Firstly- well done Clover! This is very exciting news for us here at Bringing Potential To Kings Cross! It’s great to think that we have another 3 or so years with Clover in the top job fighting to make Kings Cross and Sydney as a whole a better place (especially at night time).
One of Clover’s better ideas was the introduction of food trucks to the streets of Sydney to align this city with other vibrant cities of the world like Los Angeles, San Francisco and Paris. Sydney siders can finally enjoy gourmet food on the streets right up to around 1am most nights of the week.
In January this year Clover announced that 10 food trucks would be taking to the streets. These include:
- Eat Art Truck
- Cantina Mobil
- Al Carbón
- Bite Sized Delights
- Agapé
- Let’s Do Yum Cha
- Urban Pasta
- Veggie Patch Van
- Tsuru
- Taco Truck
It’s a shame that it’s already mid September and only 3 of these trucks are on the streets, theses being the well established Eat Art Truck, Cantina Mobil and very recently, Agapé. The massive hype about these food trucks at the start of the year and the current lack of these trucks has unfortunately given a slightly tarnished feeling to the trucks that are already on the streets and doing a wonderful job. Think of how great it could have been if all the trucks arrived on the streets at once and took Sydney by storm. They would have been unstoppable! It’s also a shame to all the food trucks that missed out on receiving permission to trade (the council has only allowed for 10 trucks to trade initially) to see the wasted opportunities from the trucks that aren’t on the road yet. Let’s hope when they turn up their food packs a hell of a lot of punch to make up for their absence!
I have been lucky enough to work in and to spend a lot of time around one of the current food trucks. It’s been great to see all the positive reactions from customers and passers by. One of the most common compliments we get is how great it is to find good food on the streets between knock off time and dinner. People finish work, are starving and may not being having dinner for another 2 hours or so and the food trucks are a great way to fill up in this lull period when nothing but Maccas is open. Food trucks are also a really great way to get gourmet food at affordable prices later in the evening when fast food is really your only option. And by gourmet I mean the head chefs of one of the trucks are ex Tetsuya’s and ex Quay! Street food really doesn’t get any better!
How does this relate to the issues we are concerned with here at Bringing Potential To Kings Cross? Stay tuned for part two coming in a few days of the story of Sydney food trucks and how they are step in the right direction in helping to better Sydney’s nightlife.
Bringing Potential To Kings Cross 
Sydney food trucks for Brekky, lunch & dinner up on http://www.wherethetruck.at
Agreed that the introduction of food trucks will align us with more vibrant cities, I’m very excited by the concept. I was in Austin Texas (and NYC) recently where the food truck culture is massive and at a very high standard. The only thing which does not align, is the cost of the food. It seems to be that little bit too high, especially when comparing to other cities around the world – but then they push through a lot more volume than what I imagine these trucks in Sydney do. Maybe when the other trucks open, prices will re-adjust. Why haven’t the other trucks got up and running here yet, even though they have the license?
Hi there, thanks for the comment- indeed I too have thought the prices of the food from the trucks is a little high but at the end of the day Sydney is a very expensive city (in fact it’s one of the most expensive in the world) so it’s unavoidable (and unfortunate) that the prices are high. I really have no idea why the other trucks aren’t trading already. I’m guessing their trucks aren’t ready yet. Be sure to check out part 2 of this post coming later this afternoon!
I agree AJ. Sydney is very expensive and has one of the highest costs of living. Even so, let’s get real. We’re talking about buying “take away food” (be it gourmet or not) from a truck. Which usually should mean: no cutlery, nowhere to sit, no plates or if there are any, they are paper. If food trucks want to be successful in this country, they may have to change their prices/business models. Relaxed council regulations will help too!
Very true! I’m sure once they start to fit into the norm hopefully prices will come down. You’ve got a great blog by the way!
I agree with Food to Culture. Prices really need to come down. And the restrictions have to be relaxed… I thought the whole point of the trucks was to serve food to punters late at night… As in, 1–5am. At the moment they’re rarely out past midnight, which isn’t the fault of the trucks, but the council, I think…
So once there are more trucks competing, and the council sees that they’re a benefit to the night culture, hopefully they let them roam free a but more.
Hi Hools thanks for the comment. The trucks definitely need to trade later. and yes hopefully with the introduction of new food trucks, the council will see their benefit. don’t forget to check out part two of the post.
That’s a great point hools. The restrictions are well…restricting! They seem too tight compared to other places. It will be interesting to see what happens once more trucks open. I just find it ridiculous the council only released 10 licenses to start with and not even half are trading! They should relax the restrictions and release more licenses too.
This is just a trial period so I’m fairly sure once the council sees how great the trucks are more licences will start to be release. I can’t believe how slack the other trucks have been though! I mean COMMON!
Al Carbón is not street food. You now have to book to go there, and it is ridiculously expensive – min. $35 for eating. That’s essentially an outdoor restaurant in a difficult area of Sydney.
Eat Art Truck is wonderful, have had it several times, and I am hoping to try Firetruck and Cantina this coming week.
Hi Moz thanks for the comment. Actually Al Carbón is a food truck that’s coming soon. I think what you’re referring to is a night that’s been put on by Social Dinner Club. It got some of the Chefs from the upcoming food trucks to put on a few showcase nights. You can see from Al Carbón’s website that they are indeed a food truck http://alcarbon.com.au/ I’m glad you’re enjoying the food trucks.
They used to have nights where you could just go and have tacos and a few beers and it wasn’t crazy. Now you have to book when you go, every time. They don’t have regular nights anymore. I just can’t shell out $35 for dinner and have it called truck food, it makes no sense.
If they do get out there as a truck with pricing similar to the other trucks then I will go. But what they’re asking at the moment is crazy. They are not functioning as a truck right now, it’s always these nights that are the same. And they’re in the middle of nowhere.
Having said that, I disagree with others here about the pricing. Maybe it’s because I think what I have paid for is good value, but I think you’re hard pressed to find a good meal for less than $12 or $13 anyway. I have Eat Art Truck when it’s in Victoria Park near Sydney Uni and unless you go to Newtown (and have $6.50 Thai, which is awesome and highly recommended) any meal on campus is going to cost you about that amount and not be nearly as good (Ralph’s is the one exception). Same goes for food in the city, apart from fast food. I took a bunch of friends from uni a couple of times and they all agreed about this pricing/value argument.
Finally, I think the food truck powers that be being given an award for innovation is ludicrous. Food trucks have been elsewhere in the world for years now, and they’ve been in Melbourne now for a while as well – they are hardly innovative. It’s a nice way to draw attention to them in the press, but let’s not lose our heads.