VANCOUVER HAS A WEALTH OF CULINARY DIVERSITY — in fact, we’ve won so many awards for culinary greatness that we tend to take incredible, fresh, inventive foods for granted. You know what we shouldn’t take for granted? Our food trucks. Some people stick their noses up, but those people are seriously missing out. You should take a moment to sombrely recall the days of yore when a food truck in Vancouver meant hot dogs on Robson Street, and then let your nose follow you right to one of these nine culinary adventures parking up around the city every afternoon:
9 Vancouver Food Trucks We Wish Could Be in Every City
1. Mangal Kiss
These guys are easy to find right outside the Art Gallery on the Georgia Street side, and their Middle Eastern menu is as eye catching as it is delicious. Try the lamb kebab wrapped in a pita, and don’t forget to get everything on it. The ingredients might strike you as super different, featuring things like zhug, harissa aioli, and fig vinaigrette, but Mangal Kiss is seriously one of the best lunches in Vancouver, and it’s only 8 bucks. Can’t beat that.
2. Yolk’s
This breakfast truck is perfectly placed right outside the Stadium Skytrain station, so if you’ve arrived downtown and didn’t have time for breakfast, please do your tastebuds a favour and start the day off right with an egg sandwich. Oh, and get the hollandaise sauce. Yeah, it’s more calories, but who cares? You can feel good because Yolk’s only uses cage free eggs, ethically sourced meat, and local veggies (like arugula). Some days, there’s chicken and waffles. Just sayin’.
3. Aussie Pie Guy
You might think that Australian meat pies are an odd choice for a Vancouver food truck, but they’re a massive hit. They’re especially popular due to the portability and affordability of their fresh and uber tasty pies, easy to eat on the go and super filling. Though I love the beef and double-smoked bacon pie with gravy, there’s a veggie option, a gluten-free pie, and even a sweet dessert pie.
4. Candy Meister
A German candy truck is an unusual sight, to be sure. Seems like almost everyone is confused the first time they approach, but drop in to Candy Meister for some authentic German marshmallows and some hand-made, ultra flavourful hard candies. Bonus: they will let you sample to your heart’s content. Try one of the unusual flavours, like sweet Woodruff or Mulled Wine.
5. Via Tevere Neapolitan Express
Their parent pizza restaurant on Victoria Drive always has a huge lineup, so you know that their food truck is going to be good. Their menu consists of four baked pizza-sandwiches: pizza-style fillings wrapped up in a soft, savory dough, and baked up in a real wood-fire pizza oven that’s in the truck. Go for the prosciutto-arugula sandwich, and do not share with anyone. A great thing about Via Tevere is they’ll often post up outside one of the dozens of breweries in Vancouver, so you can have a beer and a pizza sandwich on a warm summer evening.
6. Johnny’s Pops
This guy sells homemade popsicles out of a cooler attached to a bicycle. He uses local ingredients, and they are literally the most amazing popsicles ever. Go try one of their blueberry mojito popsicles. Or a creamy strawberry lemonade popsicle. Or a banana cream pie popsicle. Or a cherry cheesecake popsicle. If you’re not drooling by now, then I don’t know what to do with you.
7. Roaming Dragon
I don’t think my knees have ever buckled as hard as when I tried food from Roaming Dragon. I had to sit down just to fully appreciate the experience of this Pan-Asian cuisine. The Korean Bulgogi Gordita is wonderful, but their menu is always changing, so you might find that they’ve invented something new by the time you get there. Huge plus: All their meat is ethically sourced from Two Rivers Meats and Oceanwise, and they are committed to only delivering high-quality food to their customers.
8. Melt City
AKA Taser Sandwich, their grilled cheeses are exactly what you’ve always wanted from a grilled sandwich: perfectly toasted sourdough dripping with melted cheese. Don’t mess with perfection. Sure, you can get bacon or caramelized apples or pickles, but the classic is the best. After trying other grilled cheese trucks around the city, I’ve decided that this one is the least pretentious, most friendly, and they have the sandwiches that most remind me of childhood.
9. C’est Si Bon
French food doesn’t have to be found exclusively in fancy restaurants that nobody can really afford. Try getting lunch at one of Vancouver’s newer food trucks, and then wonder to yourself why you’d even need to go to France. Nobody else is making beef bourguignon with scalloped potatoes in a food truck, and you can get a chocolate mousse tart or a mille-feuille puff pastry dessert! Oh man. Sorry. I’ll be right back. I need some French food immediately. 