Yelp Canada D’eh Food Truck Block Party
Whoa this took me a while to get to this post. On Canada Day was the first Yelp Canada D’eh Food Truck Block Party at the Waldorf Hotel on Hastings. I got their pretty early, so there was plenty of parking. There is a huge parking lot in the back which I originally parked at, but luckily I didn’t as that place turned into a nightmare, as the Longshoremen came back for their daily meeting. No one could leave until the meetings were over including some of my friends.
An hour before the noon-time opening of the event, Yelp elite’s got to go in first hand to try the food for free! Lucky them. I got there exactly at noon and the line ups weren’t too bad. Since I don’t work downtown, I don’t really get much of an opportunity to try any food trucks. Believe it or not, these are my first tastes.
We started off with Le Brasserie Street Food Truck which only had one item on their menu – the pulled chicken sandwich. This sandwich was so awesome and a great way to start off the day. The pulled chicken was juicy and flavourful, and the crunch from the fried onion straws were amazing. Add the extra grainy mustard and you get such a nice combination of textures and flavours.
Next we went to the Juice Truck where we ordered an Avocado Pineapple smoothie. It’s $7, so it would be an expensive drink addition, but it was definitely made fresh with real fruit. It was quite thick, but still easy to drink through the straw. It tasted delicious, and I totally want to try to make this at home. Shouldn’t be too hard right?
Next we headed off to Guanaco Food truck for some Salvadorean cuisine. It’s my first try, and my friend said Yuca Frita are the best fries ever. It’s made from casava root and came in larger fry sizes (like at Red Robin). The texture is really different though, and it is pretty good. I think it could use a bit more salt or seasoning though. It did come with a chili vinegar sauce, but it was pretty mild. I also ordered a Revueltas Pupusa which is a tortilla stuffed with pork, vegetables, cheese, and refried black beans. Again, for me it lacked a strong flavour. It was quite mild for me.
By this point, everything was getting really busy. We visited Mom’s Grilled Cheese Truck, and wow was this a wait. We were probably only the 7-8 in line to order, and that took about 15 minutes. But after that we had to wait about 45 minutes to get our sandwich. I feel bad for the other people, because when we were waiting for the food, the length of the line probably tripled! I’m assuming they waited close to 2 hours to get their food. Anyway, on this day, they had some specials, but we decided to go for havarti with bacon. Damn was this thing cheesy and buttery, the way I like it. It was very crisp, and would go really well with tomato soup (which they also sell!). It was served with some chips which got a bit soggy, but I still enjoyed it. It definitely put us over the top, and got really full.
Finally, we got some ice cream from Earnest Ice Cream for some salted caramel ice cream. This was delicious, and not bad for only $4. Definitely recommend it.
Overall, it was pretty good, but get their early and try to get as much food as you can early. I was sad to miss out on the perogies, but I was just way too full, and this other dish from Re-Up. Luckily for you, they holding these events every Sunday during the summer, so make sure you stop by to check it out if you aren’t normally downtown for lunch time. This is the perfect opportunity to taste it with so many food trucks in one location. Bring a friend so you can split each of the dishes (like I did). Save money and try lots!
Visit http://www.yelp.ca/events/vancouver-yelp-presents-food-cart-fest-at-the-waldorf for more details
wow that grilled cheese looks so badass.