Let’s talk about food trucks.
Why do we love them? What makes a good one? Many seem to come and go either failing to stand apart and falling away or by doing things so well that they evolve into brick and mortar restaurants in their own right such as former mobile favourites like Okanagan Street Food or El Taquero. Even Bright Jenny coffee was once a rolling Canoe coffee truck which if I recall correctly can still be seen parked at their location on Laurel. As with many ventures in the Okanagan, in order to enjoy any longevity in this valley, a food truck needs to focus primarily on the one thing it does exceptionally well and build its offering around that for which it can become famous.
There simply are not enough bodies milling about in our valley for the less than remarkable to catch enough of the spillover business that might slip through the cracks of the folks that are setting the bar high, and in our mini metro areas the word of where to find something exceptional gets around pretty quick. So many times I have visited a truly large city and have sought out recommended mobile eateries that would not last a year in the valley. The standard needs to be a little loftier to gain any sustained traction in the Okanagan market and Locals like us have been reaping the rewards for some time now.
At the time of this writing I have not made my way through the full gamut of options but I can tell you a little of what I have enjoyed about each of my experiences thus far and confess that one of my goals for the Autumn is to sample as much as I can from the local fleet.
Now while many of the trucks and trailers have a regular tour of locations that they will rotate though throughout the course of a week or month, more and more are putting down roots in opportune spots, often taking advantage of a symbiotic partnership with a winery, brewery, market or lucrative industrial area where they can establish themselves as the go to for hungry workers on the block. As we build our database here at OkanaganLocal we will include as many links to the operators’ websites and social media pages as we can so you can find something that will tickle your fancy when the mood strikes in short order.
So far some of my favourites in and around the Central Valley are as follows in no particular order:
Little Tokyo Ramen
I stumbled across this cute little renovated red and white Boler trailer few seasons back while frequenting Kettle River brewing on Baillie rd in Kelowna and was delighted with the simple yet flavourful take on traditional Japanese ramen. The wait time, despite them being quite busy, was short and the consensus among my party of those that did partake was one of unanimous approval. I personally recommend the red spicy miso. Not overwhelming heat, just adds the right amount of bite. I recall last year when they took over the kitchen at Start Fresh in the Landmark 2 building and the lineup was out the door and through the lobby. They can crank out the Ramen. This is one truck that truly does jump around so check their FB page to see when they will be in your hood next.
Broken Anchor
Found this little gem parked outside The View winery and tried their fried chicken sandwich with maple hot sauce. Oh mama. Delectable. You’d think I would have remembered the name afterwards but I spent some time wracking my brain and trying to describe the “octopus truck” to folks before I discovered them once more online. It looks like the proprietor has gone through a couple of iterations of his business and according to the website has found a building and expanded the menu with a heavy seafood slant. Put that on my list of places to check out. In the meantime the food truck may be on temporary hiatus due to a certain global health crisis but here’s hoping they keep ‘er rolling if and when we get out of these woods.
The Lobster Pot
Most often found near the Harley dealer on the Okanagan Rail Trail at McCurdy rd in Kelowna or the sister trailer’s locale near the bottom of hospital hill on Hwy 97 in Vernon, this is where my son discovered he prefers lobster, adding fuel to the crab vs lobster debate in my house. With fresh lobster flown in twice a week from the Maritimes, the lobster roll is legit and is another prime example of how doing one simple thing really well that no one else is doing is key to cracking the upper echelon of preferred food trucks in the valley. Though I am curious about the hot roll, I started with the cold as we were told that it outsells the hot 4-1. I am sure I will be hitting this little unit up again soon. Plus it’s close to my house so giddy up
Boneyard BBQ
A few summers back a company I was with hired Boneyard to do the catering for our customer appreciation day on the merits of the flagship item the Pulled Pork Naaco (pulled pork in a Naan bread taco with slaw). The only knock on the experience is the time it took to get your hands on your food from time of order (there is a longer wait there) but if you are not in a rush it is definitely a good item and if you are down with BBQ this is a solid truck for you to check out. They also tour around a fair bit between Kelowna and Vernon so keep your eye on their page for more info.
Surfside California Tacos
Whenever there is a blog post about favoured food trucks in the Okanagan, always there seems to be an entry for Surfside. And with good reason. They rock a fish taco as good as anyone in town and have been killing it in the Kelowna market for years. They have a great lineup of tacos to try, but everyone seems to agree that the classic fish is their front runner to which I must concur. You know, (and I’m dating myself here) I remember as a kid staying up ‘late’ to watch Saturday Night Live in the early 90s heyday and while waiting I would often catch an old regional sketch comedy show called Almost Live that used to air out of Seattle network KING right before SNL and at the end of the show they would list their sponsors including a small Washington chain of fish taco joints called Taco Del Mar (which has of course now spread far and wide) and I remember thinking: Fish? In a taco? Who would wanna eat that? How wrong I was. The good ol fish taco has worked its way into Canadian menus from sea to sea and one of the entities pumping out a great version is Surfside. Right next to the aforementioned Lobster Pot in gasoline alley in Kelowna.
Well, as we build our list of food trucks in the Okanagan it rapidly becomes clear that we have only scratched the surface and that a lot more exhaustive culinary research is in order. We will soon get out to the North and South a little more and, as well, venture into some of the more remote locations of our beloved Okanagan Valley and see what we can unearth as we continue to explore all of the food truck experiences to be had in our little corner of Heaven.
Till then gentle readers, stay tuned and Live Local….