Montreal Morsels: Food Truck Friday

This past Friday, a few friends and I attended Montreal’s monthly food truck rally. Named “Les 1ers Vendredis” (First Fridays), this mouth-watering event brings together a dozen or a so trucks at the Parc Olympique on the first Friday of every month (don’t you think Food Truck Friday would be a better title? I referred to it as this the whole night).

With hungry stomachs (and the first week of school and work behind us), we made the long trek/subway ride to the Parc.

Our stomachs were in luck. Not only were there many trucks to choose from, each truck offered something uniquely delicious. Deciding was the hard part.

I was lucky enough to do some sharing (and able to sample that much more because of it). Armed with our own wine, we parked ourselves at a picnic table and ate far too much over the two hours we were there.

The highlight of the night was absolutely the burger from the Nouveau Palais truck, called “The Winneburger” (it’s served in a Winnebago!). Nouveau Palais is a great little restaurant in the Mile End neighbourhood of Montreal that offers diner food done right. This burger was definitely done right: Quebec beef (well-seasoned), a brioche-poppy seed bun, lettuce, tomato. Simple but perfect. And nicely sized (so we could eat more after).

I then tried a duck confit sandwich from “Lucky’s Truck.” Served with arugula, radicchio and an orange vinaigrette, this sandwich was tasty but a little on the dry-side (we finished it anyway, of course).

My last taste was from the “Route 27” truck, a completely raw/tartare menu. The ahi-tuna taco with mango salsa was stunningly flavoured: great balance from the acidic lime juice, sweet mango, and a dusting of salt. The only down side? At $7, one might expect two tacos rather than the one small we were served.

 

The beauty of Food Truck Friday is the temporary Friday night community it brings together: students, young professionals, families (children of all ages). It was light when we arrived and dark when we left, but the young ones were still playing with each other (stomachs full, smiles big) as we departed into the night (stomachs full, smiles big).