From sweet to savoury—and mostly fried—don’t miss out on these unique fair treats
The PNE is back for its annual run, bringing Vancouverites summer concerts, amusement park rides and lots of super-fun fair food. New this year is the ‘Taste of the Fair' menu, which offers up goodies for $10 or less—what a steal!
Here's our roundup of the tastiest treats to dig into at the PNE this year...
1. Lickity Drippity – Banana Cream Dipped Espresso Cone
This food truck is sure to satisfy all your sweet-tooth cravings. With eight waffle cone options, eight dip options and eight extra burst options, you can mix and match each confection to your liking. They also offer cake jars, shakes and popsicles. This year is the first that this sweet vendor has set up shop in the Lower Mainland, so be sure to show them some support.
2. Diggity Dogs – Coaster Dog
The Coaster Dog is the newest addition to Diggity Dog’s wiener and bun lineup and this special offering was created to celebrate the Playland wooden roller coaster’s 65th birthday. This delectable dog is topped with Hickory Sticks to represent the Canadian Douglas fir used to build the original coaster. Keep an eye out for this hot dog’s wrapping paper as well—you’ll find that it's a Vancouver Sun clipping from early 1958, when the coaster was first launched. Other menu items include the Canadian Pizza Dog, Pepperoni Dog, and Nacho Nacho, among others. For the vegetarians: they also have veggie dog options—just ask!
3. Mom’s Grilled Cheese Truck – Birria Beef Grilled Cheese
Picture this: After a fun-filled fair day, you bite into a slab of gooey cheese sandwiched between bread and toasted to perfection. Is doesn't get better than this! Most Vancouverites are familiar with the Mom’s Grilled Cheese food truck, as it's been a staple around the Lower Mainland since 2010. Their grilled cheeses are served with a slice of pickle and a side of potato chips. Yum!
4. Taco Nori – Spicy Salmon Taco
Another fan favourite, Taco Nori is known for their seaweed taco shells, wrapped around a bed of white rice and topped with a variety of sushi toppings. Although this vendor can be found at various events around Metro Vancouver, their PNE stall offers the California Taco for $10 as part of PNE’s ‘Taste of the Fair’ menu. This is a safe choice for the kiddos, since it isn’t spicy and contains no raw seafood. However, my personal favourite (also their most popular item or so I’ve heard) is the Spicy Salmon Taco.
5. Little Devils Wood Fire Pizza – Duck Garlic Stix
This Taste of the Fair menu item features a house-made, hand-stretched dough, garlic, Parmesan, slow-roasted duck meat and a hoisin-chili mayonnaise. This family-run pizza truck has a rolling pizza oven on board, making the most delicious pizza crusts out there (in my humble opinion). This vendor also boasts locally sourced ingredients, so make sure you check them out!
6. Mo Bacon – Bacon Jammer Sandwich
This bacon-inspired food truck serves all things bacon. I had a taste of their unlikely but surprisingly good marriage between raspberry jam and bacon, the Bacon Jammer Sandwich. The open-faced Vienna-style bun sandwich dons a piece of crispy flat grilled cheese, raspberry chipotle jam and bacon. The sweet and tangy jam cuts the grease from the cheese and bacon— the combination of sweet and savoury will blow your mind.
PS – Check out the PNE’s new TASTE Pavilion, an indoor show space for local food vendors selling wines and produce, as well as home to the Safeway Cooking Stage. The stage is a platform for guest chefs to perform cooking demos using Safeway’s featured ingredients. This is the place to visit if you’re looking for new recipes to try out!
