Food trucks are finally in action right now! And I was able to witness the big fuss at Esplanade Financiere Sun Life which is located at the Olympic Stadium. All the trucks are gathered every first Friday of every month! I’m not sure when this event would end, you can gather more information on the Olympic Park website.

The day I went was one of the worst time to go…it was cold and raining. Because of that, it affected my enjoyment and I had to hold an umbrella so it was difficult to take pictures…

Another thing, I need to point out, which has nothing to do with the weather, maybe I am too accustomed to street food from other countries. I was rather disappointed with the service and the price. This applies to all the food trucks I purchased food from. I expected fast service, cheap eats and user-friendly (as in, easy to eat without needing a table). This would be discussed more below…

La Sandwicherie Zoe’s

I think this was originally La Mangeoire but they changed their concept.

They offered 3 choices in the menu. I chose this one, which is called Cochon sauvage, I believe.

I must admit the pork was unbelievable tender. It was cooked in a way that achieved a texture I never had before, it was very gelatin. I think the cut consisted of mostly fat, which I felt almost guilty. The flavor of the sandwich was very unique – hint of sweet and sourness. The sourness came from capers.

I had the most easy time eating Zoe’s sandwich. Only one hand required. No dripping. No weird shaping after a few bites. All stayed in one piece in this paper bag. However, the waiting time rather long when there was no waiting line. The price was about 9$, tax included. For me…my value for the sandwich is 6.50$, so with taxes, it should be 7.50$. It’s suppose to be street food! But I heard the license is expensive, so I can understand why the price is rather high.

Grumman 78

Ah- the so famous tacos from Grumman 78 and I finally get to taste it, just a bit because Mr.Butter ordered them and as you can see the portion is rather puny, especially when it is 6-7$ a piece. So here is a 13$ meal. Some say it’s worth it…and I say…

It’s only worth it for the first experience. Let’s be reasonable now. I ain’t gonna be full with these 2 tacos, I would need at least an extra one. So add that to the 13$, 20$! What? I find it ridiculous how expensive these food can be… Again, I can understand why they need to put it at that price to be viable…but then, I really wonder if people would think it is worth that $ per taco.

The top taco is Lamb curry and the bottom is Pork banhmi. How did they taste? Very forgettable.

So I have Mr.Butter to describe them to have a better representation…in his words, the tacos were like gourmet meal served on a soft taco and were greatly loved by him (he said it was very saucy, the bit of chilli sauce made the whole experience sky rocket, just thinking about this makes him salivating). Can he be more descriptive?

You go figure how come his experience was so different from mine.

Roux

For my mama, being a very difficult lady that day, I searched high and low for food that will be suitable for her palate.

This is like a long bread shaped, with lettuce, avocado, and fried shrimps. The key here is the fried shrimps, which are super nicely fried. This was about 10$.

My mama said she liked it, but I think she was just pretending to like it because it was becoming too difficult to find something she likes.

This thing was difficult to eat without a table…If I were to stand up, it would be difficult to have a bit of everything in one bite. We were lucky enough to have a table as there weren’t a lot of people due to bad weather

We also had their fries with curry mayonnaise. Their mayonnaise reminded me of Frite Alors! Just as tasty. I think if it wasn’t for the mayo, I wouldn’t have gone crazy for their fries.

I find the fries very pricey, 6$. I like how the staff told me the portion is big. Cough. It looks big because it’s in a cone shape. So really, you’re not getting much in the bottom half of the cone.

Gaufrabec

These belgian waffles are also available at Adonis, although pre-packaged already.

My only complaint with Gaufrabec is their super slow staff. They were so inefficient, that I nearly want to take in charge and speed up the process. How hard is to sprinkle some powder sugar, put whip cream from the bottle or squeeze some chocolate sauce on the waffle?! It should take 5 seconds! Fine, if they were waiting for the waffles to cook then I can understand, but not even! They had a stack of waffles ready to be served! AH! The frustration!

Let’s put that aside. The waffle was tasty. We had the fruits and waffle, which literally means the fruits were inside the batter! The waffle itself was a bit chewy, but nonetheless, still very enjoyable.

My overall experience with food truck is closer to negative than positive. I think it’s still at experimental stage, and they still have a lot to learn from. Sure, I will try out more, merely for curiosity. But, I would never choose it over restaurants.

Zuuchini

Le Gros Jambon is no stranger in my blog! But I got something new to share this time! Instead of going for lunch or supper, I went for brunch!

Huevos Rancheros

This sounded very interesting: eggs with salsa and chorizo?!

Until it was placed in front of my face, it didn’t look appetizing anymore. I blame the odd green from the salsa! But let’s not judge a book by its cover! I took a bite…BING! Pretty unique flavor. The salsa and fried egg lightened up the chorizo. The portion seemed small, but it was very filling! Packed with proteins!

