eat art truck

access to meals on wheels is no longer just a boon for the elderly. as part of the city of sydney’s move towards re-inventing our sprawling city as a trendy cosmopolitan hub and not just a string of buildings in the shadow of a bride, food trucks are being unleashed upon sydney’s streets. presently, approved locations for the trucks are concentrated around the cbd and inner suburbs. so get yourself on your favourite social media site, like or follow the trucks’ individual pages and watch as you salivate every time your phone buzzes, just in case it’s the unveiling of the next truck stop.

eat art truck is one of the original members of the fleet. with former tetsuya sous chef stuart mcgill behind the ordering counter and swivelling around the tiny truck-sized kitchen, it’s no surprise that this meal-on-wheels far surpasses what what you’d expect to come out of such a teeny space. the food is korean-inspired, and structured simply with a couple of 'intro EATs', 'main EATs' and a single ‘sweet EAT' to finish. 

seeds, sprouts, puffed wild rice & beetroot ($8) grabs my attention, but the boys i’m lunching with want to share, so i’m talked into the chicken wings($8). the serving is generous for the price. the golden crisp chicken wings are coated in spicy sprinklings of shichimi pepper, a japanese spice mixture. the batter on the wings is thin enough to slip through the feeling of guilt after eating the fried goodies. the meat is juicy,tender and fiery. great fried chicken is often praised by the closeness of analogy to the kentucky fried variety.. however, in this cock fight my money is on eat art truck's wings in terms of quality, texture, taste, and reduced grease factor.

chicken wings with shichimi pepper ($8)  we’re told the pulled pork bun ($12) is the most popular item. the fluffy hot dog  bun is filled with a bounty of luscious pulled pork slathered with tangy bbq sauce, and shredded mustard cabbage. it’s tasty but definitely heavy going. one of the boys orders his bun with hot sauce, though the difference it makes to the dish is disappointingly negligible. a little more next time, please.

pulled pork in bun with mustard cabbage ($12)

spatchcock ssam ($12) is an prettily presented carton of food. the radiant, orange ssam brilliantly contrasts the neat stack of green cos lettuce leaves. the crisp-fried asian noodles strewn through the ssam adds yet another crunchy pleasing level of texture. a scoop of the spicy, flavourful ssam piled on to the lettuce leaf is perfectly balanced, light and youthful.

spatchcock ssam with crispy noodles ($12)

the sweet EAT is complementary today, on mention of eat art truck’s morning tweet (have i mentioned that i’m a twitter fan?), designed to entice diners to venture out under today’s angry grey clouds. annindofu (usually $6), is a quaint cupful of almond jelly topped with shreds of cooked coconut, cubes of pineapple and lychee and ready-to-burst pomegranate seeds. the top layer of the fruit is fresh and yummy, but as you dig to the bottom the jelly appears to be not quite set and is a little watery.

annindofu ($6)

it’s a shame that the food trucks have been introduced to sydney in the midst of the acrimonious el nina phenomena. once the weather gets its act together, the food trucks will become an ideal lunch or munch option and an incomparably superior substitute to pie face, kebabs and all the other fast food fixes pervading the city