was good for a food cart as a grab and go option. The price is a bit high compared to what you would find at a Vietnamese restaurant especially for Banh mi.

It’s great for the area as it give people more options in the Downtown core. Plus, working in Downtown, I know how important it is to get something quick and delicious.

Location:
Granville St &, W Georgia St (Weekdays)

Website:
http://www.namivietnamese.com/

I love little hidden gems in Metro Vancouver. I’ve been on the look out for Kim’s Korean Waffles and Pancakes but didn’t get a chance to until I was on Maternity leave. I never knew the hours until I finally spotted the stand.

Ever since spotting this place, I love to stop for a snack whenever I go grocery shopping.

Where are they located?

They are located beside Han Nam Grocery Store on North Road. If you don’t see them, the cart is just under the main stair to go to the second level.

What are the hours?

Monday – Thursday: 11am – 6pm
Friday and Saturday: 11am – 7pm
Sunday: Closed

Menu

Korean Waffles

The Korean Waffles come in 3 flavours:

  • Red Bean
  • Custard
  • Vegetables

The exterior is nice and crisp when freshly made. The inside is hot and has the beautiful filling inside. Of the 3 flavours, I loved red bean the most. Second was custard and third was the veggies.

Pancakes

The pancakes start off as a ball of dough will filling inside. They comes in two flavours:

  • Sweet Rice Pancake: Brown Sugar, Cinnamon, and Peanuts
  • Vegetable Pancake: Savoury Mixed Vegetables

The pancakes are more oily than the waffles as its cooked in oil. Texture is very different as well. Of the two flavours, the Sweet Rice Pancake was my favourite. Can’t go wrong with brown sugar and cinnamon.

Final Thoughts

Overall, I love the Korean Waffles shaped like fish because it’s made fresh and the exterior is still crisp. As for the pancakes, they were a bit too oily for my liking, but the Korean sweet rice pancakes were still decent.

Address:
4501 North Rd, Burnaby, BC 

Inspired by Guns N Roses, an American Rock and Roll Band, Dogs N Roses is not a band, but a Food Truck serving up fusion gourmet hot dogs with no boundaries. We’ve seen the classic Hot Dog vendors around Downtown, then Japanese inspired Hot Dogs were a trend, now Dogs N Roses is spicing things up at parties, local events, weddings, etc. Mostly you can find them at Moody Ales in Port Moody.

We caught Dogs N Roses in Coquitlam when they invited us to try their menu.

Menu

House Made Pork Smokie

This is a house made Italian pork smokie on an organic brioche bun, served with kimchi mayo, red onions, black sesame, Furikake sprinkles, fried onions and green apple pearls. This was our favourite of all the hot dogs as it was juicy and tasty.

Beef Wiener

Like the other hot dogs, this is in an organic brioche bun with organic sauerkraut, dijon mustard and fried onions. This also comes with mayo, green onions, fried onions and pearls. It was good but was a tad salty.

Spicy Bulgogi Chorizo

This Spicy Bolgogi Chorizo hot dog has sesame coleslaw, green onions, gochujang mayo, pineapple pearls and cilantro. It definitely has a nice amount of heat to this hot dog.

House Made Pork Kebab

The house made pork Kebab is essentially a burger with with artichoke sumac cheese, green onions, asian sesame coleslaw and yogurt pearls. It’s a good size but a bit messy to eat as there coleslaw falls out easily, but it does add a nice crunch to this. The yogurt pearls were a bit odd for us as it adds a tang of sweetness.

Poutine

This has crispy coated fries with five spice gravy, cheese curds, fresh house made kimchi, Szechuan and black sesame mayo, topped with green onions, fried onions and cilantro.

There is a little bit of everything in this poutine so it’s not traditional at all. As you can see by the options that it’s very extra. The taste does lean towards the spicy and salty side. We felt that there was a bit too much going on. We did like the fries as the base, so we would definitely get regular fries next time instead.

Final Thoughts

If you see Dogs N Roses around town, definitely check them out as they are pretty unique for their unconventional hot dogs. All of they fo come with a lot of sauce and toppings. The sweet pearls are the ones you find at frozen yogurt places which is very interesting but not that bad. I wouldn’t have ever thought it would work together.

The buns & dogs are really good, but all the sauces makes the bun soggy if you don’t eat it right away. Also, quite messy to eat as they all came with mayo, green onions, fried onions and pearls.

We would recommend the house made pork smokie, half sauce if they can, no white onion and a side of fries. If you spot them at places like Moody Ales, it goes great with a ice cold beer.

