Wellington Food Truck Rankings, from a Bloke Who Eats Lunch from One Five Days a Week

One rainy Wednesday lunchtime, with the rain blowing sideways, I was standing in a car park near Courtenay Place, scooping up curry from a soggy paper tray, when a thought struck me: how many years have I been doing this now?

By my count, almost four. On any day I'm not out doing fieldwork, I've bought nearly every office lunch at a food truck somewhere in Wellington. At first it was laziness, then habit, and now, honestly, it's love. The sound of the truck shutter rolling up, the smell of splattering oil, the menu that comes out without a word once you're a regular. All of it makes up my lunch hour.

So I thought I'd put it all down. Based on memories spanning hundreds of meals, these are the trucks I keep going back to. I'm calling it a ranking, but truthfully the top three are practically tied, and the criteria are simple: consistency of flavour, the personality of the person running the truck, and whether there's a dish I find myself ordering week after week.

The ones that earned the top spot

The truck I visit most often is a taco truck currently parked over by Whairepo Lagoon. I go every Tuesday. The first time I went, I ordered the fish taco, and the tortilla came out not soggy, the fried fish still crisp. That might sound like nothing, but half of all food-truck tacos fall apart during wrapping. This place never does. Not once! The couple who run it are always in the same spot, and when I join the queue they ask, "The usual?" I keep coming back for those two words alone.

Right behind them is a Malaysian food truck that only appears at lunchtime on the outskirts of the CBD, over towards Victoria Street. Laksa is their main thing, and the broth is thick every single time, with coconut aroma that hits you immediately. There is no substitute for the feeling of standing in the Wellington wind on a cold day, holding a hot bowl of laksa. One time it was raining so hard that I crouched alone under the truck's awning to eat, and the owner smiled and ladled me a little extra broth. Moments like that add up to something beyond taste.

The third spot goes to a grill truck that shows up now and then near the Harbourside Market on Saturdays. It's not part of my weekday lunch routine, but I always seek it out when I stop by the market on weekends. They do a lamb burger: thick patty, mint yoghurt sauce in just the right amount, neither too much nor too little. For NZD 16, that level of satisfaction from a single burger is more than enough.

Regulars, but with conditions

There are trucks I like but don't visit every day. One Indian food truck serves butter chicken that's genuinely outstanding on some days and a bit flat on others. That inconsistency is why I can't slot it into the weekly rotation. On a good day it's right up there with the best, but I never know when that day will be!

Then there's a Korean fusion truck that opened last year. They sell bulgogi rice bowls, and for the first two months I went obsessively. At some point, though, the rice portions shrank and the price went up by NZD 2. The flavour is still fine, but once the ratio is off, you just start going less often.

And the pizza truck. I have mountains to say about the deep-dish pizza debate, but I'll set that aside here. This truck bakes thin-crust dough in a wood-fired oven. One slice of margherita for NZD 8. When the basil is fresh, it's excellent; when it's wilted, it's just okay. These small differences are what separate "somewhere I go occasionally" from "somewhere I go every week."

The ones that are sadly gone

Making a ranking like this inevitably brings to mind trucks that no longer exist. There used to be a Vietnamese food truck on Lambton Quay, and I genuinely believed their bánh mì was the best in Wellington. The baguette was crusty on the outside and soft inside, and they were generous with the coriander. One day I showed up and the truck was just gone. I've never seen it since. I still remember the texture of that baguette. That's the cruel side of food trucks, isn't it? Unlike a shop, a truck can vanish without warning.

What I value most in my rankings isn't a grand menu. It's a joy you can repeat. Tuesday tacos, Thursday laksa, a sip of broth under the awning on a rainy day. Tomorrow's lunch will probably be eaten standing in front of a truck again. Even better if it rains.