Fifteen Food Trucks to Hunt Down in Auckland

Throw a stone in the air this summer and chances are it'll land on an awesome street food vendor. With Auckland well on its way to a bonafide street food addiction, the urban habitats of this now not-so-elusive species are rapidly expanding across the city. Urban Street Fest is going strong with regular events and its Auckland Food Truck Collective initiative, and La Cigale has been experimenting with plant-based cuisine at its popular Thursday night gathering, The Truck Stop. Not to mention weekend screenings at Silo Park, Green Bay's waste-free street food festival and host of suburban spots and pop-up events. Ready to begin your street food quest? We've rounded up a few favourites to get you started.

WISE BOYS BURGERS

Wise Boys started up just over a year ago and have queues for their plant-based burgers to this day. The menu began with three stellar options, including the Moroccan, Spicy Mex and the Kiwi. They soon branched out to include a grilled tempeh and balsamic mushroom burger, a deep fried satay tofu burger and the Samuel el Jackfruit which includes jackfruit, pineapple, tangy apple slaw and delicious homemade vegan aioli.

TEMAKI TRUCK

While Jenny and Rodrigo were in Brasil, they tried Temaki for the first time. As soon as they tasted it, they looked at each other and said, "Let's bring Temaki to Aotearoa!" From there, Kiwis were introduced to the exotic Brasilian, Japanese, Korean fusion dish. Temaki is like sushi, although rolled into a cone and filled with pickled veggies, sauces and protein. For a fresh, flavour packed bite, keep an eye out for the Temaki Truck.

GOT PASTA

When you're walking down Queen Street hungry and tired, and you see steaming hot pasta with a rich tomato sauce topped with the finest, sharp cheese, it's hard to not stop and stare at it for a while. The Got Pasta kitchen is often situated at the ferry end of Queen Street, and as soon as they set up shop, hungry customers flock to queue for a bolognese or carbonara. The toppings are humble, but with the freshest ingredients and pasta made in front of you, the more simple the better. If you're hankering for some comfort food when you're next in the CBD, you know where to go.

Frank and Peggy Photography

RAWE SMOOTHIE BAR

Maggie Gray is a new mum who decided to change her diet for the health and wellbeing of herself and her family. While she isn't paleo, vegetarian or vegan, she is conscious of how whole foods can fuel the body. After a bit of experimentation with different smoothie recipes, Maggie decided to create her own mobile smoothie caravan. You'll be seeing Rawe a lot more over the summer months as cool smoothies become more desirable in the warmer climate. 

Alex Burton, Fairfax

THE WHITE LADY

Whether you're alone or with group, it's reassuring to know that The White Lady will always be there for you. It's open 24 hours on the weekends and until 4am every other day of the week. If you're keen for a quick feed on the side of the road, this is the spot. The White Lady understands the fundamentals of the late night crowd: grease is good and more is more. Good luck finishing one of these burgers, especially the self-titled White Lady burger herself — she's a hefty mother.

MINTY B ICE CREAMERY

If you're an Instagram user, you may have seen Minty B pop up with photos of the most luxurious soft serve swirls drizzled with syrups and topping. As well as being photogenic, the desserts taste ridiculous. Another cool fact is that Minty B soft serve is safe for vegetarians and even vegans because it's made with coconut, and absolutely no gelatine is used. Sound too good to be true right?

JUDGE BAO

Sauce Boss and Bun Hun, the team behind Judge Bao, are best known for melding modern and traditional Chinese flavours, while taking influence from all cultures, flavours and cuisines. They regularly pop up at markets, vacant restaurants and other people's venues. Bao are obviously a headline menu item and the pair use a simple recipe that Bun Hun's mama passed down to her. The hand rolled steamed buns are pillowy soft and come in flavours like mapo tofu and braised pork belly.

DOUBLE DUTCH FRIES

Love a bit of pizzaz with your chips? Double Dutch take the cake on this one. Chips are garnished with European-inspired flavours such as red onion, satay and creamy mayonnaise. Freshly fried and served out of a food truck, you need to keep a beady eye on their website to find out where they'll be in future.

RYAN'S KITCHEN

Ryan works out of the small confines of a truck, yet he produces tasty meals to feed a crowd. He keeps his menu varied with pulled pork sliders, butter chicken, sweet corn fritters and more, depending on what he fancies cooking on the day. Coming from a family of foodies, Ryan's father Allan Fong owns The Fresh Grower, though his love of cooking has been present since he was young. He went to cooking school before sourcing ingredients from the farm. Pop in and say hi to Ryan and grab a delicious meal to go.

Megan Blennerhassett

LAS MASITAS

After backpacking around Latin America, friends Georgia and Toni decided that Auckland needed a taste of traditional Mesoamerican tamales. With Las Masitas they can be found serving up contemporary plant-based versions around city markets — with 2% of all profits going to Latin American charity, Pro Mujer. Rounding out the good vibes, the pair most recently launched a market dedicated to vegetarian/vegan eats. Ubuntu takes place in the space behind Dominion Road's The Midnight Baker. Keep an eye out for the next edition.

THE ROLLING PIN

Husband and wife team Gordon and Yina make dumplings by hand for their food truck, The Rolling Pin, using traditional methods and modern bursts of flavour. Expect flavours like pulled beef and bean curd with shitake and bok choy. All dumplings come served with handmade sauces that nail the combination of sweet, sour, and spicy, and an Asian green salad. They also regularly provide vegan options.

KRAKEN CRUMPETS

Forget everything you know about crumpets. Kraken Crumpets put the supermarket variety to shame. Mammoth in circumference, fat and fluffy, watch as your crumpet is freshly baked atop the hot plate and dressed with enlightened combinations. Hamish and Amy's menu is impressive and far from the humble crumpets we're used to. The savoury options include a salmon cream cheese crumpet with lemon zest, capers and a side salad, or a classic bacon and eggs served with a generous helping of hollandaise. The sweet options include banana with cream cheese icing, salted caramel sauce with a biscuit and walnut dusting, or stewed apple with a nutty crumble topped with mascarpone cream. Follow their moves on Facebook.

MELT

The goods from Auckland's purveyors of raclette, Melt, are a cheese lover's castle in the sky. As well as perfecting the Swiss innovation of pouring loads of gooey cheese on absolutely everything, including meatball subs, steak and chips, the food truck serves a first class parmesan wheel pasta in various flavour combos.

THE TIN KITCHEN

Soft, shell and crab are three words in a sentence that make people go weak at the knees. The Tin Kitchen is an imposing silver trailer successfully exploiting this weakness with their signature crab burger. Cajun spiced and served with tamarind mayo and mango chilli salsa on a brioche bun, they pack a flavourful punch. A changing menu has included pork belly sliders with grilled bok choy and plum sauce and spiced pulled lamb paratha (a flatbread) topped with mint yoghurt and coriander. The chefs have managed to find the perfect sauce ratio, which that alone deserves a round of applause.

THE LUCKY TACO

No street food round up is complete without the mention of tacos. The Lucky Taco are a slam dunk when it comes to delicious and fresh Mexican-inspired comida. The menu is expansive, with classic fillings from pulled pork, spicy fish and chipotle prawn through to a few daring choices – the Lucky Lengua is slow cooked beef tongue, marinated in bay leaves, cloves, cumin and chilli, served with citrus and spices, while the De Sesos is battered lamb's brain served with avocado cream, salsa fresca, lime & coriander. Veges/vegans are easily looked after and the produce is selected on a seasonal basis.

Written by Olivia Round and Emma Kessing.