Mangal Kiss Mid-East BBQ

We had the chance to try both the buffet breakfast and the dinner at the mosaic during our stay in the Hyatt regency.
Dinner was just excellent and we don’t understand why there weren’t that many people dinning there.
Loved the ahi tuna and the sockeyed salmon.
Well worth the price.

Last Friday, my coworkers and I grabbed a quick lunch at one of the food carts on Howe Street near Robson Square. Mangal Kiss offers decent quality Kebab at affordable prices. However, regardless of how good the food is I’ve found one thing they really need to take care of. I couldn’t stand the fact that the guy who took my cash with bare hands touched my food without washing hands nor wearing gloves… :(
Their menu is very simple. Veggie/​Beef/​Lamb/​Chicken kebab is served in a pita with lots of veggies and hummus.
I got their most popular one, Lamb Kebab ($ 10). It consisted of grilled lamb, organic greens, cucumbers, radish, daikons, fresh mint and hummus wrapped in a pita. The first few bites weren’t really amazing as I only tasted pita and salads, but later on I enjoyed its gentle lamb flavours and hummus. But throughout my lunch, I kept thinking about the bear hands that touched my money and food. :’(
PROS
+ Food served pretty quick
CONS
— Don’t touch my food after touching money
RATING
Food 2.5÷5.0
Ambience N/​A
Service 3.5÷5.0
Food Safety 1.0÷5.0
Price $

Saw these guys at the food cart fest. Beef was nicely spiced, cooked and tender. Good portion. Customer service was awesome.

Love this food truck. I get the lamb kebab in a bowl instead so it is served like a salad. I work in this area so there are lots of food trucks nearby and it’s one of my favourite lunch spots. It’s a shame they’re only open during the summer because I would really enjoy having this as a lunch option year round!

Great news they are open as of Jun 19, 2015 — these guys have the best lamb kebab I’ve ever had. They have increased their kebab prices to $ 10 (used to be $ 8), but the portion size if well worth it. So glad to see them back at the Art Gallery — come with CASH as they don’t accept credit cards or debit.

My wife and I were jonesing for a) a quick lunch, b) kebab and c) lamb, and chose this place on spec, without looking at reviews. Wow! Delicious and fresh food, packed with flavour. I had the ribeye and my wife the lamb shishliks ($ 9 each), and were both heartily fed. Fresh cantaloupe juice was awesome in its own right, and was a great pairing with the kebab flavours to boot. A bit pricey ($ 4) but I’ll trust the folks in the truck that their costs justified it. Only thing I’m sad about is that I didn’t get to try their mint lemonade.
I would heartily recommend this to anyone. Both wraps were just the tiniest bit spicy, so if you had kids (who aren’t into that) I’d say ask for a mild version.
I’ve also seen some reviews complaining about wait times. We had at least 6 orders ahead of us and we waited about 11 minutes, so not too bad. Fresh food can’t be produced instantly!

I was making out with my beef rib-​eye Shishliks in broad day light and on busy downtown Vancouver streets but I couldn’t care less. Not even Ryan Gosling can stop me from my kissing and nibbling of my food.
I was 1) famished and 2) I had to wait 15 minutes for my food which further fueled my hun-​angry-​ness. But truth be told these were just shallow reasons why I was so into my food. The food rocked my world!
Portion: It was enormous! I finished ¾ during lunch time and saved the last ¼ for later.
Taste: Flavor bombshell beware! The meat was seasoned beautifully (I am not sure if the beef was marinated but it was full of flavor). The finely shredded purple cabbage and carrots gave the wrap great texture and crunch. The flat bread was warm and toasty with gentle chew. You wouldn’t have to replace your dentures after eating this. The pickles were tart and balanced the grilled meat. Overall I love the flavors. It was bright with a good amount of acidity in the tabbouleh. The warp was easy to eat. I didn’t find it messy. The wrap wasn’t dripp-​y with sauces. I can conclude there’s ground cardamom.
Health: You are getting your complete balanced diet in one single hand. You have protein, vegetables, and carbohydrates. If you’re sick and tired of eating beet salad for lunch (like me), this would be a great lunch alternative without having to carry guilt around.
Amazing Middle Eastern style wraps for $ 8. You can get a lunch combo for $ 11 with their house made beverage which changes from time to time.