Website:
https://www.dogsnrosestruck.com

Location:
Varies

Fumi’s Kahuku Shrimp serves up freshly cooked shrimp adjacent to their farm. A lot of people frequent this stretch of highway for the variety of Kahuku shrimp sold by a lot of different food trucks. Giovanni’s is definitely the most popular option. Our tour guide took us to Fumi’s instead.

Seating Area

The seating area has rows of picnic tables to handle large amount of visitors.

Butter Garlic Shrimp

There are about 8 pieces of Kahuku Shimp, rice drench in the garlic butter sauce, pineapple and salad.

Spicy Garlic Shrimp

This is similar to the butter garlic shrimp, but with their spicy sauce. I loved it as it has a spicy kick and has loads of delicious garlic. The shrimp aren’t really large, but they were fresh and sweet.

Final Thoughts

The meals were filling and if you come from a place that doesn’t have fresh shrimp available, you’ll love Kahuku shrimp from the source.

We rate Fumi’s Kahuku Shrimp

Address:
56-777 Kamehameha Hwy, Kahuku, HI

The Halal Guys is a food cart on the south-east corner of 53rd Street and Sixth Avenue in the borough of Manhattan in New York. When we were in New York, we made sure to go to the right place to get some authentic Halal Guys. There are a lot of other copycat carts in the area, so make sure you’re at the right one.

We saw so many on the same street that we were confused. But we did end up at the correct place. The line moves pretty quickly as the staff are super efficient. Make sure you have cash on you as it’s cash only.

You can eat your meal on some benches close to the carts or you can take it back to the office.

Beef Platter

There is your choice of meat, salad, rice and bread. Initially we wanted the lamb but they apparently stopped serving it, so beef it was. It’s a pretty large meal for lunch, but it’s worth the price. The beef was deliciously spiced.

 

All meals come with your choice of red of white sauce. The white sauce is delicious like a mild ranch sauce, while the red sauce is really spicy hot sauce. Use the hot sauce sparingly as it’s like an inferno and we can usually handle out spices.

All that sauce!

Chicken Platter

The platter is the same but the meat is different as I chose chicken.The chicken was ok, but I would have liked it to be a bit more moist and hot.

To get best of both worlds, you can get a platter with both beef and chicken.

We Rate The Halal Guys

Address:
South West corner of 53rd Street and Sixth Avenue

Website:
https://thehalalguys.com

I have a HUGE sweet tooth so I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to try out the chimney cakes at The Praguery. It was the perfect treat after a day of writing exams (as I was wrapping up my program at RED Academy). The truck was parked in the heart of Olympic Village Square, near the giant birds. I brought along my classmate and friend, Vanessa Shakespeare, and she took the awesome photos you’ll see in this post. Thanks girl!

Upon arrival of the food truck, we were greeted by friendly staff and Jaro (short for Jaroslav), the President and Owner of The Praguery. I could quickly see his passion for his food truck, as he started to explain how the chimney cakes (also know as “Trdelnik”, a popular Czech dessert) they make in the truck are baked fresh daily. He showed us as he started to bake a chimney cake, and we watched in anticipation as the raw, yellow dough turned a perfect golden brown. The chimney cake is then dusted and covered with cinnamon sugar.

We watched patiently as one of his staff members filled the chimney cake with premium soft-serve vanilla ice cream, and topped it off with strawberry compote and premium strawberry sauce. The chimney cake has now become a Strawberry Prague’s Cone. The size of this treat is quite substantial and makes it perfect for sharing, unless you’re the type that doesn’t like to share dessert!

I obviously shared this with Vanessa, and we both enjoyed it! The Prague’s Cone was slightly crisp on the outside, but perfectly doughy on the inside. The cone had a hint of lemon flavour, which was complemented by the cinnamon sugar coating. The premium soft-serve vanilla ice cream was very smooth and creamy. The strawberry compote and sauce added a slightly tart contrast to the overall sweetness of the Prague’s Cone. I made sure I ate enough of the vanilla ice cream before taking bites of the cone, which came of in the direction of the cone’s spiral. This made it really fun to eat!

Jaro also offered me a simple chimney cake with a lemon curd filling. The lemon curd had a bright citrus flavour, which is a good option for people whose sweet tooth isn’t as big as mine.

I asked Jaro how long he The Praguery has been in business, and he stated that it has been a year, with the truck in operation a little over a month now. He started out with a chimney cake booth at the Vancouver Christmas Market at Jack Poole Plaza. After customers tried the chimney cakes and enjoyed them, people told Jaro that he should consider having a truck, and here he is today! Jaro is proud to offer this unique and delicious treats, and a Prague’s Cone is perfect for cooling off on a hot summer day.

