I discovered an amazing food truck. A vegetarian food truck. In Sydney.
Vejoes is a food truck run by Joe. (Actually, the truck is named Sofia. Vejoes is the business. Ve-joes, as in, vegetarian Joes. Get it?) Per Joe:
I found Vejoes at a winter festival in July (since, that is winter in the southern hemisphere ...). It was my second food truck stop of the day, after disappointing yum cha from Let's Do Yum Cha that left me wanting something before I moved on to the waffle truck for dessert, and, uh, the chocolate fountain. I didn't expect to have such an amazing meal from Vejoes, and wished I had skipped the first truck entirely!
I highly recommend, if you ever have the opportunity.
"Grilled haloumi, smoked mushrooms, home-made green chilli & pumpkin jam, caramelised onion, mayo and mixed salad leaves."
I ordered the haloumi burger, and asked to have it bunless. I am not gluten-free nor carb adverse, but, I had my eyes on the waffle truck for dessert, and had yum cha / dim sum already from the first truck I stopped at, so, I really didn't want to fill up on bread. I was offered to do it as a salad, which I accepted, although really, I would have been happy with just no bun and nothing else changed. I was assured that the yummy toppings would all be included, which, to be honest, drew me in as much, if not more, than the haloumi itself.
So, what did I have? A base of mixed greens. Simple mixed greens, but super fresh. They soaked up all the flavors from above amazingly well. I ended up absolutely loving my salad base, particularly the spinach and rocket, mixed with those toppings.
So yeah, those toppings. Wowzer.
The smoked mushrooms were just button mushrooms, and didn't really seem smoked, and thus were the only component I wasn't happy with.
The caramelized onion was amazing, you can't see it here because it is under the haloumi, but there was tons and tons of this, chopped onions, super caramelized, super flavorful, and I think with balsamic? Crazy good, and the juices ran out of it into the greens.
The green chili & pumpkin jam was mixed with the caramelised onion, again, great flavor, awesomeness that just infused the salad and haloumi. The whole thing was drizzled *very* generously with mayo, which when I saw it my eyes went wide, but it was really good, again, it just combined perfectly with those other sauces and leaves.
So, even without the haloumi, this was insanely delicious and satisfying. I kinda couldn't believe it.
And then there was the massive slices of fresh grilled haloumi. Grilled to order, served to me moments after it came off the grill. Talk about delicious. No squeaky cheese here. The slices were thick too, as designed to be a burger. There were no knives, so it was actually a bit comical to eat, as I couldn't cut it with my plastic fork, and it was covered in sauces and so was quite messy. But it was kinda perfect, well seasoned, well cooked. I suspect the burger normally comes with only one of these massive haloumi patties, and I was given two for the salad?
Not pictured is the extra sauces I also added. Vejoes had condiments on the side, one was a watermelon hot sauce (! danger! Julie allergic!), but another was mandarin orange, and the third was berry hot sauce, and I added some of that too. I can't say it was needed given all the other flavorful wonderful components, but, I liked it too.
Overall, a total winner, I'd get this again in a heartbeat. Even just the salad with toppings was insanely good, which is such a crazy thing for me to say.
Vejoes is a food truck run by Joe. (Actually, the truck is named Sofia. Vejoes is the business. Ve-joes, as in, vegetarian Joes. Get it?) Per Joe:
"Everything I serve has been prepared by me (with love), with many of the fresh ingredients sourced directly from my garden. If it didn't grow in my backyard, I've chosen the best quality, freshest ingredients available."I can't say I had any expectations going into this, but I was blow away by how much I enjoyed my meal. If only Vejoes was a bit more accessible to me regularly! Not only is it on the other side of the world from where I live (Sydney), it also doesn't have a brick and mortar location, available only for catering, events, food festivals, and pop-ups around town. Doh.
