Street Food

[vanlaw]

Just had on the of the pulled pork sandwiches for lunch. Very good, and for 6.75 w/tax, pretty decent when you compare to price of hot dog etc.

Pork was perfect, bbq sauce nice and tangy, and the coleslaw on top was fresh and tasty

[officedweller]

Originally Posted by ozonemania

I am a little curious about this. Places like this Roaming Dragon food cart, places like that chain that seems to be around Wok Box, and the recent news about a new 'traditional Chinese restaurant that serves sweet and sour pork Peking duck fried noodles in a modern setting' Chinois -- are these kind of places that fit Vancouver? With one third the population Chinese and a relatively educated general population of what good authentic Asian food is, I am wondering if these guys have the right idea.

How are places like Wild Rice and Bao Bei doing? Where would they fit in terms of authenticity vs popularity?

Sorry to be offtopic re: street food.

That's the reason that "Asian fusion" doesn't do well in Vancouver...
remeber:
- "Oritalia" at the Sheraton Suites le Soleil?
- The Keg Caesar's (on Dunsmuir/Hornby) Asian fusion second floor back in the 90s?

[SpongeG]

it does better in the burbs which also houses olive garden, montanas, east side marios, coza etc. not found in vancouver

[nova9]

on a side note, i'm taking off to NYC on wednesday and will be eating my way through the city and a large portion of that will be on food trucks. should give an a good idea of what our food truck scene is failing to be (but we'll give it time)

[mezzanine]

Originally Posted by ozonemania

I am a little curious about this. Places like this Roaming Dragon food cart, places like that chain that seems to be around Wok Box, and the recent news about a new 'traditional Chinese restaurant that serves sweet and sour pork Peking duck fried noodles in a modern setting' Chinois -- are these kind of places that fit Vancouver? With one third the population Chinese and a relatively educated general population of what good authentic Asian food is, I am wondering if these guys have the right idea.

How are places like Wild Rice and Bao Bei doing? Where would they fit in terms of authenticity vs popularity?

Sorry to be offtopic re: street food.

good point. I would like to think that it boils down to darwinism -that if an asian fusion place (or any restaurant, really) has the right emphasis/mix of food, presentation, room and price point they can't lose.

Some 'authentic' chinese places have awesome and unique food and very reasonable prices, but have curt service and less ambiance. top shanghai restaurant on ackroyd would fit this bill. only a third of their menu is in english, and you really have to know the food or read chinses to know what to get.

another great thing, IMO is that even if a richmond chinese restaurant is geared towards a younger/more upward clientle, it would not be unusual for you to see families, seniors and babies at the restaurant, if the food is good. you would rarely see this at western restaurants, but then again some might like this.

bao bei is on the other side of the spectrum. they have a really nice room and ambiance, an extensive drink list (rare for chinese restos), accessible menus, but the food is serviceable compared to some of the richmond places and prices are very high compared to other ch. restaurants.

[SpongeG]

just look at the crazy popularity of PF Changs in the states - ask people up here and they seem to love it and go everytime they are in seattle

I tried it once it was good but its pretty easy to get asian food in vancouver

[Yume-sama]

Plenty(of)Fatty(grease) Changs is pretty blah. I don't think America is capable of producing a dish without lard.

[delboy]

Looks like some more stands are set to go ..... at the end of summer sadly. The whole thing has been a let down, but I'm just grateful to see anything that resembles liberalism in this city:

http://www.vancouversun.com/life/eat...071/story.html

[Waders]

I walked by Waterfront Skytrain station today and noticed 'Dim Sum' has opened.
Has anyone try the food yet? There are 4 or 5 Combo choice on the menu, each costs $6.99 (+ HST?), not cheap. May be tourist would be more interested?

Photo. taken by me.

[delboy]

http://www.straight.com/article-3454...town-vancouver

[Yume-sama]

I've walked by Kimono Koi's quite a bit. The crepes look and smell delicious. Good location, too, right infront of the exit to VCC Station!

One of these days I'll make time to try them~ Japanese crepes are very good.

[sacrifice333]

So who's enjoyed the Roaming Dragon?

I picked up the Groupon last week. Apparently 1600 other people did too!!!

Not sure where I'll enjoy it... was planning to at Kits Point one eve... but sounds like they're now on Georgia during the week for lunch and at the Kits Farmers market on the weekend. So no dinnah!

[Rusty Gull]

The dim sum stand is OK. My Chinese friends weren't impressed that they smother the dumplings in hot sauce and soy sauce. But what do I know. I thought it was pretty good. You can order a set of dumplings for 3 bucks or so. The shrimp dumplings are definitely a nice snack.

[SpongeG]

i saw some kind of salad cart on granville outside of aritiza - is that one of the vendors?

it was pretty small and had no customers and it was the height of lunch hopefully she can survive

[delboy]

Originally Posted by SpongeG

i saw some kind of salad cart on granville outside of aritiza - is that one of the vendors?

it was pretty small and had no customers and it was the height of lunch hopefully she can survive

i noticed that too, she doesnt look very interesting and far too healthy. In comparison that pulled pork guy over by the art gallery has line ups all lunch and had a sign up advising he was sold out.

I'm actualy quite impressed thus far, the vendors are creating points of interest and are adding to the street level flavour of the city. I also saw some chinese skewer guy at teh bottom of burrard and a pizza truck that looked interesting.

[vanlaw]

Originally Posted by delboy

i noticed that too, she doesnt look very interesting and far too healthy. In comparison that pulled pork guy over by the art gallery has line ups all lunch and had a sign up advising he was sold out.

I'm actualy quite impressed thus far, the vendors are creating points of interest and are adding to the street level flavour of the city. I also saw some chinese skewer guy at teh bottom of burrard and a pizza truck that looked interesting.

The pizza truck is Ragazzi, which is, imho, one of the best pizza places in Vancouver (Renfrew/22nd). Not sure how the pizza from their truck is as I havent tried it yet, but the pizza from their restaurant is fantastic....havent ordered pizza from anywhere elsein the past 4 years or so.

Have also had the pulled pork 3 or 4 times now...consistently good.

[delboy]

Originally Posted by vanlaw

The pizza truck is Ragazzi, which is, imho, one of the best pizza places in Vancouver (Renfrew/22nd). Not sure how the pizza from their truck is as I havent tried it yet, but the pizza from their restaurant is fantastic....havent ordered pizza from anywhere elsein the past 4 years or so.

Have also had the pulled pork 3 or 4 times now...consistently good.

I'll be sure to give it a go!

How do you find the street culture feel due to the carts? i like it and can envision quite a good street scene in the not too distant future. Hot dog carts still out number though.

[giallo]

It's nice to hear that some of the carts are not only good, but tasting a bit of success as well.
This sort of thing was long overdue for a foodie city like Vancouver

[SpongeG]

i was expecting more to the carts - the one on robson and something is just like a hot dog cart so i didn't even look at it - turns out its some kind of meatball cart or something

[delboy]

Originally Posted by SpongeG

i was expecting more to the carts - the one on robson and something is just like a hot dog cart so i didn't even look at it - turns out its some kind of meatball cart or something

well a cart is a cart...not sure what you were expecting. I thought the ones i saw were mostly very un hot dog like.

It is clearly a work in progress and there is much to be done, but I'm staying postive that street food can be a real success.