One of my running days with Fannypack is on Sundays. It just so happens that every Sunday, there’s a Food Cart Fest Vancouver held at the Olympic Village. So naturally we made plans to go after our weekly Sunday morning run.
It costs $2 to enter unless you’re a certain demographic (Vancity member or food donation). Outside the gate they’ve posted a chalkboard of the vendors of the day.
I was excited to see that Guanaco Truck was going to be here, as I’ve been wanting to try their pupusas ever since I’ve first tried pupusas at the Surrey Fusion Fest a few years back.
I decided to get the Chicharron Pupusa Platter ($10). It came with their pupusa, which is a handmade tortilla filled with my choice of pork, with vegetables, cheese, loroco (a small unopened vine flower bud from Central America. Loroco tastes similar to chard, or a cross between mild broccoli and squash with light nutty overtones), and refried black beans; curtido (pickled slaw) and salsa de tomate (fresh tomato sauce). Also there was yucca fries.
One thing I’ve noticed with food trucks though, their food does not come fast. I guess the good thing about that is that the food is made fresh. Ish.
Guanaco’s pupusas were a bit bigger than the ones I’ve had at Surrey Fusion Fest (not sure who/what company made those) and the ones at El Pugarcito. They were also a bit blander so each bite I had to smear with the salsa. I must say I enjoyed my previous experiences more than the one here. I did like the curtido though albeit it being a bit salty.
The yucca fries were very thickly cut, which made them quite dry and starchy to me. Some pieces were also very hard, so I wonder whether they were freshly fried or just reheated. Again the salsa was really put to use here. I can’t say I enjoyed Guanaco too much.
To wash it all down, I visited the Mangal Kiss truck once again to try their cold-pressed juices. I got the Watermelon, Mint, & Rosewater ($4.00) because I love anything rosewater. And mint. I saw them muddle some fresh mint into the cup and then the juice was poured out of a large vat.
It was quite a large cup for the price. I am pretty sure they don’t add any more sugar to it. I hope they don’t, as it was plenty sweet. Taste-wise, it was mostly watermelon. I had hope the mint and rosewater would be equally prominent but no…I guess I’ll just have to try to recreate it myself. Cold-pressing watermelon juice shouldn’t be too hard =P
In the end, it was still quite a healthy and enjoyable afternoon with my bestie. Sunny days were made for this don’t you think??
