Finally they are here!
Food trucks that is. Well… Very slowly anyway.
Having travelled to Vietnam and The States over the last couple of years, I came to realise that the street food scene in Sydney is pretty much non-existent. To rectify this, an initiative by The City of Sydney is bringing 10 food trucks to circulate their way around Sydney CBD and surrounding suburbs at allocated sites offering good and affordable food options such as pasta, pizzas, yum cha, tacos, pork buns etc at various times during the day, night and early morning.
There has been a lot of hype for these trucks and uncertainty about when they will actually roll out into the streets. Catina Mobil is the first food truck to officially roam the streets but soon enough the rest will follow. Also, The City of Sydney is due to release a smartphone app soon which will allow you to track down the whereabouts of these trucks and provide links to food truck menus from your phone.
For those whom are interested, here’s the list of 10 food trucks:
1. Agape Organic – organic spelt pizzas and tapas
2. Al Carbon – soft tacos
3. Bite Sized Delights – Maltese finger food
4. Urban Pasta – Italian-influenced pasta
5. Cantina Mobil – Mexican-inspired tacos/burritos with slow cooked meats
6. Eat Art Truck – Japanese/Korean influence
7. Let’s Do Yum Cha – yum cha (think pork buns/dim sim)
8. Taco Truck – gourmet Mexican
9. Tsuru – Asian-inspired street food
10. Veggie Patch – vegetarian and juices
When I discovered that Cantina Mobil was going to be at Victoria Park, I knew I just had to check them out since my office is fairly close by. I arrived there on the dot fearing that there will be a massive queue but there was hardly anyone around which is a shame for them. However, it still is early days, not that many people have caught on to it yet due to all the fuffing about and delays and although many university students may walk through this park, the allocated site can be easily missed if you don’t know what to look for.
Seeing as this was going to be brunch for me, I settled for 2 soft shell tacos (also available with hard shells) ($4.50 each). With lettuce, chilli corn, tomato salsa and chili con queso (a mild Mexican chilli cheese), and you get a choice from 3 fillings for your taco (or burrito); chipotle beef, achiote chicken or pinto beans.
I chose to have both meat options. The beef was slow roasted and shredded with red cayenne chilli sauce with lime whilst the chicken was marinated and slow cooked with green jalapeño chilli sauce with coriander. Whilst both meats were juicy and tender, I preferred the beef filling as it had a prominent smokey taste in comparison to the chicken. The accompaniments were fresh and the level of heat from the salsa and chilli corn was not too high, but of course, if you are after a bit more heat, there is an array of chilli sauces for you to try until your heart’s content .
To wash it all down, I had a bottle of Sangria Senorial ($4.50); a non-alcoholic sangria-flavoured carbonated drink made in Mexico. I know having no alcohol in a sangria defeats the purpose of having sangria but I guess it’s a way to comply with the current regulations of alcohol on the streets. It pretty much tasted like sparkling Ribenna but not too sweet.
Feeling a little peckish a couple of hours later, I decided to pop by for a second visit to enjoy some chilli corn ($4) as I bask in the warm Autumn sun. Juicy sweet corn kernels tossed with 3 types of chilli, cumin & seasoning make for a traditional Mexican street food snack with a tiny kick of heat.
Then of course there has to be a dessert to follow right? Made by the guys from Freshpops, Catina Mobil sell chilli chocolate ice cream pops ($4) which aren’t as creamy as I had imagined them to be but instead the texture is more on the icy side. There is a subtle kick from the chilli before the ice block cools you down naturally.
So keep an eye out for food trucks roaming the streets, or keep updated by following Sydney Food Trucks on Facebook or Twitter for everything food truck related.
If only Victoria park was within walking distance for me – Would love to try and hit it up for lunch. Thanks for sharing that list.. wonder what operating hours are though.
This is great news! The food looks pretty decent and I’m liking your appropriately placed Mexican-style blanket with the corn.
Haha – two visits already! 😉 Tacos look lovely and fresh… can’t wait to come across a truck or two soon 🙂
I am really excited about the trucks! I hope the rest hurry up. This one looks really good, I just wish it was near to where I work!
Definitely onto a slow start…. unless you are foodie, i dont think many people know what food truck is. Hope they will stay a little longer before the idea gets canned. Oh, I am such a pessimist! 😛
Very cool! Love the prices too 😉
Thanks for the heads up. Very excited. U could say Harry de wheels was a food truck, except that it never moved anywhere. Just like those steamboat restaurants. With commercial property being so cut throat, MORE food trucks I say!!
OMG! they’re finally here! I cant wait for the Eat Art Truck & Let’s Do Yum Cha truck to come! ive only ever had corn kernels with butter.. so this one looks interesting! cant wait to try it out! 🙂
Finally! Seems like these trucks have been “about to roll out” for ages. I’m loving the look of those tacos. Hope I can find a truck near me soon!
I’m so sad that I’m missing out on this action as I’m overseas!
OMG! The tacos!! Love smokey beef! They will actually be parking right outside my work (queens square) this afternoon at 5pm and I’m leaving an hour early 🙁 oh well, there’s always next time.
I’ve been craving Mexican all day, and knowing the van is going to be down the road this afternoon… I think it’s a sign. That corn looks so good, and I love the sound of a smokey beef taco!
Yum, all looked so good. Can’t wait to try out the food trucks. Lucky duck for the first one to turn up on your work door step!
I need to keep an eye out for these food trucks. They all sound awesome!!
I am a real fan of food trucks. Bring on the food truck revolution I say. I cant wait till we have tonnes of them. Us food bloggers should really invest in a food truck and showcase the flavours of the world. eheheh. Great post Phuoc. Love the look of that Ice Cream Pop.
Tina: There are plenty of sites around that CBD that may be close to your work place, here’s the latest list of sites and hours of operation for the food trucks. According to what the guys from Catina Mobil, they said that eventually they may be able to sell from any location, providing they are 200m away from existing food premises.
John: HAHA thanks! Loved the fact that guys offered it to us to sit on so we can enjoy basking in the sun.
Tina: Yes, me too! They seriously need to start rolling out soon so we can try them all 🙂
Anna: I hope one of the allocated sites is close to your work so you can check them out soon
Billy: lol well I think they are sticking with this initiative for a full year before they decide on whether or not there should more food vans around Sydney. I hope they do stick around too, I think it won’t be long until the word gets out.
Lily: They definitely are decent prices for good food
Anna: Not a problem! I guess you are right! We need more 🙂
Tastyfoodsnaps: Yes, Eat Art Truck should be good – can’t wait!
SarahKate: I know aye?! Slowly but surely is better than having none at all.
Lorraine: The food trucks should be around for a whole year, I hope you get a chance to check them out
Ramen Raff: Beef tacos is so awesome, I hope you get to try it soon
Maria: DEFINITELY a sign! 🙂
Sara: Hehehe I know! Keep them coming I’d say 🙂
Nic: I hope you get to stumble upon them soon
Katherine: Oh could you imagine the awesome array of foods we’d have if we did?
I’m so excited by this initiative…let’s hope it’s a success! Great to read one of the first reviews of this Phuoc. And nothing wrong with sparkling Ribena!
Great post, Phuoc. We have a few food trucks in Adelaide but I’ve never managed to be in the right place at the right time. What they really need to invent is a food truck that you can just page when you’re hungry and it turns up 5 mins later – now that would be something!
Peter: Me too, I’m sure once it catches on it will be very successful.
Christina: Thanks! Yes, that’s an idea 🙂
they r at vic park again today! i missed out on tuesday so going for some tacos today!
Milkteaxx: Cool, hope you enjoyed them 🙂