Roaming Dragon
The Roaming Dragon is a food truck that travels between 3 different locations: W. Georgia (between Thurlow and Burrard) on weekdays, Trout Lake Farmers Market on Saturday, and Kitsilano Farmers Market on Sunday. There's a selection of 6 Asian style tapas on the menu including fried rice balls, pork belly sliders, Korean tacos, and duck confit salad (as seen clockwise in the picture below).
My favourite is the pork belly sliders. It's like the Chinese version of a burger. The buns are steamed Chinese buns called mantou (饅é ), which is a staple food in Northern China. Usually they're eaten by themselves without any fillings. So this mantou burger is somewhat of a fusion food. The pork belly inside was layered with fat and was very tasty (and high in cholesterol I might add). I didn't like any of the other 3 dishes though. The shredded duck meat in the duck confit salad and the meat in the Korean tacos were both too salty... The fried rice balls were ok, but not as soft and chewy as I'd expected. The outside was too crispy and tasted a bit overcooked. Prices were $6 for 1 dish, $10 for 2 dishes, and $15 for 3 dishes. Quite reasonable for the presentation and ingredients, but just like the Japadog it was more of a one-time thing for me so that I could say I've tried it. But I think I will visit again to try the other 2 dishes: chicken karaage and soba salad. I also tried the basil lychee lemonade ($4). I saw the guy make it with a scoop of diced lychee and Canada Dry. It was pretty good, because there were little bits of lychee to chew on. It was fun trying to suck up the lychee bits on the bottom with the thick bubble tea straw :D
EDIT: Oct 23, 2010
I visited the Roaming Dragon truck again at the Trout Lake Farmers Market and tried the chilled soba noodle salad. It was a refreshing vegetarian dish with just a bit of soy sauce. I liked the taste, but I think it was too cold for October. I can imagine it'd be very enjoyable on a hot summer's day though.
After having tried most of the items on the menu, I can conclude that the food does not live up to the hype. Out of the 5 dishes I've tried, the only item I liked was the pork belly sliders. The rest ranged from below average to decent, so I wouldn't consider coming back again.
My favourite is the pork belly sliders. It's like the Chinese version of a burger. The buns are steamed Chinese buns called mantou (饅é ), which is a staple food in Northern China. Usually they're eaten by themselves without any fillings. So this mantou burger is somewhat of a fusion food. The pork belly inside was layered with fat and was very tasty (and high in cholesterol I might add). I didn't like any of the other 3 dishes though. The shredded duck meat in the duck confit salad and the meat in the Korean tacos were both too salty... The fried rice balls were ok, but not as soft and chewy as I'd expected. The outside was too crispy and tasted a bit overcooked. Prices were $6 for 1 dish, $10 for 2 dishes, and $15 for 3 dishes. Quite reasonable for the presentation and ingredients, but just like the Japadog it was more of a one-time thing for me so that I could say I've tried it. But I think I will visit again to try the other 2 dishes: chicken karaage and soba salad. I also tried the basil lychee lemonade ($4). I saw the guy make it with a scoop of diced lychee and Canada Dry. It was pretty good, because there were little bits of lychee to chew on. It was fun trying to suck up the lychee bits on the bottom with the thick bubble tea straw :D
EDIT: Oct 23, 2010
I visited the Roaming Dragon truck again at the Trout Lake Farmers Market and tried the chilled soba noodle salad. It was a refreshing vegetarian dish with just a bit of soy sauce. I liked the taste, but I think it was too cold for October. I can imagine it'd be very enjoyable on a hot summer's day though.
After having tried most of the items on the menu, I can conclude that the food does not live up to the hype. Out of the 5 dishes I've tried, the only item I liked was the pork belly sliders. The rest ranged from below average to decent, so I wouldn't consider coming back again.
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