Pouring rain and long lines didn’t stop New Yorkers from stuffing their faces with bites from the city’s best food trucks at the Vendy Awards held on Governors Island this Saturday.
24 food trucks nominated for awards shared samplings from their menus with the sold-out crowd.
Lines loomed longest for Nuchas (a Vendy Cup nominee and 2013 Rookie of the Year Winner), an empanada truck serving pastries filled with meats and veggies including pulled pork and portobello mushroom treats. Nuchas unsurprisingly took home the People’s Taste Award.
Cinnamon Snail, a vegan food truck, won the overall Vendy Cup. They served samples including their spicy Korean vegan tacos and warm crème brulee doughnuts.
Zha Pan Asian delighted many tasters with their signature Asianici—Italian-style fried rice balls in Asian flavors like Bulgogi and Thai Yellow Curry Tofo. They took home the Best Market Vendor Award.
Other awards went to reigning champion Calexico for the Masters Cup; Ice & Vice for Best Dessert; and maple-syrup themed Snowday for Rookie of the Year.
Despite a few umbrella dribbles of rain into curry wurst and ramen burgers, the event offered a fantastic opportunity to taste a plethora of local food trucks, without tracking them around the city. Bites could be chased down with Brooklyn Brewery lager or IPA.
Tasting highlights included seemingly endless (no complaints) hibiscus and dulce de leche doughnuts from Dough; Big D’s Khao Cart serving juicy hamburger patties and fried eggs over rice in a Thai gravy; Desi Truck with their fantastic ‘Game Changer’ chicken puri-bhaji; King of Falafel serving freshly wrapped schwarma and falafel; and Shanghai Sogo with freshly fried pork dumplings and bubble tea.