My first food truck groument. I passed them at around 12h30, and they were like 10 people waited for the food coming out. I ordered lamb kebeb and the guy told me it would be a15 minutes wait. I was not in a rush so it didn’t mater to Me. I waited actually for 20 minutes before my kebab came out. The price is 8dollars. Inside the kebab wrap is not only the meat, but also loooooots of young greens, radish, daikon and brasil, all in good harmony. Also the sauce is aromatic and delicious. I enjoyed the wrap a lot but it was too big for me to finish ito Feel very sorry to throw away the last little portion…

The rib eye steak kebab is one of the best kebab I have ever tested. It is filled with delicious veggies and succulent sauce. I also had a lentil soup, which I understand is not offered every day. It was also very tasteful. 10 $ for a food truck meal may sound like a lot (not so much once you start comparing), but it was amazing value.

Addictive! I just wish they would park out side of the brassneck brewery on main n 6^th once in awhile.

BEST WRAP EVER.
Instant order, instantly grilled moist meat kebabs, the freshest flat bread, and crispy and cold (let alone the vibrantly bright colours) veggies all put together and you get the Mangal Kiss.
Have you not tried this yet? What’s wrong with you? Go!

Mangal Kiss is a great food truck that specializes in Middle Eastern Kebab wraps. They seem to have two type of wraps — the first are the Shishliks, which are served on Taftoons (traditional Iranian flat bread), and the other are Kebabs, which are served on pitas.
I went with some coworkers and we each had a different wrap. My first coworker ordered the Beef Rib-​Eye Shishlik, which is served on the Iranian flat bread. It comes with Salatim, which is a sort of Iranian salad mix, and a number of sauces (Baharat, Amba, Zhug), which loaded the whole thing with layers of sweetness, spiciness, and complexity.
My second coworker ordered the Lamb Kebab. Kebabs are served on pitas and with greens, mint, hummus, and a Turkish vinegarette.
I had the Beef Kebab, which has an Israeli salad, tahina sauce (which is ground sesame and chickpeas), sweet and savoury mango sauce, and served on a pita.
We all liked our kebab wraps/​shishlik but we didn’t love them. The flavours are there and the wrap is decently filling, but we all felt that there wasn’t enough meat. I personally had the expectation of really tasting the beef. For me, it ended up tasting more like a falafel wrap. I wish they added another half a kebab in there so that the amazing salad and sauces don’t hide the bbq flavours of the meat.
There is something to be said about its freshness and unique flavours though. This is definitely not your typical wrap and is worth trying at least once.

One of my favourite food trucks in Vancouver! They are super friendly and the food is amazing.

I adore Mengal Kiss. The food is beautifully colourful, all the ingredients are locally sourced and the service is fantastic. My colleagues and I eat here almost daily. no joke!
I dream of being wrapped in their wraps. They are as good as it gets!
I LOVE YOU MENGAL KISS XOXOXO!!!

This ain’t the big, sloppy, semi-​tasteless donair-​kebab that dominates most places in Vancouver. These are made more carefully, with better quality ingredients, and you can taste it.
So go ahead… taste it.

Another excellent find for Vancouver’s food truck scene.
I ordered the Beef Rib-​Eye Shish Kabob and it is served in a traditional Iranian flat bread. Within the flat bread, you can choose your toppings and sauces. (I’ve listed them below since Mangal Kiss doesn’t have an online site) The actual width of the wrap was pretty big so I had to take smaller bites to get a little bit of vegetable or meat. The vegetables made it fresh and healthy and the meat made it an incredibly satisfying lunch. For $ 7.00, it’s also one of the best deals for what you get.
Toppings: Hummus, Tahini, Purple Cabbage, Beets, Pickled Turnips, Pickles, Onions, Tomatoes, Cucumbers, Spice Carrots, Radish and Tabbouleh
Sauces: Spiced BBQ sauce with Turkish spice mixture, spicy and savoury mango sauce, Middle Eastern hot sauce

