Vij's Railway Express

Vij's Railway Express food truck in Vancouver is worth finding, and well worth the 3 hour drive from Seattle. We are in love with the Butter Chicken Schnitzel. The generous portion of crispy chicken with the heavenly spiced curry makes us swoon. It comes with basmati rice and naan. The Indian sodas make a great accompaniment. Vij's team members go out of their way to make you feel special. Thank you Jason and team! We will continue to make this food truck our first stop whenever we are in Vancouver and highly recommend others do the same

We had the "staff meal", an array of five different dishes plus rice and naan. Almost too much food, but delicious! We had to wait a while for a table, but they seated us in the bar and it was nice there... plus, they kept coming around with trays of delightful little appetizers.

Vikram Vij is a legend in Vancouver and the city’s most famous celebrity chef. His restaurants are the first and last word in Indian cuisine in this town. On top of his four restaurants, a frozen food line in grocery stores, four books, and being an investor on the TV show Dragons' Den... He also has a food truck. Because of course he does.

I knew that I needed to track down this truck after seeing it in enRoute magazine’s Dining Guide 2016, named as Vancouver Magazine’s Best Food Cart 2016, and after seeing them on an episode of Eat St. As with most food trucks, social media is key. If you want to know where to find a truck, you’ve gotta get the tweet! I set out to find Vij's Railway Express on a Wednesday afternoon after they tweeted that they would be located Downtown. I found a parking spot directly in front of the truck which was very convenient. You’ll know the truck as soon as you see it because you won’t be able to miss the bright turquoise colour. There wasn’t a line up so the entire process was extremely quick and easy! The two gentlemen working in the truck were very friendly. They accept all forms of payment which also simplifies things. As with most food trucks, the menu is ever-changing. This is another good reason to check with social media, especially if you’re hoping to eat something specific. The goal of this truck is to serve as a creative exploration of the culinary diversity of India. They accomplish this well.

On the day of my visit there were three menu choices. Each of them sounded very good and I was really close to ordering the delicious-sounding cod cakes. However, for my first visit to the truck I thought that it would be wiser to try the Butter Chicken Schnitzel (Crispy breaded Fraser Valley chicken and rich tomato-fenugreek cream curry, garnished with mango raita. Served with cumin-basmati rice and naan - $12.50). Once my order was placed they took my name and my box of food was ready to go shortly after! This was a box bursting with colours and flavours. Right off the bat, you’ll notice the interesting fusion between Indian and Austrian cuisines. I’d never seen breaded chicken used in a curry, but for a food truck something like this makes so much sense. It’s the perfect place to try new ideas. I loved the tender slices of chicken and the breading was deliciously crispy and well seasoned. Throw some fragrant and spicy curry on top that? Yes please! The curry itself was expertly made. I loved the complex mix of spices which brought a bit of heat and a lot of flavour. I really enjoyed the dollup of raita on the side for a bit of a cooling element. The rice and the naan weren’t as exciting. The rice was very plain and the naan was very flat and dense, although it was seasoned nicely. I also used some of their housemade green hot sauce and it was very good. Overall, this was a fun and interesting dish that I enjoyed eating out of a box on the side of the street.

There weren’t many drinks to choose from and certainly nothing interesting like a chai or a lassi, so that was a bit of a disappointment. The food was pretty solid though. If you happen to come across Vij’s truck in your travels it would be worthwhile to hit them up.

Very good and full of flavours. This food truck was out in Abbotsford for the Fraser Valley food truck festival. There wasnt much in the way of selection. I did notice the chicken was preped well before hand, placed on a plate and stored below the counter and pulled out when an order came in. I would have thought the food would have been cooked to order not batched cooked

You know, the whole food delivery service thing is starting to grow on me. Foodie Wednesday at our office has become something I look forward to, enough so that instead of working from home I’ll often find myself wanting to go in just for the delivered meals. Yes, it’s subsidized by our company so I still have to pay ~something~, but it’s usually cheaper than what you’d pay at the food truck itself PLUS it’s always a surprise in terms of what gets delivered. This week was a first for us where we got a delivery from Vij’s Railway Express which is food truck I’ve walked by several times on my numerous walks along 4th ave (they’re often posted up on the corner of 4th and Yew during the summer if memory serves me correctly). Having never eaten at Vij’s I figured this might make for an interesting introductory experience to his foods.

Quality and portion has dropped. Seared Pacific Cod in a Mango Sour Cream Curry with Cumin Basmati Rice and Naan, Citrus Zest Confit $12 3.5/5 - The curry was good but not excellent. The amount of the rice was on the smaller side. I had leftover fish and curry but not the rice.

Unfortunately, the quality and size are constantly decreasing. I remembered how good the butter chicken was when I first had it (Fall 2012). Portions were big that I could have it for lunch the next day. I understand that the prices of food has increased but still...

Mobile review. The Butter chicken dish is very good, I really like how the chicken is breaded and also how there is this slight mango kick to it. The naan is good to. But i mean 13 bucks for a foodcart meal?