I found Vejoes at a winter festival in July (since, that is winter in the southern hemisphere ...). It was my second food truck stop of the day, after disappointing yum cha from Let's Do Yum Cha that left me wanting something before I moved on to the waffle truck for dessert, and, uh, the chocolate fountain. I didn't expect to have such an amazing meal from Vejoes, and wished I had skipped the first truck entirely!
I highly recommend, if you ever have the opportunity.
The menu was handwritten on a chalkboard, with only three options, all vegetarian obviously, one vegan.
The Menu (and Joe!)
Three Cheese Quesadilla: The classic Mexican dish, Vejoes style.Cajun black beans, grilled corn, caramelised onion, melted feta, cheddar, smoked haloumi w/ sour cream & el curtido salad.
The Haloumi Burger: The crowd pleaser.Grilled haloumi, smoked mushrooms, home-made green chilli & pumpkin jam, caramelised onion, mayo and mixed salad leaves.
Grilled Eggplant Burger (Vegan).Eggplant steak, smoked mushrooms, veganaise, chili BBQ sauce, onions, mixed leaves, pickles.
I'm not normally one to head for the vegetarian truck, particularly given so many other options, particularly given the wait times Vejoes was giving. But. Haloumi.
We just don't get enough haloumi in the US, and when we do, its always just mediocre. In Australia, they know how to haloumi. I had high hopes.
Orders did take a while, which we were warned when we ordered. Joe worked alone in the kitchen, making each dish to order, all of which used his single grill top. He worked in batches somewhat, doing 2-3 at a time almost, but never more than that.
Patience was rewarded however.
 |
| The Haloumi Burger (Salad option). |
I ordered the haloumi burger, and asked to have it bunless. I am not gluten-free nor carb adverse, but, I had my eyes on the waffle truck for dessert, and had yum cha / dim sum already from the first truck I stopped at, so, I really didn't want to fill up on bread. I was offered to do it as a salad, which I accepted, although really, I would have been happy with just no bun and nothing else changed. I was assured that the yummy toppings would all be included, which, to be honest, drew me in as much, if not more, than the haloumi itself.
So, what did I have? A base of mixed greens. Simple mixed greens, but super fresh. They soaked up all the flavors from above amazingly well. I ended up absolutely loving my salad base, particularly the spinach and rocket, mixed with those toppings.
So yeah, those toppings. Wowzer.
The smoked mushrooms were just button mushrooms, and didn't really seem smoked, and thus were the only component I wasn't happy with.
The caramelized onion was amazing, you can't see it here because it is under the haloumi, but there was tons and tons of this, chopped onions, super caramelized, super flavorful, and I think with balsamic? Crazy good, and the juices ran out of it into the greens.
The green chili & pumpkin jam was mixed with the caramelised onion, again, great flavor, awesomeness that just infused the salad and haloumi. The whole thing was drizzled *very* generously with mayo, which when I saw it my eyes went wide, but it was really good, again, it just combined perfectly with those other sauces and leaves.
So, even without the haloumi, this was insanely delicious and satisfying. I kinda couldn't believe it.
And then there was the massive slices of fresh grilled haloumi. Grilled to order, served to me moments after it came off the grill. Talk about delicious. No squeaky cheese here. The slices were thick too, as designed to be a burger. There were no knives, so it was actually a bit comical to eat, as I couldn't cut it with my plastic fork, and it was covered in sauces and so was quite messy. But it was kinda perfect, well seasoned, well cooked. I suspect the burger normally comes with only one of these massive haloumi patties, and I was given two for the salad?
Not pictured is the extra sauces I also added. Vejoes had condiments on the side, one was a watermelon hot sauce (! danger! Julie allergic!), but another was mandarin orange, and the third was berry hot sauce, and I added some of that too. I can't say it was needed given all the other flavorful wonderful components, but, I liked it too.
Overall, a total winner, I'd get this again in a heartbeat. Even just the salad with toppings was insanely good, which is such a crazy thing for me to say.
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