The Food Truck Phenomenon

 

When you think of a food truck, you think mobility, you think mouth-watering street food, but most importantly you think cheap. And that, exactly, is the essence of the food truck phenomenon in Ahmedabad. In a city where restaurants come and go with the seasons, food trucks have captured the attention of the common man. Not only are they a much cheaper alte ative to fine dining, they also offer a wide variety of options in the same place.

There is a taste of Lucknowi biryani at the Lukhnow Express, there is the middle-easte shawarma being pulled from a Lebanese spit-grill at Fire on Wheels, but also there is the nitrogenated ice-cream concept being served in small cups at the N2Creamzz. These are only three of the some 20-odd trucks parked at the Ahmedabad Food Truck Park. Each has its own unique offering and attempt at exclusivity, some going as far as selling Maggi Bhajiya, a fried dumpling stuffed with cooked Maggi. When asked why they chose to sell shawarma when they themselves are from Nepal, the young lads running the Fire on Wheels operation quipped "It is exotic, easy to cook, and the people love it, there are three unique trucks with shawarma in this very park, but we were the first ones!" Contrary to what one might think, there is nary an association between a food trucku00b4s menu and the person running it, in such a low budget operation, there rarely is. People from all sorts of places are running all sorts of exotic cuisine joints out of cheap trucks, because why not? There is never a shortage of patrons, and bills need to be paid.

It is primarily the lower-middle economic class that sustains on street food in India and the food truck phenomenon not only furthers innovation in that cuisine but gives it a legitimacy that hitherto remained out of reach. People associate street food in India with poor hygiene and dingy street co ers where you will eat the pani-puri but hesitate to drink the water, ironically enough. A food-truck however, wraps the unsightliness of a hand cart with the solid, neon-painted, clean and colourful exteriors of a kitchen on wheels. The red plastic tables and chairs laid out in front of the truck might be same as that of the carts, but the kitchen is vastly upgraded. Moreover, the food is refreshingly more diverse than the same old chaats, bhels and ragada patis. After all, what street food vendor is selling ice-cream made by using liquid nitrogen, right next to a Mexican wrap and 'frankies' food truck? Only at a food truck park do such wildly different ideas coexist right beside each other!

It is not easy running a food truck as many of the owners will attest, but, once the show is on the road there is no pumping the breaks, if you could pardon the puns. Every night around nine, like clockwork, the masses start rushing in, hungry youngsters too broke to afford a date at the local café, but also families with little children modestly dressed and excited to be eating out and happy parents not worried about the toll it would take on their wallet. Anyone who likes and can afford delicious street food, but is tired of eating at the street carts, afraid of falling sick, finds their way to food truck parks eventually. After the success of the Ahmedabad Food Truck Park, several other parks catering to this growing demand for glamorous street food have opened up in the city. Each with their own assortment of
food trucks trying to outdo each other in serving the most exotic foods at the cheapest prices possible.

Ahmedabad Food Truck Park
Opp: Karnavati Club,
Sarkhej - Gandhinagar Highway
Ahmedabad 380015
Meal for two: Approximately Rs. 400