Superbaba

November 16, 2018November 15, 2018Leave a comment

02.jpg by info9813 on 500px.com

Superbaba is one of the newest food trucks in the downtown core. It opened up earlier this year and parks in front of the Bentall Towers on the weekdays. The food truck has a restaurant in Victoria so not a stranger to BC. It caught my attention after seeing so many people lining up.

01.jpg by info9813 on 500px.com

The food truck features Middle Eastern food and focusses on pita wraps and bowls. The dishes range from $10-$12 so fairly priced for the downtown lunch crowd. They have two vegetarian options including falafels and eggplants, but also two meat options including chicken and steak.

03.jpg by info9813 on 500px.com

Falafel Bowl

I decided to go for the Falafel Bowl which featured chickpea fritters, fried cauliflower, tomato & cucumber salad, hummus, pickled cabbage, tahini, and shug. All bowls have a base of dressed kale and arugula and chilled rice and lentils. Being a meat lover, this vegetarian dish was absolutely delicious. These are probably the best falafels I’ve had. The falafels were so crispy on the outside and moist and flavourful inside. The hummus was smooth and not too garlicky and the fried cauliflowers were again crispy and crunchy with a nice acidity. Even the pickled cabbage and salads tasted great. I thought I would be hungry given most of the dish were vegetables, but I was surprisingly full. Highly recommend this dish!

Based on the falafel bowl, I am already loving Superbaba. I can’t wait to come back to try their wraps and other dishes. There’s a bit of a wait during lunch hours, but they’re pretty quick after you place your order. Plus, the people are super nice. Will be back to try more soon!

Pros:
– One of the best falafels I’ve had
– Reasonably priced

Cons:
– Line up can get pretty long during peak hours

Price Range: $10-15 per person

1: Terrible 2: Poor 3: Average 4: Good 5: Excellent

Food: 4.5 Service: 3.5 Ambiance: N/A Parking: N/A Overall: 4.5

Lonsdale Shipyards Night Market

September 19, 2015September 19, 2015Leave a comment

The Lonsdale Shipyards Night Market has been going on since May 1st and it’s running until Setpember 25th (so you have one more chance to go if you haven’t already!). The night market is situated in the Shipyard plaza in North Vancouver and happens every Friday from 5pm-10pm. It’s easily accessible and for those who don’t drive, it’s just a short seabus ride away. I’ve been to the Lonsdale Quay Market many times, but had no idea that a short walk from this area has such nice views of downtown. And what better than a night market featuring over 20 food trucks and also a beer garden with live music!

You will find food trucks that you often see in downtown as well as across metro Vancouver. Since it was just S and I, we couldn’t try many trucks. We settled on trying one each. S chose Kaboom Box as he wanted fish and chips and there weren’t many trucks offering it.They’ve been around for quite a while and you can usually find them near Robson Square. They feature a variety of seafood sandwiches, like Oyster Po’Boys and Salmon Sandwiches. The cart is funky and the owners are friendly.

Fish and Chips

S got the Fish and Chips, which for $12, you get two pieces of Oceanwise Certified wild caught cod. The cod is battered with a light tempura and served with a signature house-made slaw, house-made tartar sauce and fries. I liked the light batter, but we both agreed that the batter needed more seasoning. Perhaps we should have used some of the condiments that were available at the truck. The fries were extremely crispy though and I was a bit addicted to them!

For myself, I decided to try Disco Cheetah, which is a Korean Mexican fusion truck. They feature tacos and burritos but with a Korean twist. They roam around everywhere, but usually around the Strathcona area and are often at any food cart festivals. Be sure to check their social media to see where they are.

Their menu is quite limited with only tacos, burritos, and occasionally some special features like Korean rice bowls.

Bulgolgi Beef Burrito

I decided to get the Bulgolgi Beef Burrito which is huge! It was filled with bulgolgi beef, kimchi fried rice, pickled red cabbage, kimchi slaw, spinach, and Korean chili mayo. I loved the sweet flavours of the bulgolgi sauce mixed with the hint of spice from the kimchi. A really good twist to your typical Mexican burrito.

Overall, the Shipyards Night Market is a great addition to the many food cart festivals and night markets we have around the greater Vancouver. Definitely worth a trip down here and you have one more week to do so!

