Pig on the street

Location: Howe Street between Robson and W Georgia (right outside the art gallery gift shop)

Price : $8.95 per wrap

This is one of twelve brand new food carts to hit the Vancouver streets this Summer. (Actually, that's a little misleading. 12 new spots have been announced, but only about 7 of them are new carts). I was excited about this one as it stirred up some patriotic comfort food fantasies for both Neil and myself. Pig on The Street's concept is British bacon sandwiches and naively I was expecting some super crispy bacon on cheap white bread with HP brown sauce. Of course, this isn't what they offer. This is Downtown Vancouver, not some cheap greasy spoon at the side of the road.

You can see for yourself from the menu above just what they do offer. Neil opted for The Porker, being seduced by the promise of stuffing and some gentle persuasion from me. I opted for the Piggy Blues, but requested Cheddar rather than blue cheese and an addition of avocado.

(If you look really closely at the menu, you can see the Hair of the Hog item, a bourbon, bacon and caramel brownie - one to try next time).

The sandwiches come in the form of a wrap, with double smoked bacon from Abbotsford and all the extras tucked inside. Neil really loved his. He loved the sweetness and the fact that the bacon wasn't incinerated with a little fat still and the general substantial filling properties of the wrap. He wasn't so impressed with the price, however, which may be partly due to our recent jaunt to Portland. My sandwich was good too. I would have preferred very crispy bacon and perhaps the blue cheese would have provided more zing and creaminess, (I also asked for no mayonnaise, which was a mistake perhaps). But, overall, this was a great cart, complete with friendly Brit taking the orders and the cutest little wooden piggies to hold onto while awaiting your order with names such as Harry Trotter, Boss Hog and Piggy Houser.

As a post script, I have to say that Vancouver's food cart scene seems to be getting a little too similar. Each cart seems to be offering some sort of bread item, whether it be a sandwich or wrap, Indian, Mexican, middle Eastern or British, everything is inside bread, (much like the menus at many restaurants). Apparently coming soon are new carts offering Thai street food, Japanese wares and French bistro food, to name but a few. I eagerly await them, as I no longer rush out to see what the new carts are like with anticipation. More often than not, Neil and I find ourselves in the food court instead, after browsing food cart menus without much interest.

 Other food carts in Vancouver