Lookout for Jaro and The Praguery, which is his eye-catching aqua blue food truck. You can find out where the food truck will be located next on the Street Food App.

Location: Varies

Websitehttp://praguery.com/

The Praguery Menu, Reviews, Photos, Location and Info - Zomato

Teapressu is a mobile trailer that sells bubble tea drinks on the go. I was passing by with a friend and had to make a U-Turn to get here. I’ve never seen a bubble tea food truck, so we had to come here for a visit.

They have hot and cold drinks available. What I like most is their ability to customize your drinks by selecting the sweetness level and ice level. Similar to some other bubble tea shop around town.

There is no bubble tea shop near my work area, so I was really excited to check this place out.

Grass Jelly Milk Tea with half sweetness and minimal ice. It was really good. I usually order this when I go to a new place to see how it compares. They made a great milk tea and I would recommend this place. The grass jelly is delicious as well.

My friend got the cold honey lemon with no sweetness. Very brave, but she’s on a pretty minimal sugar diet. She did say she enjoyed it.

Red Bean Matcha Milk Tea is what a few people recommended to me. They suggested 100% sweetness to counteract the matcha as it is slightly bitter. It was good but I still really enjoyed their milk tea. Does that make me basic?

Final Thoughts

I gotta say, I did really enjoy their bubble tea. If you see them around town, definitely give them a try. I would highly recommend their milk teas. You can taste the difference in the teas and ingredients they use.

We Rate Teapressu

Address:
Varied

Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/Teapressu-1674957589488689/

Teapressu Menu, Reviews, Photos, Location and Info - Zomato

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YVR Food Fest was this weekend on Aug 6th and 7th. Vancouver has a vibrant food truck scene and where else can you get the city’s best food trucks and a few eateries all in one place? Right by Olympic Village and the Cambie St. Bridge is where the YVR Food Fest is located.

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There were various types of tickets available:

  • General Admission
  • Taster Ticket
  • The Big Feast

With all these different types of tickets, it was a little bit confusing especially if you have the taster tickets.

If you have general admission tickets, you can just order that regular items off the food trucks menu.

I was invited to the YVR Food Fest and given a few taster tickets to use for the event, so the items seem in this recap are of the taster items.

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With all the food trucks and vendors here, not all of them accept the tasting tickets. Most vendors have 1 item available on the tasting menu, a small item that gives you a taste of what they have to offer.

Seating

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They have a few picnic tables and tented seating to keep people shaded from the hot sun. We didn’t have any problems finding a space since there would be a lot of movement in the area.

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The Original Hurricane Potato

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The Original Hurricane Potato truck had mini version of their spiral potatoes for the tasting. Very cute and pint sized.

C’est Si Bon

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C’est si bon has their regular menu filled with their French inspired menu with sliders, beef bourguignon, salad, and pastries.

For the tasting tickets, you can get a mini item of something on the menu. My friend got the beef bourguignon and I went with the beef slider. It’s so cute. Taste was pretty meh.

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Le Tigre

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Le Tigre has always been a fan favourite for having their kick ass rice bowl. For their tasting tickets, they had miniature rice bowls with fried chicken and a delicious sauce on top. There are some red chilis in it to give it a nice kick.

Mom’s Grilled Cheese

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Mom’s Grilled Cheese severs up delectable grilled cheese sandwiches around town. For their taster, they had pickle and cheese in a blanket. Definitely a different than what they normally serve but it was interesting.

Fliptop Filipino Fusion

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Fliptop Filipino Fusion Food Truck has delicious items. One item I love its their Flippin Adobo ‘Fili’ Cheesesteak.

Their tasting was the Longanisa Wonton Cups with sweet cured pork, salsa, calamansi sweet chilli sauce, and pea shoots.

Tacofino

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Tacofino has food trucks serving up their delicious tacos and burritos.

Their tasting item was the Walking Taco has chorizo, bean dip, cheese sauce, cilantro and corn chips. This reminded me of a Frito pie. It was pretty different that what is on their regular menu.

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Kafka’s Coffee and Tea

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Kafka’s Coffee and Tea has a food truck roaming around town serving up cold drinks on tap.

  • nitro cold brew coffee
  • nitro cold brew tea
  • rosemary lemonade
  • ginger beer from Dickies
  • salted caramel ice cream sandwiches

I grabbed a ginger beer and it had a good amount of ginger kick to it.

