What the Truck?! May 23, 2015

Hello! I'm excited to share Saturday's experience at the first What the Truck?! event of 2015! If you haven't done so already, read my recap of the last 2014 What the Truck?! to get an idea of what the event is all about.

What the Truck?! at Churchill Square.

It's no surprise that hot summer weather brings people outdoors. Yesterday was no exception. Thousands of Edmontonians arrived at Sir Winston Churchill Square, all looking to eat food from the 25 food trucks lined up along the square and 99 Street. There was WAY more people at this event compared to the one I went to last September.

Colossal Shrimp Bully Mac.

CJ and I arrived at the event just fifteen minutes before 4 PM. There were already a lot of people forming line ups in front of a few food trucks, so we decided to do the same. We chose Bully Food Truck as our first food truck of the evening. I thought the line up moved fairly quickly since there were two ladies taking orders in front of the truck. Nice and systematic. The Colossal Shrimp Bully Mac ($10) was CJ's pick, but I was also excited to try it since I had heard many good things about it through social media. In this bowl, you will find baked macaroni with shrimp along with their signature cheese sauce made from 6 different cheeses. Garlic panko, a butter poached 13/15 count shrimp, and a lemon wedge are added on top as well. The cheese sauce was creamy, but the lemon did a good job at cutting through the richness and making the dish bright and balanced overall. CJ noted that each bite tasted better with the panko, likely because it added some crunch and texture. I think I would have enjoyed a larger portion size, since it felt like there wasn't enough food to share between us. P.S., that colossal shrimp on top was divine.

Baileys Rice Crispy Square.

We actually did not plan on purchasing one of Bully Food Truck's Baileys Rice Crispy Squares ($3), but when I saw how big it was I didn't hesitate to buy one. The rice crispy square is topped with chocolate and kettle corn, which are easily three of my favourite things all in one sweet treat. It's kind of crazy how big this is. You really have to get in there to eat it, although the chocolate is pretty messy. The chocolate was also melting quickly, so I don't recommend eating this right under the sun lol. Overall, a simple and tasty dessert.

Buttermilk Fried Chicken Slider.

Next up was Drift Food Truck. We decided to get their Buttermilk Fried Chicken Slider ($8) with potato crisps as our side. Inside are their house pickles and slaw, and CJ added some aji dipping sauce (made of pepper and cilantro) for extra flavour. This slider was very light and refreshing, especially with the addition of the slaw on top. But my favourite part were the potato crisps which are spiced with their flavourful and amazing drift seasoning. I could seriously eat a whole bag of those crisps by myself. The only downside for me was that I wished there was more than one slider... $8 seems a little too pricey for just one. 

The Irish.

CJ was craving fries so instead of La Poutine (our go-to pick), I suggested we try The Irish ($6) fries by Sailin' On, which is Edmonton's only vegan food truck. We stood in line for these fries for about 45 minutes, but I would say it was worth it. When I opened the container, I immediately fell in love with the gorgeous colours! The Irish consists of curry, vegan garlic mayo, cabbage, carrot, and green onion all on top of their hand cut fries. The curry paired really nicely with the soft fries, and the crunchy vegetables had CJ and I feeling refreshed. I think this item gave the most bang for our buck because we both felt more satisfied after eating it since the portion was larger. These fries were definitely the highlight of the event for me. 

Curry Chips.

Jeline got Sailin' On's Curry Chips ($5). She said that it tasted good at first, but eventually there was too much curry and not enough fries to balance it out. Even CJ (who usually happily finishes food that other people can't finish) got sick of eating the overwhelming amount of curry. It might have been because these fries were served in a cup and not in a container, but I would still recommend The Irish instead. 

Lemonade.

At this point CJ and I were very thirsty from standing out in the sun for so long. We each brought our own bottle of water because I initially did not want to spend money on drinks, but we finished our bottles much quicker than planned and couldn't last much longer without something to quench our thirst. So we stood in line for about an hour to get a Lemonade ($5) from Carnival Cravings. Sadly, this lemonade was more sour than sweet, but it did a good job at making us less thirsty before we left the event. Next time, we're going to bring our own cooler and fill that up with water bottles! 

Butter and Salt Pretzel.

CJ really loves pretzels, so he asked if I could buy him Carnival Cravings' Butter and Salt Pretzel ($6). I didn't want to get one at first because I thought the money could be spent on more unique food from other food trucks, but after standing in line for so long I gave in. CJ and I felt that this pretzel was a bit small for its cost, but nevertheless I enjoyed the warm buttery flavour along with the sharpness of the salt with each bite. I don't think this treat and the lemonade were worth standing in line for so long though. 

Cookies and Cream.

While CJ and I were in line for our drink and pretzel, Jeline was in the line for Keilan's Creamery ice cream. The line up for ice cream was also unsurprisingly long, so Jeline was disappointed to find out that the two flavours she would have wanted were sold out! Nevertheless, the Cookies and Cream - vanilla ice cream laced with chocolate cream filled cookies - was cold, creamy, and great for the hot and sunny weather. But I don't think this was worth standing in line for so long either. 

It was so nice to see so many Edmontonians embracing YEG food trucks and food truck culture at the first What the Truck?! to kick off the summer! There were still long line ups even when the event was drawing to an end (at 8 PM), although most of the trucks had already sold out. There were also lots of food trucks at the event which were new to What the Truck?! including Chedda Heads, Chipman Fish & Chips, Explore India, Fab Food on Four, Jeepney Jaytee, Spice Rickshaw, and The Mini Donut King. I didn't get to try food from the new trucks, but I'll be on the look out for them this summer - particularly Jeepney Jaytee, which serves Filipino street food (and had one of the longest line ups at the event!). I'm glad that CJ and I were able to try food from the Best Food Trucks of 2015 in Edmonton, according to Avenue Edmonton's list. Drift, Bully, and Sailin' On definitely deserve to be in the top three! 

Now here's my learning experience from the event: based on our experience at the last What the Truck?! in September (which had considerably fewer attendees), CJ and I thought we'd be fine going together as a very small group. Not for this event! GO WITH FRIENDS! If you have a larger group, you can use a divide and conquer strategy: plan out what trucks you want to visit and the food you want to get, divide into smaller groups to conquer the line ups, then regroup once you have all the food with you. So simple, effective, and efficient. CJ and I spent almost the entire 4 hours at the event with a large amount of time spent in the line ups. Do not make the same mistake as us. The more, the merrier! 

To those that attended the event - I hope you enjoyed yourselves despite the long lines and hot weather. The next What the Truck?! will be Sunday, June 4 from 11 AM to 3 PM at Capital Boulevard. See you then!