Free-Food-A-Palooza: Wafels and Dinges

I got a Liège waffle, seen here, free from Wafels and Dinges. (Image via Wikipedia.)

(Ed. Note: I got back late so the Pita Joe post will be moved to tomorrow.)

20 December 2010 – Midtown Manhattan

When I saw that Wafels and Dinges, winner of the Best Dessert Truck honors at the 2009 Vendys and still one of the premier dessert trucks in the City (having since spawned a chain of the main truck and three satellite carts) was on the list for deals on Tenka, I was kind of surprised. I had already sampled the truck’s waffles in October, when they were outside the Guggenheim Museum and I needed something to eat (of course, then ice cream on the waffle was a good idea, and now it’s not), and the waffle I had (a liege waffle, which is chewier and a bit more cake-like than the Brussels waffle, with chocolate fudge, ice cream, and bananas) was really great. So why would an already-well-established operation with fantastic food be inclined to offer free food to people?

Other than altruism, I still can’t think of a reason. The waffle I got from the “Vedette” cart on 5th and 60th (liege with chocolate fudge) was chewy and sweet, and went perfectly with the chocolate fudge and confectioner’s sugar (though the sugar got on my coat, which kinda sucked). The Belgian hot chocolate (which seemed like chocolate sauce with a bit of milk and some hot water) wasn’t that great – it tasted almost chemically, for some reason or another – but the main event, the waffle, was the perfect way to end finals week, which I did about 15 minutes before I went to the cart.

(By the way, when I went back to Wafels and Dinges, this time to the truck at 14th and 3rd, the waffle was even better with chocolate fudge, Nutella, and Spekuloos, the house spread (truck spread?) made out of gingerbread-cinnamon cookies was even better (though sticky, the sort of peanut-butter-stuck-on-the-roof-of-your-mouth, good kind of stickiness).)