Three More Food Trucks

It’s July, summer is in full swing, the Taste of Edmonton festival is just around the corner, and I’ve been visiting food trucks every chance I get (including my regular “Food Truck Friday” visits). Edmonton’s downtown is proudly displaying some of the city’s best culinary creations on four wheels, and the annual summer festival circuit is bringing even more delicious food truck snacks out of hibernation. There are at least two more months before it starts snowing again, so let’s get outside and eat some great food!

Rapscallions

I first encountered this food truck at last year’s Pets in the Park event in Hawrelak Park and have since regretted not taking any photos then. This year, Rapscallions was parked in the park once again, serving up their Asian inspired flavours wrapped in one of Edmonton’s favourite fried delights: the green onion cake.

Though the green onion cake’s roots have been traced back to Northern China, Edmonton has adopted it as one of its proudest official foods (right along with the donair). Delicious soft dough peppered with diced green onions, deep fried until golden and crispy makes for the perfect green onion cake and Rapscallion has certainly perfected the art.

As if making a perfect green onion cake wasn’t enough, Rapscallions has combined two of my favourite foods and created the green onion cake taco. The fillings for these tacos are inspired by different Asian cuisine, like the Korean Shredded Beef with its house-made braising sauce and punchy kimchi. My personal favourite is the Thai Chicken, topped with fresh cucumber and lettuce and smothered in their original peanut sauce.

The Crooked Fork

With a regularly revolving menu of hand held happiness, the Crooked Fork takes a highbrow palette and translates it into meals that are perfectly designed for eating outside. Dishes typically reserved for bistros and refined restaurants like Arancini and Penne Primavera are served alongside some of the most interesting wild meats you could ever imagine finding in a food truck.

Kangaroo Burger, Alpaca Burger, Wild Boar Burger, and the Alberta favourite Elk Burger are raising the bar for what food trucks are offering in the city. My personal favourite is the Duck Burger. The duck , perfectly seared, fatty and rich, topped with lettuce, tomato, and onion is made even more elegant with fried pineapple, mozzarella cheese, and a blueberry aioli. All of these amazing ingredients are served atop a brioche bun.

Every bite of this burger is a master-class in flavour balance. The richness of the duck complemented by the sweetness of the blueberry aioli and the tang of the pineapple are rounded out by the pillow-soft brioche bun. I know it’s my job on this website to put words to flavours and experience, but this one is hard. This is a burger that you need to try for yourself to fully appreciate its brilliance.

Curbside

Like clockwork, every lunch hour Curbside will have a lineup stretching across whichever block it’s parked on, and for good reason. Curbside’s menu takes savoury and comforting classics and nails them with the precision of a black-ops sniper. A 12-hour slow roasted brisket pulled and layered on a Portuguese bun with marinated onions is all they need for the Austin Brisket Sandwich: simple and perfectly executed. The Curbside Chicken features a fried double-breasted piece of chicken on a ciabatta bun, accompanied by cheddar, arugula, and boar jam.

My go-to during my work lunch hour is the Grilled Brieze. Parmesan sourdough bread sandwiches pesto mayo, brie, and cheddar cheese, proving there is no such thing as too much cheese. Each sandwich on the lunch menu comes with two sides, like the Brussels Sprouts or the Potato Au Gratin. I typically opt for the Spring Rolls, with their house made peanut sauce, and the Mac and Cheese (again, no such thing as too much cheese).

The biggest highlight to Curbside’s menu, though, is their homemade ketchup. Once upon a time, I did an entire story about restaurants making their own ketchup and I tried some of the city’s best artisan interpretations. Curbside is easily one of the best ketchups I’ve ever had. One taste and I quickly found myself drenching my sandwich in it, pouring it on top of my Mac and Cheese, and even dipping my spring rolls in it.

Curbside is also one of the only food trucks I’ve encountered that serves breakfast. When I have an early a morning meeting, you know I’m stopping for either a Cuppa Goodness (potato, spinach, arugula, eggs, hollandaise sauce) or for a Fresh Cinny Bun to get me through it.