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Amoda Tea

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Amoda Tea had their pop-up tea shop at the YVE Food Feast. They had a bunch of matcha drinks for sale.

I went with the iced matcha tea with no added syrups. Very good and refreshing for the hot weather.

Eastside Flea

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The Eastside Flea is a modern day flea market hosting local vendors selling handmade craftsmen goods, vintage clothing, antiques & collectibles, and plants.

A pretty cool addition to to the YVR Food Fest with a little bit of shopping.

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Overall, it is a fun event to enjoy a bunch of food carts all in one place. If you live or work outside of Vancouver, spotting food carts is pretty hard since most of the carts are in Vancouver or at special events. This event is a good chance to catch them all.

Try to get there earlier as lines can get quite long to get inside the food fest or waiting at the food trucks for your food.

Beside just having food, there is live music, games, cocktail/beer garden, and a few other things.

Websitehttp://www.yvrfoodfest.com/

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Tacofino has made waves in Vancouver with amazing fresh tacos and burritos. I’ve been to all of the Tacofino locations in Vancouver, but since I was in Tofino, I had to see where it all started.

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West Coast tacos and burritos were screaming for us. The truck wasn’t open yet, but it already had a line up.

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On the menu, you have burritos, tacos, gringas, drinks and soups.

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Not sure what the menu means? There’s a little FAQ to help people navigate the menu.

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The line up is pretty constant, but don’t be turned off by it, the food is worth it.

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Choco-Banana Licuados is their milkshake and it has a good balance of the banana and chocolate. It’s a bit filling too, so M and I shared it so we could eat more food.

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Tuna-Ta Taco has seared albacore tuna with wasabi-mayo, seaweed salad, and pickled ginger. Really delicious, but this will set you back $6.50 per taco. Expensive, but very delicious.

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Fish Taco uses tempura ling cod with cabbage and fresh salsa on top.

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Look at that crisp fish taco inside. Once you bite inside, you get the crunchiness of the cod and all that delicious salsa.

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They also have different hot sauce on the table if you need an extra kick in your taco, put a few dashes in there.

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The burritos are all wrapped up, so its easy to get it to go. We grabbed a few and took it back to our hotel.

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Crispy Chicken Burrito reminded me of chicken karaage. It also has guac in it. I couldn’t say no to guacamole.

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Fish burrito has that big chunk of cod inside. Delicious as well. One of the less heavier choices.

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Pork Burrito was good as well. The pulled pork and those beans make it a very filling item to get.

Overall, the food is good and the burrito gets the best bang for your buck since you need at least 2 tacos to be full. You can still get the same good stuff in Vancouver, but if you haven’t had Tacofino before, give it a try. You really can’t go wrong with any items on the menu.

We Rate Tacofino4rated

Address:
1184 Pacific Rim Hwy,Tofino, BC

Website:
http://tacofino.com/

Tacofino Cantina Menu, Reviews, Photos, Location and Info - Zomato

jiggers-2

The first thing we did in Ucluelet was to pay a visit to Jiggers Fish and Chips for lunch. They are known for their Fish and Chips with locally caught fish. With the ocean so close and great produce nearby, it’s a no brainer to use the freshest ingredients possible.

Do note they are cash only. My friends went to the closest Co-op grocery store and grabbed some gum and requested cash back. A good trick to avoid ATM fees.

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Their Fish and Chips truck has a permanent spot on Peninsula Road near Bay Street. There are picnic tables inside and outside, so if it’s windy/rainy, you can head inside where there are rest rooms too.

There is also a large parking lot, so plenty of room for vehicles.

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The catch of the day was cod. In addition to fish and chips, they have burgers, hot dogs, corn dogs, and chicken fingers.

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My friends got the one piece fish and chips, it is also served with homecut fries, coleslaw, tartar sauce and a wedge of lemon.

The one piece is quite large and it looks more like 2 pieces.

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My other friend got the one piece and it seriously looks like 2 pieces too.

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This is the 2 piece Fish and Chips. M and I shared this since we weren’t too hungry. The 2 pieces look like 3 pieces. The tempura batter was nice and crisp with a tender and fluffy cod underneath. It was enough for M and I to share. The tartar sauce had a good taste too.

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Make sure you spritz some of the malt or white vinegar on the fish and chips.

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Big Jig Burger is their loaded burger with cheese, mushrooms, fried onions, bacon, all the veggies, and all the sauces. It is also served with fries. A big burger with all the fixings.