Hugo’s Churros

September 11, 2015September 14, 2015Leave a comment

The Hawkers Mercado in the new McArthurGlen Designer Outlet has been opened for the summer, but if I’m not mistaken, it has been closed since now as it was a temporary pop up location so shoppers could have something to snack on while the restaurants were being constructed. There are a variety of food stalls that you normally may find all over Vancouver.

We came here for Hugo’s Churros, which also has a sister store called Hugo’s Tacos (which sells tacos). We actually saw the stall on the opening day when we went, but we weren’t too hungry, so we skipped it. A few months later, my Instagram feed has been filled with their pictures and I knew I had to go back.

Their menu is small with Mexican food, but most people come here for the churro ice cream sandwich.

Your churros are made to order so they are extremely fresh. You’ll have to wait at least 5 minutes since she will literally pipe out the dough and deep fry it after you order.

Churro Ice Cream Sandwich ($7.50)

The Churros Ice Cream Sandwich features two churros rolled into a swirl and sandwiches three scoops of vanilla bean gelato. I heard that they have since teamed up with Nice Vice, the gelato shop also in the same outlet to offer vegan friendly gelato. The ice cream melts extremely fast, so scoop it up as quick as you can. It’s pretty messy to eat, but the flavours of cinnamon and vanilla work perfectly together.

Be sure to follow them on their social media accounts, like Facebook to see where their cart is located daily, as they move around.

Pros:
– Delicious churros

Cons:
– Pricey

Price Range: $5-10

1: Terrible 2: Poor 3: Average 4: Good 5: Excellent

Food: 4 Service: 3 Ambiance: 2 Parking: 4 Overall: 4

Hapa PDX @ Tidbit – Portland

October 21, 2014Leave a comment

I can officially say that our restaurant research pretty much came to a waste while in Portland, since the no reservation policy basically meant we were wasting too much time waiting. Driving to the other side of town, we were eager to try the famous Pok Pok, but of course, it was over an hour wait again. We wandered down the street and found Tidbit Food Farm and Garden, which is actually one of Portland’s newest food cart pod. It just recently opened in the summer and is located at SE 28th Place and Division St.

It’s pretty neat as over 20 food carts gather here and the best part is that there’s actual seating areas so you don’t need to stand around eating.

Super relaxing atmosphere with a fire pit and live music too! I believe this is open every day as well. Perfect when it’s sunny out!

There’s pretty much all types of cuisines here. I usually don’t like to get Asian food when I’m in America because I find that it’s probably not that great. However, I ended up going for a ramen food truck called Hapa PDX. It wasn’t even run by a Japanese, but tons of people were getting ramen here. There must be something good! Their name Hapa describes the fusion of their Japanese cooking techniques and Hawaiian recipes, so it’s pretty interesting! They have your typical miso, shoyu, tonkotsu ramens, and also a variety of rice bowls.

Iced Plantain Tea

For drinks, I got the Iced Plantain Tea, which was like a pineapple infused tea. A little fruity, but not too sweet. It was interesting and great to quench my thirst.

Shaka Bowl – Tsuke-men – pork belly broth, cold dipping noodles, egg, shitake, nori

Instead of getting the typical ramen, I chose the Shaka Bowl. They had a sign saying you could ask for a complimentary sample of the broth, so I did just that. The broth is made from pork belly, so it’s really fatty, but absolutely delicious! It had tons of pork belly slices in it too. The cool thing about this ramen is that you dip the cool ramen noodles into this boiling hot broth.

This was the bowl of cold ramen you get to dip in the broth. It came with shitake mushrooms, half a hard boiled egg, and some nori. A good amount for $8.50. I wouldn’t say it’s the best ramen I’ve had, but the broth was really unique and delicious! Not a bad choice at Tidbit!

Korean Twist – Portland

October 17, 2014October 14, 2014Leave a comment

Near S.W. 10th Ave. & Alder St., you’ll find Portland’s largest hub of food carts. However, when we arrived it was noon and there weren’t large line ups like the ones we have in Vancouver. Taking a stroll along the food carts, nothing really struck me either. I’m sure the food is good, but there weren’t really unique menu items that made me desperately want to try.

