Veggie Patch Van, Camperdown

Meat is a beautiful thing. All my favourite dishes (with the exclusion of cheese plates and desserts) include some form of meat on it. I eat so much of it that I thought I should go vegetarian for a while due to possible health problems in the future and to reduce my carbon foot print a little. Little known fact. I was vegetarian for a while last year and eventually I got used to it and you come out a lot healthier. Needless to say throughout the three months, I had a couple of cheat days (three to be specific) but I think I'm going to try again next year.

I love the new (or rather old now) food truck revolution. It's a fantastic concept borrowed from America that almost always promises quick, easy and accessible food. The savvy diner will have undoubtedly found out which is their favourite and then proceed to stalk its movements, night and day. Sydney Uni seems to be the hotspot for food trucks these days so all that stalking isn't necessary and I'm thinking it's better to take advantage of that while it lasts. Wednesday noons bring down the Veggie Patch Van which I've never been able to catch for a while until now.

It's an attractive truck; complete with a green and brown paint job, sage and thyme plot plants as well as a few others and it reminds me of a backyard tin shed on wheels. There's a fair few things to choose from, probably the most expansive of all the food trucks and they're all written in chalk.

Falafel Salad 10

Wow. Just wow. I'm at a loss for words here. This is my go to dish for the next time I visit this truck. It's just brilliant. It packs loads of flavour with the home made herbed falafel here is crispy with a good amount of spice ready to be dipped into a nutty and homey hummus which it sits on a bed of quinoa punctuated with bursts of parsley. Pomegranate didn't look particularly pomegranatey and didn't taste particularly pomegranatey either. Not sure what it was but I liked it. 

Vegan Burger 10

I'm surprised how good this burger tasted. Obvious things would have helped like toasting the bun to give it a little more character and remove the chewiness of it but that aside, it competes well with its other meat variants. You've got some beetroot action going on (of course), some caramelised onions, mayo and ketchup anda stack load of spinach leaves that becomes a little too much save for the flippingly good patty made of zucchini, chickpea, almond and olive patty that hits it right out of the park (Victoria Park to be specific). What it lacks in meatiness, cheesiness and eye-rolling fatiness, it makes up for in downright delicious flavour and freshness. 

Ruby Grapefruit Soda Drink 4

Organic ruby grapefruit soda is refreshingly light and not too sour although if it's going to be a soda, it could be more fizzier.

Hazelnut & Currant Bliss Ball 4

Vegan ingredients show its shortcomings with their hazelnut and currant bliss ball. It feels just plain bland, the texture is grainy (to be expected given it's ground hazelnut), a little dry and just lacks the life the previous dishes had. It seems like it belongs more on a weight-conscious diet rather than a gourmet food truck.

Knowing this truck existed would have made going vego sooooo much easier. During that whole time period it was pretty much Weetbix for breakfast, salad with nuts for lunch, salad with nuts for dinner... Yeah... I lead a riveting lifestyle. I really have to learn how to cook. Unshaven hippies rejoice, you've got a good thing going for you. Thank you veggie patch team. You've shown me vegan food really can be great. Some things aside, I forgot cheese and milk and butter and eggs and pretty much everything else I like... let alone meat even existed that day. 


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Posted in: beetroot, burger, falafel, hummus, vegan, vegetables