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The homecut fries are crisp and I couldn’t stop eating them. I liked to spray some of the vinegar on them to add more flavour.

Overall, the prices are a tad high, but when you do get the food, the portions are large. Plus, where else are you going to get amazing fish and chips in Ukee? I will be back for my next trip to the Island. it definitely rivals even some places in Vancouver.

We Rate Jiggers:4rated

Address:
1685 Peninsula Road, Ucluelet

Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/Jiggers-Fish-Chips-178163522220314/

Jiggers Menu, Reviews, Photos, Location and Info - Zomato

le-tigre-foodee-delivery

Since Vancouver rains for most of the year, it does get a bit depressing to go out and hunt for food. I love Le Tigre but sometimes their truck is too far away from the office, so when we saw that Foodee delivers for them, we definitely had to do an office order. The minimum order is $40 with a $15 delivery fee. It’s not too bad if you can get a lot of your coworkers to order it with you.

Le Tigre serves up culinary inspired Asian street food and they deliver their most popular items like Kickass Rice and Crack Salad.

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“Crack” Salad ($8.15) has brussel sprouts, cauliflower, broccoli, kale, cabbage, capers, cracked chilies, lemon juice and parmesan cheese. It is vegetarian and gluten-free.

It’s such a sinful salad! I love the balance of savoury, sour, salty and spicy.

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Angry Kitty Squares ($5.80) has crispy fried rice, kimchi, chilies, basil, spicy mayo and nori. It comes with 4 pieces and its also pretty darn delicious. The texture of the crispy fried rice is amazing.

Another item you should definitely order is their Kick Ass Rice With Pork Belly ($11.55). I forgot to take a picture, but it’s a larger dish. It’s cooked in sake, butter, dashi and topped with a perfect poached egg, fresh herbs and thai chilies. Most of their dishes seem to have chilies, but when I tried my coworkers dish, those Thai chilies are painful.

We rate Le Tigre

Website:
https://www.food.ee/restaurants/vancouver/le-tigre

Le Tigre Cuisine Menu, Reviews, Photos, Location and Info - Zomato

food-squamish

A few weeks ago, I was at the Squamish Music Festival to see Drake perform. Besides seeing all the other performances, we had to eat. They had this huge area with different booths and food trucks. Lots to choose from and there were a few places that the line ups were super long. It reminded me of the PNE or some sort of carnival.

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Melt Town Grilled Cheese and Poutine was one of the many trucks there. Their parent company – Tin Lizzy is one of Canada’s Largest special events Concession companies. They also have a fleet of over 10 food trailers/trucks professionally built to provide food for large amount of people.

I gravitated to this truck since I was cravings some grilled cheese. They had many varieties but I had to go with the classic. Can’t go wrong with that.

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Classic grilled cheese ($7) was oozing with the crispy cheese on the edges. They also give you a tomato dipping sauce. I loved the crunchy cheese bits around the sides. Probably the most enjoyable part about the sandwich.

I didn’t like the bread as I felt like it needed more crispiness and butter on the bread. If the cheese is crispy, I don’t see why they can’t make the bread crazy delicious.

We rate Melt Town Grilled Cheese:

Location:
Varies

Website:
http://www.melttowngrilledcheese.com/

nicevice-van

Nice Vice is Vancouver’s dairy-free, plant-based micro creamery. I first saw them at the Vancouver’s Farmers Market in their Nice Vice Van. They sell premium, dairy-free vice cream to Vancouverites with various flavours.

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When I was there, they had 4 flavours:

  • Chocoholics Anonymous
  • Strawberry Fiends Forever
  • Tripped Out Tropical
  • Lemonhead

4oz for $5 or 16oz for $10

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I went with the Chocoholics Anonymous (4oz – $5). I chose this flavour as it is a good base test to see how it compares to chocolate ice cream.

Their containers are made out of straw so they are 100% sustainable, recyclable, and compostable.

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Since the ice cream was still pretty cold when I got it, they advised us to let it sit for 10 minutes to soften before eating.

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Once it thawed a bit, it was not bad for dairy- free ice cream definitely better than others.

Since I can eat dairy, I would still prefer the regular stuff. For those that do have a dairy allergy, it is a good option. From my dairy-free friends, they have said it’s a good relief to have something close to ice cream so they aren’t in pain afterwards or have to pop lactose pills.

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If you don’t catch them in their van, they currently have a temporary shop at McArthur Glen Designer Outlet in Richmond until September 7th.

Website:
http://www.nicevicecream.com/