The food truck hitting the spot for nearly 20 years

“We’re now the longest-standing food tuck in Canberra and we’ve never moved. We’ve upgraded, but we’ve stayed in this spot for almost 20 years,” The G Spot’s new owner, Laura, proudly tells me as she takes me through their menu.

Several times a year, I take my daughter to The G Spot so she can grab a deep-fried Mars bar, so for ages I thought deep-fried desserts were their sole business.

Then one winter evening, I picked up her order by myself. As I waited outside the food van, warming my hands at one of its outdoor heaters, a friend pulled up to collect his dinner. He said that he comes here regularly and has sampled nearly the entire G Spot menu. More folk joined us around the heater, some having ordered big boxes of dinner to take home.

Laura and her partner Sophie took ownership of the food van in 2018, but she remembers when The G Spot began in 2001.

She was 11 and her parents, Andrew and Lee-Ann ran it back then, working out of an old caravan. Each night, Andrew would tow the van down to its current spot to serve up ‘mongrel burgers’ and other cheeky dishes.

As a teenager, Laura worked alongside her parents at The G Spot. The joy she found in creating delicious food became a career.

Laura says she resigned from her role as head chef at Akiba last year to prioritise her life balance. At around the same time, her grandparents both took ill, and Andrew needed help with The G-spot as he cared for his parents.

“I pitched in,” Laura says. “I gave dad 8 weeks to get a permanent chef/manager.”

Finding the right fit proved tricky and frustrating. Andrew had all but decided to close The G Spot, when his lightbulb moment struck.

His throw-away comment to Laura – “Why don’t you run the whole thing?” – changed everything.

The transition of ownership has been smooth. Andrew and Lee-Ann remain a central part of The G Spot community. Sophie brings her skill-set from working Akiba’s front-of-house and Jase, previously a sous chef at Akiba, cooks and manages the food van full time.

With the same cheeky menu, but now highly skilled chefs cooking up The G Spot’s food, it’s no wonder that they have increased sales 20 per cent from last winter.

More and more, G-spot is the regular go-to for families and community groups.

“It’s a meeting spot,” Laura quips. “Friday nights or Saturday nights we have 50 or 60 cars from a Japanese car club. One hundred and fifty people in front of the van.”

Laura is quick to point out that the G-Spot is not your typical food van.

“It’s not a drunk food van. We are not a place to come and fill your gut with grease after a big night out. People come here because Tuesday night is G-Spot night.”

People bring their friends along to taste their favourite meal off the menu, itself a bit of a landmark.

“I’ve got my dad’s same crude, dry sense of humour,” Laura laughs, referring to the cheeky titles of some menu items.

She also shares her dad’s community focus.

The G Spot’s thriving FB page often highlights various charities and the loyal ‘G-Spotters’ give generously.

Andrew regularly hosts donation evenings for Communities at Work, specifying what items are needed. He brings along his panel van and people fill it with donated items as they pick up some dinner.

The G Spot use only Mulloon Creek free-range eggs in their dishes. Mulloon Creek, a biodynamic farm, focuses on regenerative, sustainable farming. You can buy a tray of these fabulous eggs to cook at The G Spot.

The G Spot posts daily specials or one-off dishes on their Facebook page. On Anzac Day, they created a divine deep-fried Anzac dough dessert.

Laura says their most popular dish has to be the Chicken Deluxe (Snitty, bacon, Swiss, lettuce, tomato) or the Fat Bas***d (burger patty, two eggs, cheese, onion, bacon, BBQ sauce).

Of course, any meal must finish with a deep-fried delight. Choose from Mars Bars, Kit Kat, or brownie & marshmallow.

I order a PNS box (Pork ‘n’ Slaw).

The pork belly is tender and there are some scrumptiously crunchy bits of fat. It comes with a side of fresh zingy ‘slaw and a generous serve of chicken-salted chips that I should have left alone, but are too delicious to resist. The whole thing is slathered with ‘dad’s rib sauce’.

It really hits the spot.

The G Spot is located in the far right corner of the Gungahlin Lakes Club parking lot at 110 Gundaroo Dr in Nicholls.

They are open Tuesday to Saturday from 6 pm until late.

Become a G-Spotter by liking The G Spot Facebook page.

Original Article published by Michelle Taylor on The RiotACT.