Croque: Do £7.50 toasties from the Aberdeen beach food truck live up to the hype? (original) (raw)

The popular toastie van at Aberdeen beach serves up toasties with a variety of fillings, including kimchi, bacon and haggis.

Food and drink journalist Joanna Bremner and Andy Morton try out the toasties from Croque on Aberdeen beach. Image: Kenny Elrick/DC Thomson

Aberdeen beach has in recent years been blessed by a huge variety of food trucks, including Croque toasties.

The toastie truck is the brain child of chef Derek Park, who has been serving up his cheesy toasties from his spot near Fittie for a year now.

There are often queues down the pavement with plenty of dog walkers – and seagulls – hungry for Derek’s toasties.

The range of toasties we tried at Croque, Aberdeen beach. Image: Kenny Elrick/DC Thomson

His toasties aren’t just your basic ham and cheese – though he does offer a ham and cheese toastie for the plain Janes.

You can enjoy kimchi in your toastie at Croque, honey and thyme roast butternut squash or even haggis.

Joanna Bremner and Andy Morton try out the food from Croque, Aberdeen. Image: Kenny Elrick/DC Thomson

Andy and I made it to the toastie truck before the lunch rush, and hope that a nasty-looking seagull perched a few vans down doesn’t make a bid for our meal.

Does macaroni and cheese belong in a toastie?

Although I have tried a macaroni and cheese toastie before, the quirky carb-on-carb sandwich does always stump me a little.

Andy was definitely the most excited about this one, but I was wary it might be on the sickly side.

But the Mac n cheese (£7.50) toastie from Croque is, in a word, excellent.

The sizeable Mac n cheese toastie from Croque on Aberdeen beach. Image: Kenny Elrick/DC Thomson

A simple creamy, cheese roux can easily become bland, at least in my opinion.

But the addition of mustard in this toastie really adds a dimension to the flavour which many macaroni and cheeses lack.

The macaroni and cheese toasties warmed us up on a chilly morning at Aberdeen beach. Image: Kenny Elrick/DC Thomson

It’s a huge portion though, so I’d recommend dividing it between at least two of you.

Ratings:

Andy: 3.5/5

Joanna: 4/5

Next up we tried the Haggis and sweet chilli (£8) toastie.

Although I’m a Scot, I have to admit that haggis can sometimes be a bit too rich.

Sometimes it just tastes of pepper, and it’s hard to eat a plateful of the stuff on Burns Night.

The haggis and sweet chilli toastie. Image: Kenny Elrick/DC Thomson

But the addition of cheese really helped to mellow out the spice from the haggis.

This made for a surprisingly delicious combination, and I would absolutely try this again.

The generous drizzle of sweet chilli sauce over the top added a tasty kick too.

Ratings:

Andy: 4/5

Joanna: 5/5

We also tried the soup (£3) from Croque.

I was very excited for this slow roast tomato soup, as I love dunking a toastie or bread into my soup.

The slow roast tomato soup from Croque. Image: Kenny Elrick/DC Thomson

But this soup didn’t do it for me, sadly, as it was a little too salty for my taste.

Ratings:

Andy: 3/5

Joanna: 2/5

What did we think of the kimchi toastie at Croque, Aberdeen?

One of the most intriguing toasties for me on the Croque menu is the kimcheese (£7.50).

I really couldn’t begin to fathom kimchi in a toastie. Derek who runs Croque is clearly very creative.

He makes the kimchi himself, which is true dedication.

It’s effort like that which explains the prices at Croque, which many on social media take issue with.

But how does the quirky toastie taste?

The Kimcheese toastie from Croque. Image: Kenny Elrick/DC Thomson

This, surprisingly, might have been my favourite toastie of our visit.

The tangy, spicy flavour of the kimchi paired so well with the creamy, melted cheese.

It was a bit like having a stir fry in a toastie. It shouldn’t have worked, but it really did.

Andy trying out one of the toasties. Image: Kenny Elrick/DC Thomson

The kimcheese toastie was also a really refreshing bite, with the crunch of veg, after all the dense meat and macaroni.

Ratings:

Andy: 4/5

Joanna: 5/5

Finally, we tried out the bacon, black pudding and chilli jam (£8.50) toastie.

This one packed a punch.

The bacon, black pudding and chilli jam toastie. Image: Kenny Elrick/DC Thomson

There was a lot going on, with the salty hit of the bacon, the heat of Derek’s homemade Scotch bonnet chilli jam, the richness of the black pudding, and the creamy cheese.

But the flavours worked very well together, and each bite was incredibly moreish.

I liked that the bread had a proper crunch to it. This helped ensure that none of the toasties became soggy.

Ratings:

Andy: 4.5/5

Joanna: 4/5

The toasties at Croque are far beyond your basic toastie expectations.

The food truck is a great shout when you’re having a wander along the beach and would definitely warm you up on a dreich day.