Tacofino Orange - Salima and Mun's Guest Post

 A couple of my friends wanted to try this truck in Robson Square as I tried a different truck - they wanted to give blogging a whirl and have kindly written a guest post for us to enjoy.

Truck: Tacofino Orange (Guest post by Salima and Mun)

Location: Howe and Robson beside Mom's Grilled Cheese and Pig on the Street

Type of Food: Tacos with w twist

Sidekicks: Mun and Salima

Food Ordered: 

Pork Gringa Taco – Spicy braised pork in a grilled 6” flour tortilla with melted cheese, sour cream and mango salsa

Fish Taco – Tempura battered ling cod with chipotle mayo, shredded cabbage and salsa fresca on a fire toasted flour tortilla.

Chocolate-Diablo Cookie – Fudgy chocolate cookie with fresh ginger and chili, milk chocolate chunks, and salty sprinkles

The Verdict: 

The gringo (pork) taco was divine – it was the perfect combination of tasty, cheesy, yummy goodness (the hot sauce just topped it off!)

The tacos were too small to eat only one but too big to finish two – not really a negative point however the only other negative comment was the lineup – our mouths were watering as we watched each person pick up their tacos and we patiently waited for ours

Favourite Thing(s) About This Truck: 

The cookie with a hint of chilli was a lovely treat!  Four of us shared the cookie and it left us wanting more and more – next time we’ll get one each!

Accessibility: In the “Food truck circle” surrounding the VAG (Vancouver Art Gallery) – centrally located to the downtown core.

Green Rating: Nothing worth mentioning

Rating: 4/5 

Value:  5/5

Eagerly waiting to order - mmm looks good!

Wow these tacos look amazing!

Take a look at this amazing taco I am consuming!

The Girls pose in front of Tacofino - We missed you Emma!

The Grilled Cheese Battle

	Taser Grilled Cheese	Mom’s Grilled Cheese
Location	Main St and Terminal Avenue	Howe and West Georgia
Sidekicks	None – today – just me, but because this is across from the office I have gathered some additional intel	Kat and Secret Sidekick
Food Ordered	The Vampire’s Bite	Tara - The Daily Special – The Hot Angie Kat and Secret Sidekick made their own
The Verdict	Yummy!  Said to have a cult following, it is easy to understand why!  The friendly owner has created a few simple twists on an amazing thing; these sandwiches are a perfect blend of the right amount of cheese and are definitely worth every penny!  The overall verdict in the office is that we love all of the sandwiches that Yasmin turns out!	I loved my sandwich.  Hot Capicola, hot peppers and Havarti on sourdough bread – yum!  It lasted me 2 whole meals it was so rich and filling.  I also loved that it came with fresh made potato chips and a pickle. My sidekicks both loved their sandwiches.  Secret Sidekick said there was a little too much cheese and had to take some out because it was too rich. I also tried the Sweet Tea – I loved the combination of flavours.
Favourite Thing about this Truck	The price point!  Easily the best deal around as far as food carts are concerned and for the variety that Taser offers it is one of those secret gems in our city!	The handmade potato chips and the fact that it there are root beer floats on the menu!  I will definitely be stopping to try one after work one of these days!
Accessibility	Right outside of the Main Street Science World skytrain station.  Great for all Vancity Employees as it right across the street from our office.	Robson street outside of the Art Gallery – accessible to those of you in the downtown core and only a few blocks away from the skytrain stations at Burrard and Granville
Overall Rating	5/5	4/5

AND THE WINNER IS…

In my mind – which may be contrary to much of the buzz in the city – I feel that as an all-around cart Taser takes the cheese so to speak.  The balance of ingredients, creative solutions yet commitment to simplicity and the price point make a more well-rounded lunch experience.  Also, because of location, it often doesn’t take 45 mins to get a sandwich from Taser like it does from Mom’s. I do love both of these carts though – who doesn’t like grilled cheese?

Get out there and try them both to determine who you think the winner is!

Truck 11 - Holy Perogy

Truck: Holy Perogy

Location: Homer between Georgia and Robson

Type of Food: Perogies!

Sidekicks: K squared! Kristina and Kat
Food Ordered: 

Kristina

• Westcoast Perogies

Kat

• Fully Loaded Potato and Cheddar Perogies with onions instead of green onions

Tara

• Italian Perogies with sausage

The Verdict: 
If you love perogies then this place is for you!  The traditional perogies were the best.  The fully loaded perogies with grilled onions and sausage and saurkraut are "just like mamma used to make" if my mom was Ukranian. 


The Westcoast perogies were an interesting BC take on a traditional recipe.  With smoked salmon and cream cheese Kristina was excited to try these.  Unfortunately, these perogies were not as exciting as we had hoped.  You couldn't taste the salmon they tasted overwhelmingly like cream cheese.  Great idea too bad about the execution.    


The Italian Perogies tasted like pizza and perogies.  A very cool take on 


The overall verdict was "why mess with a good thing when the traditional ones are so delicious"!


Favourite Thing(s) About This Truck: 
The cute decor and the traditional perogies!


