DAFT

Reviewers: Dam Phuong Anh, Danny Youn, Tuan Nguyen, Fatima Guzman 

There is no shortage of food trucks Downtown, but Namì Food Cart is the first to offer bánh mì and other classic Vietnamese eats that bring the authentic flavors of Vietnamese cuisine. The Nami food truck has a deep navy blue color, surrounded by stickers related to the food on the menu. And when people look at it, they can clearly see the food theme that the food truck wants people to know about.  NaMì offers 2 food carts. The food cart is located at 700 Granville Street on the corner of West Georgia and Granville Street, right by the City Centre Station on the Canada Line. The second one parked at Richmond, Crestwood corporate center. Nevertheless, when you go to their website, you will only see that it is currently open Downtown, and about the food truck in Richmond it will always show the line “not running this week”. Hence, I guess due to some problems like a pandemic, covid 19 made them only open 1 food truck. NaMì will be open 5 days a week from Monday to Friday and from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. However, I recommend people should check their schedule before going. They can change time anytime. Moreover, I searched for the schedule and I noticed  Nami food truck has many websites and the schedules are also very different. Therefore, we should check the correct website. I recommend you to follow the schedule of their website.

https://streetfoodapp.com/vancouver/nami

The food truck has provided an environment with well-maintained hygiene. First of all, food truck accept electronic payment such as credit card payment. Because I personally expected that the majority of this type of business accept cash, I was expecting to get extra charge for credit card payment. Next, food trucks offer two types of payment receipts which seem quite hygienic. At the end of payment, customers can choose either to receive a receipt by email or their mobile phone number. Providing electronic receipts can minimize personal contact among employees and guests, therefore it can also decrease the spread of the virus. The food truck uses and offers the most recent type of payment receipts. On the other hand, customers still need to make a personal contact to make a payment. However, neither cleaning wipes nor hand sanitizers were equipped in the food truck. For example, customers still need to hand in the cash and their credit cards into the machine in order to make a payment, click the tip rates, and their PIN number. Therefore, it would be way more effective to maintain hygiene if they provided sanitizer. Additionally, I personally had a minor concern about the food contamination because of its business location. Location is extremely accessible and noticeable by crowds and birds. For instance, there were about hundreds of pigeons near the food truck which can cause potential food contamination by flapping the pigeons’ wings. Because birds such as pigeons can carry virus, and bacterias, it is possible that their flapping can contaminate the food in the truck. For this reason, it seems that the food truck needs to pay extra attention to hygiene.

• Banh Mi: 
  • CHASHU PORK BELLY: Pork belly + soy hoisin glaze + spring onions
  • SUSU FRIED CHICKEN: Fried chicken + lemongrass chilli oil + fried shallots and spring onions
  • LEMONGRASS CHICKEN: Lemongrass chicken + house sauce + spring onions
  • SATAY BEEF: Sirloin steak slices + house sauce + thai basil
  • TOFU: Lemongrass turmeric tofu + avocado spread + mushroom pâté
  • TRADITIONAL: Vietnamese cold cuts + jalapeños + cilantro

Banh Mi

• Vermicelli Bowl: 
  • LEMONGRASS CHICKEN: Lemongrass chicken + chilli lime dressing
  • SATAY BEEF: Grilled sirloin steak slices + chili lime dressing
  • TOFU: Lemongrass Turmeric Tofu + Soy Dressing
  • GARLIC BEEF: Garlic beef + Vietnamese herb dressing
  • CHASU PORK BELLY: Chasu pork belly + vermicelli + soy dressing
  • SUSU FRIED CHICKEN: Susu Fried Chicken + Chili Lime Dressing

Bowl

• Salad: 
  • LEMONGRASS CHICKEN: Lemongrass chicken + chilli lime dressing
  • SATAY BEEF: Grilled sirloin steak slices + chili lime dressing
  • TOFU: Lemongrass Turmeric Tofu + Soy Dressing
  • GARLIC BEEF: Garlic beef + Vietnamese herb dressing
  • CHASU PORK BELLY: Chasu pork belly + vermicelli + soy dressing
  • SUSU FRIED CHICKEN: Susu Fried Chicken + Chili Lime Dressing
• Side: 
  • 2 SPRING ROLLS: Pork or veg. Deep fried spring rolls filled carrots, taro, mung bean, vermicelli and mushroom + chilli lime dip
  • 2 SALAD ROLLS: Shrimp or tofu. Fresh salad rolls filled with lettuce, bean sprouts, carrots, vermicelli and cucumbers + peanut dip
  • PAPAYA SALAD: Shredded Green Papaya, pickled carrots and daikon, fried onions, thai basil, and chili lime dressing
• Drink:
  • VIETNAMESE COFFEE
  • BOTTLED WATER
  • POP

• Suggestion

MENU PLANNING CONSIDERATIONS– Food truck is located extremely crowed area which is the core of Vancouver. Additionally, it is located in front of city centre station.

Menu Accuracy– No Cucumber, No Cilantro

• BANMI
• Garlic beef bowl

Food review

• This lemongrass chicken banh mi comes with pickled carrots, cucumber, mayo sauce, chili oil and pork belly, hoisin glaze, and spring onions. The pork belly served a good portion size and the flavor was really nice with the hoisin glaze. It tastes overall good, but lacks the lemongrass flavor.

• Garlic beef vermicelli bowl comes with shredded cabbage, bean sprouts, pickled carrots and daikon, cucumber, mixed herbs, garlic beef, vermicelli, and a Vietnamese herb dressing. The accompanying sauce was not very good and the sauce was in another box next to it. Stir-fried beef with garlic has a rich taste. But it seems that because the vermicelli are left outside for a long time, it is a bit dry and hard. However overall, if eaten with sauce, everything is wonderful and delicious.

• Sides: We ordered two Spring rolls, one with pork and one with vegetables. They are both crunchy, but not so rich in flavor. Bringing up the taste is the sauce made from sweet fish sauce and black soy sauce.