Fried Chicken with Waffles

This is a must order! Don’t be like me and fooled by the sloppy waffles – they were crispy, however lacking density. But the star ain’t the waffles, obviously. Let’s shift our focus on those drumsticks. They really can’t be more perfect than it already is. I am going to throw in a racist joke, but I have to resist. They were pre-made and re-fried once ordered. I couldn’t understand how they were able to keep the meat so soft, yet the skin so crispy like it was fried freshly. I just can’t understand! I don’t understand how the meat wasn’t overcooked when the chicken was refried and later put in the oven. With the maple syrup drizzle on top, it is no joke…I was sold. And let’s add that Le Gros Jambon is generous enough to give 3 big pieces to have all the goodness soak it.

Fried chicken with waffles, you got me bad.

Zuuchini

Greetings!

I have another promising eatery to share with you! I wished I knew about this place earlier!

This is no typical restaurant, actually it is wrong to call it as such. You pick at the “counter” at the sight of several already cooked meals. It is difficult task to choose! They serve ready-to-eat meals, much better than frozen dinners or even supermarket’s ready-to-eat.

Their cuisine exceeds most restaurant’s quality if not comparable at much friendly price (of course, it is pricer if you buy the ingredients and cook them yourself).

They conveniently place nice picnic tables right outside their doors so you can enjoy their food immediately as well.

I’ll just jump right in and introduce some of the food I ordered.

Mac n Cheese!
This is 4 cheese mac n cheese that was the only thing that I wasn’t that impressed. Very cheesy indeed but couldn’t find the wow factor.

Godly Lasagna (not the actual name..but might as well!)

Oh man THIS lasagna is the mother god of all lasagnas! I have never in my life felt so complete eating lasagnas… Don’t be fooled by the basic looks of the pictured lasagna. It has unimaginable multiple layered fillings ! It got all the basic fillers of lasagna plus SAUSAGES. Not those tiny ass sausages. But whole sausages!

This is a must order!

Smoked duck leg

Some were fooled to think this duck leg is dry! It was soooo tender and S-M-O-K-E-Y. I could taste the smokiness in every bite as if I was right in the location the duck was cooked!

Braised lamb

The sauce for the lamb was so delicious that we actually kept the leftover (cough, the tiny bits of sauce) and pour it over to a simple stir fry vegetable dish, and it became not so simple anymore! Total transformation!

The braised lamb was perfect cooked, tender. But it was slightly less loved because the lasagna and the duck were over the top amazing.

Black sausage

Hum…this unattractive black looking sausage doesn’t look that appetizing. In fact, I found it rather normal. It has cheese oozing out once bitten, but still failed to impress me when its confreres spoiled my taste buds too much.
One little warning, all these foods are priced by weight. So…be careful that your eyes are bigger than your tummy!

I will be coming back for more soon enough! There are still so many dishes that look incredible delicious!

Zuuchini

I’m actually quite excited to share Gado Gado. It brought me unique food experience as it is my first time having Indonesia food in Montreal!

Dendeng

This was a tasty beef jerky! Nicely marinated. But it was too wet, it would taste 10x times if they bake it a big longer in the oven to dry and harden it a bit more. I could imagine people pairing this with a beer!

Gado Gado salad

This was a traditional Indonesia salad but I found it unremarkable.

Bakpao Gapit

This is a steamed bun with pork. Definitely for those fatty pork lovers! As for me, it was just ok…I wished the pork was even more marinated, then maybe I would enjoy it more, and not feeling guilty the chunk of fats I just digested.

Kulit Ayam

Looking at this just reminded me how much goosebumps it gave me! This is fried chicken skin! I just cannot… All for Mr.Butter. If I remembered well, he said the skin was too “oily”, in the sense that it wasn’t fried drily.

Mie Goreng jawa

This dish was what my sister recommended. It has a similar taste as Shanghai noodles, but much thinner. It was good…until I ate the next dishes that I found this particular dish was nothing to praise about!

Laksa

I LOVED THIS! It was my very favorite dish of the evening. The soup was heavily infused with green curry( I think it was green curry…). The noodle was perfectly cooked, so chewy! I couldn’t get over with the soup though, I really wanted to bring the remaining soup to home so I can make another noodles soup for the next day. Not to mention, the soup pairs well with rice too!

Gulai Kambing

Another solid curry dish! The lamb was so soaked in curry goodness. So riiiiich. I know it’s good curry when my mom would want a bowl of rice just so she can layer the curry on top of the rice.

Sate Daging

These brochettes were tasty and nicely grilled! Tender as well! On a side note, I really like those finely cut vegetables served with the dishes – somehow I really like how they tasted.

lapis sagu

Cute layered cake! Served warm. I believe it’s made with coconut (and excuse me, the name of the dessert may be wrong…) It wasn’t impressive, but good enough to end the supper nicely!

lapis surabaya

Also ordered this sponge cake because we were curious! I was quite surprised that I enjoyed it. Very moist!

Although I was not in heaven throughout my seating, the Laksa itself was enough to make me all giddy! I checked their facebook, and they seem to have even more interesting dishes that I hadn’t had the chance to try yet!

Zuuchini