Indian Food Truck in Ottawa ! [Food/Vendor]

2017 Apr 14
Hello Ottawa Foodies,

Me and my wife are planning to start a food truck serving Indian Food from next year.
What do you guys think ? Will you be interested in eating fresh Indian street food with some twist served by our truck ?

We are still doing market survey and would really appreciate if you guys can share your opinion on whether you would wanna visit a food truck serving tasty and flavourful Indian street fast food ?

thanks.

2017 Apr 15
I love it. There is one near where I work (corner of Scott and Stirling) that I go to once in a while, but the Indian food seems like more of an add-on. I'm pretty sure they started out with the same ideals as you, but found that burgers and hot dogs were selling more in that area.

Still, I'd visit and hopefully enjoy your food.

2017 Apr 15
I love Indian food and would love to see a food truck serving it. I think you would need to adddress the portability of the food you offer for the pedestrians who are on the move. I would do naan wraps with a choice of curries as fillers. And make one of the fillers very hot for me. 😀

2017 Apr 15
The two of us would certainly be interested, depending on your location.

2017 Apr 15
Maybe some Indian street food could work. Pani puri, Aloo tikki, Onion Bhaji, Chaat etc.

Nice to see start-ups(like you, New User 6475) coming to tap the knowledge (wisdom?) of Ottawa Foodies.

Here is a prime example of a successful start-up, The Flying Banzini , who got feedback on his menu and location from the folks here.

click here ---> Forum - Restaurant in development <---


2017 Apr 15
Welcome New User 6475

This is a great idea. There used to be an indian food cart run by a couple of very friendly gentlemen Streetside Curry Cart

They used to have long lines when I visited, and it was a shame they decided not to continue, seemed like it was successful, but maybe too much effort? Anyway, their thing was doing curries in a naan bowl. Quite a neat idea which I would be quite happy if you copy. I also like Tree Pug's idea of naan wraps (with a hot filler).

I love indian appetizers, so I'd definitely be interested in snacks of bhajis, pakora, samosas, sambar etc. If there is other traditional Indian street food that I'm not familiar with, I'd love to try.

So basically, yes I'd definitely give you guys a visit - please make it happen!

2017 Apr 15
Thank you people for useful comments.
To Captain Caper, yes this certainly is one great forum to get help from Foodies all around the city and cater them with what they want and make a win-win situation :)

I will certainly post more details on this website once we finalize venue, menu and first day.

2017 Apr 16
There is an Indian restaurant off Bank st that has Naan wraps and a Indian pizza that is really good- the rest of the food there is allright.

They used to have a desert samosa and they took that off the menu.

I can't really eat too many Indian spices, so thesedays just have mild baked samosas from the grocery store. Those are good for a snack.

I'm allergic to some spices used more in Indian food, so the most I get if anyone wants Indian food is Raiita and Naan.
And rice pudding!

2017 Apr 18
"whether you would wanna visit a food truck serving tasty and flavourful Indian street fast food ? "

Short answer: Yes!

Longer answer: Yes, but i can get awesome Indian food from a bunch of restaurants in this city, and i can get it delivered by Skip in about 30min. So (if your truck is parked downtown and in my usual lunch zone) your 'twist' or your menu generally, will have to be novel/interesting/tasty enough to prompt me to give you my lunch dollars vs 'i have awesome Indian food any time i want, what else is available?'.

Also, downtown lunchtime in particular, there are a few AYCE Indian buffets that are decent... not awesome, but good enough and cheap enough, that you're going to have to flood my mouth with happiness to prompt me to come to you and pay food truck price to walk away with food vs them for endless food with someone stopping by to remove debris and refill water for approx $20.

Also also, echoing upthread, i won't tell anyone how to handle their business, but if i see a truck doing say, Curry in Naan Bowls (aside: which sounds yum, how did i never try that?)... and hot dogs/burgers/poutine, i'm automatically sceptical. I can be convinced, but i won't go in unreco'd.

All of which is to say i suspect that you have a few challenges, but if your food is amazing and your location is downtown you'll get my dollars.

2017 Apr 18
I also work downtown, but I only get half an hour for lunch, so I cannot go to the AYCE because I don't have time. So, food trucks, with relatively quick turn around are appealing to me, but of course, it's only if it is also relatively cheap.

That being said, this is also downtown specific, and downtown is hitting saturation point for food trucks, with chips trucks, Raon Kitchen, street, Angry Dragonz, Ad Mare ETC.