Accessibility: On Homer right between Robson and Georgia.  This is a great location if you're studying at the library, going to see a show at the Queen Elizabeth or the Vogue Theatre or if you work at BC Hydro/Accenture!


Green Rating: Everything is recyclable and if you bring your own container you get a discount!  Genius!

Rating: 5/5 
Value:  5/5

Truck 10 - Ursu Korean Tacos

Truck: Ursu Korean Tacos

Location: Homer just off of Georgia

Type of Food: Korean Tacos

Sidekicks: Kristina
Food Ordered: 

Kristina

• 1 Chicken and 1 Beef Taco

Tara

• 1 Beef and 1 Tofu Taco

The Verdict: 
What's the first thing you think when I say - Korean Tacos?  I love Korean beef and I love tacos so I figured I needed to give this melding of foods a try.


Wow!  These tacos were very tasty!  The most flavourful of the three was the chicken.  All of the tacos were jam packed with complex flavours, great texture (especially the tofu).  Medium spicy was plenty spicy for me.  If you don't like spice I would recommend at least mild!  


The only thing that I would have liked would be to add more traditional taco ingredients like guacamole, lettuce etc. 


Favourite Thing(s) About This Truck: 
The owners are super cute!  They are very friendly and the food was made fresh right on the spot!  It was like you had gone over to their house and they were making you lunch. 


I also love the creativity of this fusion dish!


Accessibility: Right off of Georgia Street.  This is a great location if you're studying at the library, going to see a show at the Queen Elizabeth or the Vogue Theatre or if you work at BC Hydro/Accenture!


Green Rating: Nothing worthy of note here.  Unfortunately, there wasn't any recycling for the food scraps (but I don't see there being any) or the napkins/paper bags they served the food in.

Check out this article from Ricepaper Magazine on this food truck

Rating: 4/5 
Value:  5/5

Great Location

BBQ Taco, Burger, Beef Rib Dog

Ohh...yummy!

Kristina ordering her tacos

Takes a little longer because everything is 100% handmade on the spot - but it's definitely worth the wait!

Beef and Chicken Tacos

Tofu and Beef Tacos

Kristina about to enjoy her food

Yum!

Truck 9 - Soho Road Naan Kebab

Truck: Soho Road Naan Kebab - Warning Messy and Delicious!

Location: Smithe Street between Howe and Hornby (In front of the courthouses)

Type of Food: Indian

Sidekicks: K and Kristina (Secret sidekick also came but just to enjoy the sunshine)

Food Ordered: 

K and Kristina

• Butter Chicken

Tara

• 1/2 Lamb and 1/2 Hariali Chicken

The Verdict: 
There is a reason why this truck was voted number 1 by Global TV, Top Chef Canada Dale MacKay and MattBites.com.  As we searched for the truck we smelled it before we reached it - it smelled delicious and we could only hope that our taste buds were equally delighted.  Soho Road naan Kebab did not disappoint!


All of the staff seemed really knowledgeable about every dish.  Their descriptions were mouth-watering and made me want to try everything!  I finally decided on 1/2 Lamb and 1/2 Hariali.  They just started half orders and may I say - stroke of genius!


If you like cilantro then the Hariali Chicken is for you.  Originally put onto the menu as part of St. Patrick's day, this dish is cilantro chicken with cilantro yogurt wrapped in Naan packs a mean punch when it comes to taste.  So rich in flavours that I wish I had 4 stomachs to enjoy at least a full one of these!


The Lamb Kebab was made with yogurt and tamarind wrapped in Naan.  Something sweeter to complement the tastes in my Hariali. I also loved the flavour combinations in the lamb.  I love lamb and will definitely be making a repeat trip to have another one of these delicious wraps. 


The reviews on the Butter Chicken, enjoyed by K and Kristina, was that it was great, but would have been better with a little bit more spice.  Also served in a Naan wrap I definitely want to try this and the Tandoori sometime soon!  


Favourite Thing(s) About This Truck: 
The flavour combinations that awakened my taste buds was a thrill that I will not soon forget!  Also the service was incredible!  


The staff was super friendly, knowledgeable and make me want to come back for more!  I think that they were arguably the most knowledgeable that I have met on my journey to date. The other customers also seemed really friendly!


Accessibility: Handy if you are looking for something by the court house.  A bit of a jaunt for us from the skytrain but not too bad on a sunny day!  This location is also great for finding a nice quite place to eat lunch close to nature!


Green Rating: Nothing worthy of note here.  Unfortunately, there wasn't any recycling for the food scraps (but I don't see there being any) or the napkins/paper bags they served the food in.


Warning: These were all so juicy we had to lean and eat by the bottom of our wraps- but it is definitely worth the effort!  Enjoy!


Rumour has it that they will have a second truck or maybe they already do - it's not on the list yet though...I can't wait to try it!


Rating: 4.5/5 
Value:  5/5

I want to try the Vegetarian Option next time

Charming owner and Friendly staff help Kristina

Service with a smile

Wow look at that Tandoori Chicken! Yum! You can smell it down the block!

Hariali Chicken

Lamb Kebab

I can't wait to try it!

Butter Chicken

Movie Stars Enjoying Butter Chicken