I don't think that there has been this much hype about food truck in NYC since Korilla or Taim, so now that I have some more free time at work I decided to take a long lunch with Allison and Neel to check out the Cinnamon Snail food truck. At first glance, there's nothing about Cinnamon Snail that I would really like. It's one of those hippie dippie vegan, organic, raw places - so not my usual bag but it's gotten so many rave reviews that I was willing to wait out the line. By the time we got there at 11:40 AM, there already was a line but it was definitely very manageable (by the time we left around 12:30 the line was around the block). I will say that they did a good job at making the menu sound super appealing, even for none vegans. They had a a bunch of delicious sounding breakfast options from pancakes, waffles, burritos and platters and great lunch options of tofu, tempeh and seitan sandwiches and burgers. I opted to get the daily special which was a porcini mushroom lentil burger with garlic white bean puree, caramelized onions and arugula on a grilled herb focaccia ($10), the salted caramel dutch coca iced coffee ($3), and to top it off an organic vegan glazed donut ($2). While there were tons of people, the wait to get my food wasn't too bad. It was pretty easy to pass the time while sipping on the iced coffee. It was incredibly sweet and delicious which is exactly how I like my coffee. I don't know how they made it but it was one of the best sweet coffees I've had in a while.
On to the savory part of my meal. My "burger" didn't really have the texture of a burger but it was more like a thick bean patty. As a meat eater, I don't have any issue with a veggie burger concept wise but the issue I have with most vegetarian burgers is that they just don't have the robust texture of a real meat burger. The best part of a burger is the juiciness and intense flavor of the meat and here while it was a fine and hearty patty but it just didn't have that special something something of a real burger. I did really enjoy the herb focaccia bread though. It was soft, pillowy and had the right balance of rosemary on it. If I had ended my meal here, I would have said that I liked this food truck but wasn't overwhelmingly in love with it. But where Cinnamon Snail really excels is in its sweets. I saved the donut for an afternoon snack and as soon as I bit into I knew why people were rabid fans of this place. It was a fantastic glazed donut and I wouldn't have even guessed that it was vegan. It wasn't as light as a Krispy Kreme donut but that didn't make a difference to me. It was sticky, sweet and even though it was organic and vegan I don't think it was really very healthy for me.
All in all, I would totally come back to the Cinnamon Snail truck and probably try out one of the tofu sandwiches instead of a burger. But the real reason I would come here would be for the coffee and donuts. Cops better watch out for this place. Total bill: $15
Photo Credit: Yelp
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