Slingers Food Truck: Great mac and cheese, spice M.I.A.

Slingers

Pender and Burrard Street (on Fridays)

Vancouver, Canada

Out of the many food carts chosen this season, Slingers was one of the ones that I was looking forward to. Parked under the shade on Pender and Burrard in Ragazzi’s Pizza Truck‘s usual spot (from Mondays thru to Thursdays) on Fridays, Slingers is one of the only trucks that serves breakfast.

We couldn’t make it out early enough for breakfast, but we stopped by just before 1 pm for lunch. There was no line up, and the truck actually closed down shortly after taking our order. I read on their Twitter feed that they were sold out for the day.

We ordered 2 items, the Mac Attack and Noodle Noodle with a piece of Slinger’s Signature Veal Parmesan.

I was a little bit apprehensive about the Mac Attack, which was a macaroni and cheese, on the menu board, it is advertised with a warning about its spiciness, chipotle peppers are included in the ingredients. But to my relief, the mac and cheese really wasn’t spicy at all. The dish was creamy with a nice crunchy crust on top. I think the red bits in the topping were supposed to be the spicy part, but if even a wimp like me can handle this supposed spicy dish, I think anyone can. Priced at just $6.99, the big take-out box of mac and cheese is totally worth the price. I’m not even sure if I could finish it in one sitting. We shared the box between the three of us.

I am actually quite impressed by Slingers’ sturdy, cardboard take-out boxes. The cardboard is thick enough so that the sauce doesn’t soak through, and the box is strong enough so it doesn’t wobble or bend too much as I gripped it with one hand and ate with the other.

Unfortunately, my Noodle Noodle order wasn’t as great as I thought it would be. The noodles were definitely undercooked and a bit hard and chalky to the bite. So needless to say they didn’t soak up the runny tomato sauce very well. I liked the fact that there was a generous serving of mushrooms and onions even though, I am certain that this dish would be better served if the sauce was spooned over the noodles and not over the veal parm.

The veal was a little bit on the soggy side. The layer of melted Parmesan cheese sealing part of the veal probably saved the entire piece of meat from being mushy all the way through. The one exposed corner of the veal that was untouched by sauce or cheese was actually quite crispy on the outside and tender inside. I really wanted to like this dish, but I think the combination of soggy texture and undercooked noodles ruined it for me.