Posted by ♫ Sip Sliding awaaayyaaay ♫
For the record, Nanaimo’s selection of food trucks and street food vendors is lacking. Fortunately, there’s a brown van down at Departure Bay beach that impresses anyway with big taste and lots of fun options on the menu.
Our visit to Sip and Sliders came on one of those perfect Summer days. The afternoon sun was out but it wasn’t too hot. We miraculously got a parking spot close to the beach. There were no lineups at the food trucks. Everything was coming together.
We didn’t come to the beach intending to eat at this particular truck, but its menu (and delicious aroma) called out to us and we decided to give it a try for the first time.
We ordered a slider each, and a poutine and milkshake to share. The sliders were quite gourmet and hearty. We both loved ours and devoured them in seconds. Our milkshake was root beer-flavoured (neat!) and while it could have used a bit more root beer taste, it was properly made with real ice cream and was deliciously creamy.
The poutine was where the awesome train stopped and we transferred over to the meh line. We found the fries to be a bit browner and oilier than we would have liked. This could be their recipe, or our particular batch may have been overcooked by mistake. We’ll revisit at some point to find out. The poutine gravy and cheese were nice, if plain. Some of you may think we’re being a bit gripey and that all poutine is awesome poutine, and that’s fair. You should eat all the poutine. (Also, check out our poutine challenge, pou-heads.)
We paid $28 for what turned out to be a gut-busting lunch for two. Those sliders are big enough to pass for burgers in some joints, so don’t go crazy and order yourself three or four of them. We’re happy to pay $14 a head to be full of good street food, and particularly in such a nice environment down by the Bay.
Conclusion
Even if the poutine missed the mark a bit we recommend Sip and Sliders. Go check them out before the good weather ends and let them know we sent you!