For someone who doesn’t like garbanzo beans, lentils or lamb, I had two great meals at this little food cart, eating exactly those three things. (I can’t call this a food truck, because 6 of these could probably fit in one of the food trucks where I come from.)
The first day, I ordered the tomato soup with garbanzo beans because I knew my boyfriend would enjoy it and I was planning to take only a couple of bites to tie me over until our next stop. It was so delicious, I did not want to let it go and I really regretted not getting a bowl instead of a cup. Each order of soup comes with a nicely toasted piece of challah.
My boyfriend and I liked Mangal’s food so much, we went back the very next day (mind you, we were on vacation and this was our last day in town, so that tells you how much we liked it) to try the lamb kabob. (I had my eye on the rib eye, but didn’t want to be a total glutton and get that, too.) The kabob comes in a wrap which has a wonderful assortment of flavors and textures. The meat was perfectly spiced and very tender and moist, with no gaminess to it. We also had the tomato soup with red lentils which I was scared to try, because the only bean I hate more than a garbanzo bean is a lentil. But the secret I learned that day was if they are chopped up into small tidbits they lose all offensiveness and are quite pleasant. I could not believe how much I loved this soup.
The proprietors are very nice and friendly, so if you get a chance, stop by and grab a bite. You won’t regret it.

Oy! Come! Eat! Yes, this is the best example of Israeli street food outside of… Tel Aviv?
Mangal has returned to the art gallery spot, on West Georgia, at Howe.
Yum — enough cucumber in the shislik to evoke memories of the Israeli breakfast, well, and every meal! Delicious beet, pickle, lettuce stuffed into the wrap, with tender bits of meat, all prepared before your very eyes. We ordered the combo, with soup, and a toasted piece of challah and the two of us could not finish this crunchy, spicy, delight.
Mark, the proprietor, is just so sweet. He cut our shislik into two equal bits for sharing — all the while minding the grill and being a gracious host. Mark and his partner also cater, so if you are hosting an office luncheon, Mangal will «kiss» off the competition.
I love this food! If Bubbe’s apple cake is added to the menu, this will be heaven on earth! Fresh, did I mention Mangal Kiss is fresh?

Remember how Mom used to say, eat all sorts of dark-​coloured veggies? (well, mine did). You can do her proud by having one of these shashlik wraps. Dark magenta pickled beets, yellow little bits of things that look like foreign relish, green pickles, orange carrots… I don’t remember all the colours, but they were all different and deep colours, most of which were lightly pickled.
I like Marc D.‘s description of it as ‘not enough meat by north American standards’. I like it that way. It still has enough flavour if you’re willing to pay attention to the symphony of vegetables and pickling agents (not all of them feel vinegary, but they all feel natural).
The minty lemonade was good, too! I don’t like ones that are too sweet.

On our way back from a failed Food Truck Friday adventure last week, my Partner-​in-​crime and I walked past Mangal Kiss and immediately started to drool. The wraps that were coming out of the kitchen looked like a little piece of heaven, stuffed with bright colors, beautiful grains, and what appeared to be well-​grilled meat. We immediately regretted the sandwiches we had ingested a few minutes prior, and promised the proprietor we’d be back this week. After spending the better part of the week talking about how excited we were to eat there, we finally came across lunch. The line was relatively large, the truck had moved to right behind the art gallery, opposite The Re-​Up (another BBQ joint).
We both had the same thing, the Shishliks (which can be easily described as a chicken wrap/​donair), with a Limonana — a lemon and mint concoction.
1. The Sandwich
There was a beautiful balance in the sandwich, with a variety of pickled vegetables and well seasoned sauces, perfectly placed within a soft, naan-​like Iranian bread. The chicken had been well grilled, a slight char and bite came through the softness of the other items in the wrap. There was a hint of curry and a slight heat that hit you on the sides of your tongue and lingered. It was pretty freaking fantastic. My only compaint (and I’m being nit-​picky here) was that I’d like the chicken in the centre of the sandwich to allow for the flavours to mix with the vegetables that were placed throughout. Overall, one of the most unique and delicious street eats I’ve had since Tacofino’s Fish Tacos (also a «must have before you die»)
2. The Limonana
The Limonana was summer. Fresh lemonade, fresh mint, cold ice. You can not go wrong. The only way this could get better is if they had a shot of vodka or gin. (Note to self and others: Make this, add a shot of gin or vodka).
Overall, a pretty fantastic meal and for under 10 bucks (9 bucks, all in). The one thing I’d change? It would be great to have a side dish!