Van Ver Burger Garibaldi

Dishes mentioned

• Olandese Volante

  This is the Flying Dutchman, and it's incredible. The patty is pea-based, steamed, and the carrots are slow-cooked with tamari, orange juice, and thyme. The bread is artisanal, organic, with sesame seeds, and it's toasted on the bottom — not a given. The vegan smoked cheese is the most flavorful note, and I've tried many vegan cheeses over the years. The salad stays crunchy. The pea patty is well-seasoned, no preservative aftertaste at all. I don't miss the meat one bit. It's an excellent vegan sandwich.

• Autunno

  This one is called Autumn. The bread is black with vegetable charcoal, but for Christmas they made it red. The burger is roasted pumpkin, cannellini beans, and brown rice. Caramelized onions, vegan artisanal mayo, smoked vegan cheese, and fresh salad. The composition is perfect — salad at the base, the burger is grilled, the caramelized onion is abundant and delicious. The pumpkin isn't too sweet. The cheese is the same as before, slightly smoked, very good. The sesame seeds on top are crunchy. This one is more buttery, more fast food style. I think I prefer this one over the Flying Dutchman.

• BBQ

  This is the award-winning one — best food truck sandwich in Europe 2023. It has shredded plant-based pork, slow-cooked in smoked BBQ sauce, with onion and spices, mashed potato, spicy 'brucio', and fresh salad. The bread is toasted on the bottom. The BBQ sauce is there but doesn't overpower. It tastes like meat — like spiced chicken. It's totally illusory for an omnivore. The spicing is sweet and sour, and the BBQ sauce is nothing like conventional BBQ, they made their own. The spicy note is soft, I'd have pushed it a bit more. It's the greasiest of the four. I understand why it won.

• Kaiser

  This is the Kaiser. It has braised tempeh with leeks, pears, and white wine, vegan mayo, smoked vegan cheese, leek and pear cream, roasted Kaiser pears, and fresh salad. The pears are so prominent they cover the tempeh flavor. I love pears, but here it's too much. The tempeh has a good taste but it's very mild, and with all this creaminess from the pear, it gets lost. The cheese is the same smoked one from the others. This is the one I liked the least. I wouldn't get it again. Too much pear.

Dishes mentioned

• Newt
• Nuggets Vegetali

  These are four fairly large nuggets for €7. The breading is just how we like it — nicely toasted, crunchy but not too much. I open it easily. The inside is nice and full. Delicious. Man, it's good. It absolutely doesn't make you miss a normal chicken nugget. I didn't take any sauces on purpose because I wanted to eat it like this. The breading is excellent. If you blindfold me and give me this and a chicken nugget, taste-wise they're the exact same thing.

• Grazie dei Fiori
• Alghette Fritte

  These are little balls of algae in a batter, fried. They're pleasant — they have the consistency and sponginess of a chestnut. They lean a bit sweet, maybe from the batter, but at the end, in the aftertaste, I get a hint of vegetable. I'd make them with more personality. Algae fritters. Good, cute, nice. But I'd take the nuggets over these any day.

• Olandese Volante