Best dishes to try at Food Cart Fest

With a gathering of over 20 of Vancouver’s top food carts, each selling an array of incredibly exciting and enticing street fare, Food Cart Fest 2014 is sure to leave every attendee feeling truly satisfied, if not a a little stuffed.

Such an impressive variety of food can often bring with it huge indecision, therefore, Vancity Buzz has collated a list of the best dishes on offer, dishes that a simply too good to pass up.

Sweet & Spicy Chicken Karaage ($7.50)

Mogu’s sweet and spicy chicken karaage is hot, super fresh and oozing with flavour. The food truck’s deep fried chicken is not only deliciously marinated in a house made sweet chili sauce, but is also perfectly crispy on the outside and moist on the inside. It is a truly delectable dish!

Jerk Chicken & Potato Roti ($10)

Image: The Reef Runner

With a strong Caribbean influence, The Reef Runner’s menu boasts a range of appetising meals; however, you can’t go past the house made and hand rolled West Indian Roti, filled with a generous serving of jerk chicken and potato. It is scrumptious and simply explodes with flavour. Add a side of plantain chips and you have one hell of a tasty meal.

Mom’s Classic Grilled Cheese Sandwich ($8)

Wrapped in a cone with potato chips at the bottom and a juicy dill pickle on the side, Mom’s Classic Grilled Cheese Sandwich from Mom’s Grilled Cheese Truck, is a simple yet delicious meal and one that should not be missed.  The sandwich is greasy like a good grilled cheese sandwich should be and packed with flavour. As a side note, the Food Cart’s homemade ginger mint lemonade is perfection on a warm summer’s day.

The Squealer ($8)

Blue Smoke BBQ’s southern style slow smoked pulled pork sandwich is a must eat! The combination of the meat’s smoky flavour, with Blue Smoke’s unique “Red Thunder” Sauce and their made-in-house coleslaw is unbelievably good. Alternatively, you can order the Q-Bowl ($8). It’s basically everything in the pulled pork sandwich minus the bread.

Aussie Pie ($8)

Image: Aussie Pie Guy

Made with chucks of free range B.C. beef in a beer ale gravy, the Aussie Pie Guy’s take on the traditional Aussie meat pie is utterly divine, and sure to make any Aussie yearn for home. Simple yet wholesome, these hand crafted pies are exceptionally tasty. The meat is tender, the crust is flakey and the flavours are subtle, everything you want in a good old-fashioned Aussie meat pie!

Smoky Beef Chili ($7)

Image: Chili Tank

Apart from the novelty of eating chili cooked in a 1943 military soup kitchen, Chili Tank serves up some pretty sensational chili. Whether it’s the smoky beef or the vegetarian, each spoon full is a hearty treat. If you can’t decide which chili to go for, there is always the popular 50/50 mix (half veggie, half beef), so you can get the best of both worlds.

Crispy Cod Tacos ($5.95)

One mouthful of Tacofino’s crispy cod taco with cabbage, chipotle mayo and fresh salsa dressing and you’ll instantly understand why Tacofino’s soft tacos are often hailed as the best tacos in the city. They’re fresh, filling and truly delicious!

Minty Chipy ($6)

If you’re craving something sweet then you cannot go past the heavenly hand made ice cream sandwiches from Brown Paper Packages. The tiny stall offers a range of tempting flavours to choose from including: minty chipy (mint chocolate), strawberry blonde (lemon, basil, strawberries), peanut butter cup (peanuts, chocolate, toffee) and more. What makes this frozen treat even more appetizing is the knowledge that Brown Paper Packages tries to use only local and seasonal products wherever possible.