The Ourworldinreview team were out and about in Adelaide this weekend so we decided to check out the Winter Fork in the Port food extravaganza. The Winter Fork in the Port is a gathering of some of Adelaide’s finest gourmet food trucks, created by the good people associated with the Fork on the Road.
The Winter Fork in the Port was held at Port Adelaide’s historic Hart’s Mill, which over the years has held many markets, music and cultural events, like the popular St Jerome’s Laneway Festival. Hart’s Mill is picturesquely situated alongside the developed Port River area, next to the Port Adelaide TAFE college. There is a cool grass picnic area and a large popular children playground, with climbing equipment and from what I’m told an awesome flying fox. So, if you’re looking for a lunch place, it would be an ideal area for a family day – you may even spot some of the local dolphins playing in the Port River as you eat.
Mobile gourmet food trucks aren’t new to Adelaide, as we once had a South Australian icon called the Great South Australian Pie Cart, which catered to the many “late night party enthusiasts” near the Adelaide Railway station. Since its initial demise in around 2010, there has been a mobile food truck resurgence, influenced by the popularity of gourmet trucks in the United States. To the city’s and party-goers delight, Adelaide has recently seen the resurrection of the Pie Cart on our city streets.
Walking around the area, I was encouraged to see the amount of food trucks available and the support from the number of visitors attending the event on this stunning day. After a quick survey of the gourmet trucks available we split off and headed towards our respective trucks.
Our first selection was by our resident vegetarian, and she decided to chose the AUD$12 Nachos wedges from the Fat Fork gourmet truck. The Nachos wedges contained good pieces of sweet potato and potato wedges, covered with a tomato, onion and coriander salsa, topped with grated cheese and sour cream. The serving size was quite big, and they tasted pretty good. The only negative was there probably wasn’t enough cheese in relation to the amount of wedges supplied.
Our second choice was the a Vietnamese roll, from the popular Tiger Rolls Banh Mi sandwich truck. We selected the crispy pork Vietnamese roll with salad and soft drink combo for AUD$10. Firstly the roll was very fresh, and the crispy outside coating combined with the fluffy texture of the bread was nice. The crispy pork, still had light crackling on top and was delicious, and the chilli gave it a kick to bring it all home. We also tried the large spring rolls with an sweet chilli dipping sauce, which were a filling accompaniment to the meal.
The third choice was from the popular Burger Theory gourmet food truck, and the choice from this truck was the Fried Chicken Sandwich meal combo with fries and a soft drink for AUD$17. There is not much to the sandwich, it is basically a free range chicken patty, topped with pickles and its special Burger Theory sauce.
Although the sandwich doesn’t visually grab you, the patty is crumb coated and succulent, the bun is soft and easy to work with and the special sauce has a BBQ tang to it. I can see why this basic burger is popular, but it if you compare it to other gourmet burgers available it really doesn’t stack up. If you like a plain burger this could be the choice for you. Burger Theory has a lot of potential and I look forward to trying out some of their other dishes as they continue to develop their menu.
Our fourth choice was really no choice. When you go to an event like this, the public help drive your decisions for you. On arrival we couldn’t help but notice the long line up for The Taste of Spain. Everyone wanted some of their Chicken and Chorizo Paella for AUD$12. We lined up for our serving too.
With the cooks creating this lovely paella right in front of your eyes, you can smell the flavours in the air. It is mesmerising and mouth watering. The colours of the fresh produce being cooked is fantastic, you can’t help being sucked into the line to try it. The Taste of Spain’s chicken and chorizo paella not only looks good it matches it in taste. The chicken and chorizo mixes well with the perfectly cooked rice and the nice blend of spices gives it a great taste and vibrant colour. We top it with the mayonnaise but forgo the chilli oil, and it is quickly consumed.
Once we finish our meals we headed back towards The Little Cake Tin dessert truck we spotted earlier. We chose The Sweet and The Salty for AUD$5, which is an almond based fresh vanilla bean cheesecake topped with salted caramel. The second selection was the S’Mores Shot also for AUD$5, which is a layer of chocolate cake, crumbled shortbread biscuit and couverture chocolate mousse topped with toasted meringue.
The relatively small desserts were the size of a shot glass, but were both greeted with glee and enthusiasm. Barely a word was muttered while these were eaten and there were still mentions of their deliciousness as we wandered back to our car. If you happen to see this little caravan in your travels at fairs or other events, do yourself a favour and indulge in their glorious cakes.
With more than twenty-five gourmet food and drink trucks we were not able to try something from every one of them, but if you happen to be coming to Adelaide take a look at the Fork in the Roads website (www.forkontheroad.com.au) to find details of their upcoming food events. Each one of the food trucks can also can be found on Facebook which will tell you their latest locations. Remember if you try them, mention Simon from Ourworldinreview sent you!