Anyways, I ended up going for Korean Twist, which seemed slightly more interesting. It’s run by two young men and there was a steady customer base. They essentially sell tacos, burritos and rice bowls with a Korean twist to it.

Chicken Burrito

J and K shared the Chicken Burrito, which was huge! They said it was flavourful and very filling.

Spicy Pork, Bulgogi Beef, Tofu Taco

For myself, I shared the taco set with K. The taco set comes with 3 tacos, but we added an additional taco at regular price. She got two of the Tofu Tacos, while I got the Spicy Pork and Bulgogi Beef Taco. Both of the meats were super flavourful! It’s the sauce that really does it for me. A mix of coleslaw and cilantro, but they fill the tacos with a lot of meat. You definitely get your money’s worth as these tacos aren’t small!

Overall, I think Korean Twist is a great place to try if you want to get value out of your money. You’ll be full and the flavours are great if you want some Asian flare.

Vancuver Food Cart Festival 2013

October 10, 2013Leave a comment

Ever since I left for Europe, I have been traveling so much or so busy with school that I have totally neglected this blog. I feel terrible and now that I have finally settled down and won’t be traveling as frequently, I am going to promise that I post at least once a week or more frequently! I am already more than a month behind, hence I am still posting about Vancouver food I ate before I left…

Anyways, in August, I finally went to the Vancouver Food Cart Festival by Olympic Village. I had wanted to go the previous year, but because they only operate on Sundays from around end of June to end of August, I never was able to attend due to my work schedule on Sundays. Every Sunday, over 20 food cart vendors meet at this area along with other craft food, art, and community vendors. There’s music and also kids activities, so perfect for some family fun. I was here, obviously because of food! There were many that I could find right in the hot spots of downtown, but also some that I had never heard of.

Mogu Japanese Street Eats

First up, we decided to try Mogu Japanese Street Eats. I always see this when I go shopping in downtown, but have never came to try it. They are also featured at the Richmond Summer Night Market this year, so it is actually quite easy to try it. I did find that the pricing is quite high for a burger, but to be honest, most of the food trucks price their food relatively high.

Pork Miso Katsu – breaded deep fried pork cutlet, housemade red miso sauce, Asian hot mustard coleslaw

We got the Pork Miso Katsu Menu, so it also came with two pieces of Chicken Karage and a small drink. People have raved that Mogu has one of the best Chicken Karage, and I did enjoy it a lot. It is sweet and spicy because it comes with a house made sweet chili sauce. Definitely enjoyed it and I would put it as one of my top favourites for chicken karage.

This was the Pork Miso Katsu Burger, and the pork was cooked tender and moist. The bread was also soft and the sauce really made the burger stand out. I didn’t necessarily taste much miso flavour, but you could get the Asian feel to the burger.

PazzaRella

Next, we tried PazzaRella which is famous for the Napoletana Wood Fired Pizza. It takes a little while since they actually make the pizza on spot and fire it in the oven. Pretty cool and one pizza will fill you up. So it’s best to share it with a friend if you want to try other food at the festival.

Prosciutto Pizza

We got 2 Prosciutto Pizzas to share between four, and it was more than enough. They are around $11 each, so you can imagine they are quite large. Extremely thin crust and easy to bite and topped with fresh tomato sauce, arugula and prosciutto. I did find that they burnt the edges a bit, so it was a little bitter tasting at the edges, but other than that, it was fine.

Dougie Dog Diner

Dougie Dog Diner seemed to be a crowd pleaser, so E decided to try it as well. They are famous for their innovative hot dogs and they also have their own root beer. Apparently they were on Dragon’s Den, so I thought that was pretty neat.

Charlie Mac Dog – bacon, Mac and cheese, melted cheddar

E got the Charlie Mac Dog which is loaded with mac and cheese and topped with more cheese. He thought that it was alright, but definitely not worth the price though. It’s something you can make at home if you really want to.

Overall, the Vancouver Food Cart Festival is pretty nice if you want to have a collection of food cart vendors in one area. However, to be honest, it’s hard to try every food cart because each item on the menu is fairly large. It’s basically one whole meal, and it’s also quite hard to share the food. There was also an entrance fee, but you got a discount if you went in a large family. Cool place to check out, but probably just once a year. Parking was also extremely difficult to find, and was mostly paid parking.