Lunch today is going to be an adventure. It started with me visiting the Sydney Food Trucks Website and then downloading the Food Truck app from iTunes. I perused the site on the final leg of our journey from the central coast into the city. Son number 1 was driving as he is currently doing his final hours on L plates. He was a little disconcerted that I couldn’t tell him exactly where were going yet.
With the new app download the first truck on the list was the Eat Art Truck which is headed by the former Tetsuya’s chef Stuart McGill in partnership with former Quay chef Brenton Balicki, the trucks menu is on the website and it has me salivating immediately. The pulled pork bun with coleslaw serves that takes street food dishes from around the world and adapts them with fresh Australian ingredients and modern twists.
The truck had tweeted that it was currently serving food at the Kings Cross Family Festival in Elizabeth Bay. Fantastic, that option was sounding pretty good, food and a festival.
Food truck one was looking pretty hard to beat.
Next truck serving according to the app was the Agape Organic Food Truck which had also tweeted its location to be the Kings Cross Family Day.
Scrolling through the app it seemed that most of the other trucks were on night patrol or attending private functions so we set a course to Kings Cross! Besides, I was already craving the Pulled Pork Bun and I had noticed Agape had chilli chips on their menu, YUM!
We arrived at the little harbour side park and took in the beautiful views out over the water. It was a perfect Sydney Summers day and it brought back memories I have from when I lived here as a student in 1990-91, such a long time between visits!
Both vans were easily spotted and as I was famished I made my way immediately to the Eat Art Truck, named because one side of the truck is used as a canvas for both renowned and up-and-coming street artists, the design changes monthly.
I decided to order a series of dishes from each of the trucks.
Eat Art Truck
The first dish to catch my eye was the chicken wings dusted with Shichimi Peppers and served with mayonnaise. I can still taste the spicy lush crispy outer coating, which encased a moist morsel of chicken. I was pleased to find that although they were chicken wings, there were no bones, so it was all just glorious flavoursome meat! These were a huge hit with Mr GG and No.1 Son, I had to fight for my second piece. As expected there was lots of double and triple dipping into the pool of mayonnaise.
After visualising, and mentally devouring the Pulled Pork Bun it was next on my hit list. Imagine a soft fluffy bun stuffed to over flowing with melt in the mouth full flavoured pulled pork. I had chosen the Bourbon BBQ Sauce whichs added even more richness to the roll. The cabbage with mustard offered the perfect accompanying crunch to the dish. We were two from two and one dish left to try.
The Beef Brisket on a bun with Kimchi slaw and Korean Chili was the next on the tasting plate. It was the spicier on the two buns and I loved all the flavours. There was a lot more coleslaw and greens which really added to the experience for me. If I you asked me to choose a favourite between the two buns I really wouldn’t be able, they were both amazing.
Agape Organic Food Truck
The Chilli Fries had me from the start. Crispy deep fried handcut fries, smothered in a chilli Con Carne sauce made from wagyu beef (yes you can taste the difference) and served with Chimmichurri. It had just the right level of heat and flavour, and for a dish that isn’t particularly health based you could be fooled into thinking you were doing something good for your body by all the beans and vegetables in the chilli sauce. Delicious!
After craving pulled pork for so long when I noted they had a Pulled Pork soft Taco I simply needed to try it too. The taco was thick and fluffy with a generous serve of coleslaw, BBQ sauces and salsa verde. The flavour mix was amazing but unfortunately the sauce was too watery for the bread and had soggied the bottom and the filling burst the bottom before we could eat. Even though it was eaten in pieces, I would come back and have it again and again because it was absolutely delicious. As a warning, sit on the grass and lean forward if you want your clothing and surrounds to remain clean.
Finally I ordered the Organic Nachos which used the same gorgeous meaty Wagyu Chilli Con carne served over corn chips and accompanied by cheese, tomato and chimmichurria sauce. I had originally intended this to be the little ones lunch but it was gorgeously spicy so the adults devoured it whilst the children played.
As far as festivals go it was a little low key. There were families sitting picnicking on blankets whilst the children played in the playground. If it wasn’t for the St Johns Ambulance tent, and a lovely tranny in a spotted outfit with a microphone I would have thought this was just a normal Sunday at the park.
It was all very relaxed and I did have to admire how well the fusion worked between typical inner city (shorty short wearing, oiled body beautifuls) and nice old fashion family and community values worked.
I say old fashioned because on the day we attended the focus was very much on family and community. The games on the itinerary were the ones I grew up with. Mr GG and little Anais participated in the three legged race together. This was followed by another retro favourite, the sack race. (I am sure there are a lot of jokes I could make about that one considering our location.) and I heard whispers that there was to be an egg and spoon race also but we were off to sample some ice-cream… extreme style 😉
I am curious readers, how do you choose where to eat when you are arriving in a new place?