2017 Apr 18
It's not saturation if the new truck is something we don't already have nearby.

2017 Apr 18
I'm always down for Indian food. I do really think that location is key for food trucks so do your research well. I'd love to see some fusion items that play with Indian food and Indian classics! Something fun like a butter chicken poutine or a chicken tikka burger.

Some traditional Indian street food would be great as well such as pani puri, chat, or vada pav (something I really miss from days past of living near the Indian bazaar on Gerrard St E in Toronto)...

A mix of this with a couple great curries of the day would be fun and refreshing to the foodtruck scene in Ottawa! Add in a nice Gulab Jaman on a stick for dessert and I'll even show up and do a jig.

2017 Apr 18
ONION BHAJI TACOS!!!!

2017 Apr 18
YOU SHUT YOUR MOUTH!!!

2017 Apr 19
...suddenly butter chicken tacos are sounding plausible...
Naan tortillas, butter chicken... the sauce covers the cheese/guac element... maybe some hot mango chutney... just need some sort of crispy veg thing... crumbled onion bhajis maybe...?

...damn this is sounding good... i may have to make this for dinner tonight....

(...by 'make' i mean order Indian food delivery then assemble it in tacoesque form.)

(...yes, tacoesque IS a word.)

(...because i say so, that's why.)


2017 Apr 19
I would suggest getting in touch with the fellas from Streetside Curry to see what went wrong for them. I was surprised to see them close up after a year. Food was delicious and they were very friendly nice people.

2017 Apr 20
@Prettytastyrevi,
Absolutely, for any (or at least most) of our items, we will have the ability to customize based on people's taste bud, just like any good restaurant has. For people wanting really hot and flavourful we will do that and people asking for mild we will serve that too. We will try to balance between these two extremes. And allergies will be taken care of and Raita will be one of the top items in the list of sides.

2017 Apr 20
@OSoloMeal
Point noted.
And also, thanks a bunch for a lot of cool ideas :)

Also, @James C. , SushiStevie and other people concerned about our location being downtown.
We have started to do some research on location availability, and what we have known so far is getting a location in downtown is almost impossible nowadays. The same is suggested by our consultant, too. However we will keep trying and looking for as good location as possible.

2017 Apr 20
@TheNatureMan,
Based on what I have been reading on this forum I am enough surprised too.
I will certainly reach out to them, but please share any contact details of the owner of Streetside curry, if you have by any chance. I will start with sending a DM on Twitter and see if I could actually meet them. Thanks for the suggestion.

2017 Apr 20
Regarding Streetside Curry's downfall - they had a terrible location (on the corner of Preston and Carling), were very slow at serving people (because they were so friendly and wanted to chat), and had no shelter from the rain so cancelled many days of service.

They may tell you different reasons but that's my best guess.

2017 Apr 21
Osolomeal, what you're talking about is a roti!
But a butter chicken taco, by any other name. . . . . .

2017 Apr 21
Not exactly, i recognise that there are variations of both, but Roti are typically folded all the way around or rolled, tacos are just barely held closed.

2017 Apr 21
Burrito!

2017 Apr 22
I'm thinking shrimp vindaloo burrito now.
Damn, I'm hungry.

2017 Apr 24
If you open an Indian food truck it would be a welcome addition wherever you plan to set up shop.

I've been to Dosa a couple of times but they are located on Somerset near Dundonald park and the neighbourhood seems to be mostly residential. It would be a bit of a hike for those who work further up Kent but not doable for myself since I only get half an hour for lunch. If you choose downtown somewhere between Laurier and Wellington (from south to north) or from Kent to Elgin (from west to east) would be your best bet. And I'm sure the government employees in Tunney's pasture would love to have a food truck in their neighbourhood!

Best of luck in your endeavour and let us know if/when you open your business.

2017 Apr 30
Basmati at Bank and Somerset has a Tandoori chicken "wrap" and also a vegetable fried something or other wrap.

They make the Naan bread while you watch and then add the chicken or fried vegetables/pakoras and then add fresh lettuce and other stuff.

It is $8 for a wrap and they are quite big.
I hear the rest of their menu is not that good, I only ever get the wraps there.

2017 May 5
@AD_2 : Good to know, thanks.
@Pasta lover : Thanks. Yes we will keep the community posted.
@Prettytastyrevi: We will definitely check Basmati out, thanks for the info.

2017 May 8
Hey New User 6475 - I sent you a message. Looking forward to this!

2017 May 17
Bring it on !