Another Fabulous Foray at Food Cart Fest!

After such an amazing time at last week's Food Cruck Fest (see my rave review here), there was no way that I was going to miss all of the fun this week.

It was refreshing to see so many new trucks at today's FCF, and I feel the need to spread the word about all of the amazing food that we sampled today, as well as some must-try places for next time!

My pick of the week was .  Although these fine gals have been around for a while, selling their fully vegan and gluten free salads online and at the Juicetruck in Gastown, they just last week opened their very own truck near Victory Square on Cambie.  There is lots to love about their salads.  First, and most importantly, they taste awesome!  They are filled with yummy goodies like quinoa or soba noodles, beans, yams, broccoli, cauliflower, radishes and much more!  They change the ingredients up daily to keep things fresh and interesting.  Secondly, they use all compostable containers and cutlery so the planet loves them too.  Thirdly, and of course very near and dear to my heart, is that they strive to use all local, organic ingredients.  Little Miss Locavore Approved:)

At the FCF today, they were positioned right next to the fine folks at the Juicetruck, the very first food truck that I ever tried, and a place that I make the trek down to Gastown whenever I can for a juicy visit.  What better way to beat the heat than a cold, healthy juice or smoothie?

Hubby was pretty hungry and felt like having a good feed, so he headed over to Kaboom Box for none other than their "World's Most Famous Hot Smoked Salmon Sandwich" (try saying that three times fast!) with a side of BC poutine. It may sound like pretty high praise for a sandwich, but there is no doubt that this sandwich got it going on!  It is made with wild, Oceanwise salmon, smoked fresh and served on a bun with a healthy helping of maple-mustard slaw and a dab of spicy mayo.  It is easy to tell why they have this as the first item on their menu- you do not want to miss it!  The side of poutine is made with homemade fries (thin and crispy) with gravy, mushrooms and real cheese curds for a weekend "guilty pleasure"!

We met up with some friends who had enjoyed Re-Up BBQ, a very popular downtown food cart that is so good at what it does that it only needs to sell two items at their food cart- a pulled pork sandwich and beef brisket.  There are no bells and whistles here, just great tasting food and a smiling face to serve it.  What more do you really need?  They also offer a few products including house-smoked bacon (love the fact that they use pastured Fraser Valley pigs!) and BBQ sauce made with Parallel 49 Brewing beer (again, local!).  My friend very kindly agreed to let me take a picture of the last bite of his  pulled pork sandwich before eagerly gobbling it up!

And then, of course, after every meal there must come dessert!  And although we were trying to try new stuff this week, we could not resist a return trip to Johnny's Pops for a gourmet popsicle (or in Hubby's case, two!).  This week's flavours- strawberry balsamic basil for me, blueberry mojito and raspberry lime for Hubby.  Just the ticket on a hot day!

And here are a few newbies that we discovered today that really piqued our interest:

The "Corn Stand" (not sure what their real name is), where they sell vibrant yellow corn on the cob wither roasted with butter (can't go wrong with that!) or cuban style with cajun seasoning and cheese.  Nothing like biting into a fresh ear of corn on a hot summer's day!

The Aussie Pie guy is new to the food cart scene but he really seems to have some amazing flavours going on!  His flaky pasties are packed with all kinds of different yummy ingredients including pulled pork, brisket, chicken and a veg option.  These little mini pies are so cute and I am sure very delicious too!

Another two on the list for next week are Holy Perogy (selling, you guessed it, perigees!) and Mogu (Japenese Street Food), both of which I have heard great things about. Their menus look pretty exciting!

How awesome is it that Van has such an exceptional of food carts?  We are, after all, one of the best food cart cities in North America, and, with the number of great food carts increasing exponentially, we may be rising to the very top of the charts very soon!!!