TimeOut

I find living in Los Angeles to be interesting. I can find all types of food within "short" driving distance. Yes, driving around for 30+ minutes for dinner is part of my daily routine.  Somehow food in the other end of LA always taste better!  For the past few weeks, I've wanted to try out the infamous Kogi Truck, despite the HUGE OBJECTION from my boyfriend and family.

Kogi Truck is a mobile fast food that serves a mix of Mexican and Korean foods. It announces it's location through Twitter daily. I'm not sure as to how Twitter works, lol, between facebook, friendster, PuristSPro and thePuristS, I have enough websites to browse . I went to Little Tokyo for shabu shabu dinner tonight and I was in luck... I spotted Kogi Truck in the corner. There was a huge crowd and I ended up joining the crowd for pre-dinner

The menu selection wasn't vast. It mainly serves only taco, slider, quesadillas and burittos with Korean flavors of fillings: short ribs, spicy pork, chicken or tofu, mix with kimchi. I had taco with short rib. The taco was corn taco, which I didn't quite care for. The filling was quite tasty, but it was nothing close as compared to real Korean bbq short rib and kimchi.

(Sorry for the blurry pictures, they were taken using blackberry)

 Front of Kogi Truck:

Crowd waiting to order patiently, while listening to rock music blasting in the background:

The menu... THAT'S IT??  I WAITED 30 MINUTES FOR THIS??

My pre-dinner: Taco Short Rib

Has anyone tried Kogi Truck or "Other" Truck (such as Calbi Truck)? If yes, would you go out of your way to track the locations of these trucks through Twitter & drive around the city trying to locate them? 

As for me, I guess my boyfriend & family would be relieved when they find out that I won't make them go with me to "chase" around Kogi Truck in the future... for now, I'll continue going to korean bbq restaurant bi-weekly, to enjoy real short rib bbq with kimchi.

Regards,

ATM

There is always something new for us to try!  ATM, what's the topping on the taco?  Is it grilled onions and scallions?  I haven't tried the Kogi truck because I'm too lazy to figure out where it will be.  Why chase it on Twitter (which I don't know how to use) when I can just go to Koreatown for my fix of shortribs and pork belly! 

Cheers,
Daos

Hi Daos,

Yes, we're lucky to be living in LA where we can get various yummy foods.  The toppings are raw onion, scallion and kimchi.  It has a good spicy, citrus taste to it. It's definitely not worth chasing for this truck all over LA... I'll "focus" on trying the various korean bbq restaurants in Korea Town instead.

Regards,

ATM

Hi Daos,
The next time you're in K-Town searching for Korean BBQ, I highly recommend Chosun Galbee.  It's on the pricey side but definitely worth it.

Regards,
ED-209

Chosun is definitely delicious!  We had our office holiday lunch there last year.  I used to go to business dinners there more often, but now Chosun is the occasional treat -- when I need to be reminded what really good quality Korean BBQ is like!    Thanks for the tip!

Cheers,
Daos

Hello Daos!

Here's ED209's review on Chosun Galbi Korean BBQ in the WFED forum: www.network54.com ..

-MW

Ed took some great photos!    The only two cuisines I could eat everyday are Korean (BBQ short ribs and pork belly, spicy tofu soups, and hot pot rice dishes are my faves) and Japanese (sushi, udon/ramen, and homestyle favorites like katsu-don).

Cheers,
Daos

L.A. is a foodie's paradise supposedly. Unfortunately for me, because everyone likes to eat so much, this means I have to go to Ding Tai Fun (Taiwanese Dumpling house) at 4:30PM to avoid the dinner crowd.

This is a novel new concept.

After looking at the menu, and the pricing, I have to conclude eating from a Kogi truck is very expensive. $5 for a Kogi Dog? I would rather pay $7-$8 for my made to order Japanese bento box at Mitsuwa's food court (five pieces of tuna sashimi, salad, rice, assorted vegetables, small piece of cooked fish, miso soup, tempura, and mochi dessert. Or the $7-$8 for a sandwich and salad meal at Boudin Sourdough cafe, Panera Bread cafe, or Corner Bakery cafe.

Thanks for sharing the experience with us. Do you now agree with the objections of your boyfriend and family?

Going off on a tangent:
I once had the most delightful corn taco in Santa Barbara. There's a restaurant in Santa Barbara where the corn tacos are so fresh that they taste like flour tacos. My host and I were arguing, he thought the tacos were flour, while I insisted they were corn but only had the texture of a flour taco. It was a hole in the wall restaurant with plastic chairs, plastic forks, plastic plates; with a 30 minute waiting line. It wasn't cheap (considering the surroundings), dinner came out to be about $16 a person; but it was what I imagine to be very authentic (haven't been to Mexico yet so don't know what the authenticity entails).

Hi Patrick,

I'm definitely not going to be part of the next crowd lining up in front of Kogi truck. Yes, my boyfriend will have a kick in knowing that he's right, AGAIN!

With regards to Din Dai Fung, dumpling house located in Arcadia, it opened up another spot next to the old location. With them having two restaurants, the wait is much bearable, it's been +/- 10 minutes during rush lunch or dinner hour. IMO, the new location serves a much better juicy pork dumpling. However, I've been told that the original location in Taipei is much more superior.

Regards,

ATM

. . . north of the border, or so they say ;-) . . . cordially, Art

I didn't remember the name of the restaurant, but I did remember the outside appearance; therefore I googled "Superica" and I found "La Super-Rica" Restaurant to be the restaurant I was referring to, with photos to confirm it.

I think this will become a regular stop during those visits to Solvang.

. . . yeah, you can say that again! I've been to a lot of dives worth mentioning in So Cal . . . cordially, Art

Sad to say. Mrssnak frequented the place heavily in the 70s. We have visited together since, but she swears it pales to its former self.
It was okay for me.

Hello ATM!

Thanks for taking one for the team and trying it out! LOL!  Where are you going to try next?

-MW

Hi DRMW,

Ho dduck (I called it Hot Dog and been driving my Korean buddies nuts!) Cart for Korean sweet pancake will be my next "chase-the-cart" journey. Just the thought of having brown sugar wrapped in soft sticky dough that is slightly crunchy on the outside brighten up my day

Pictures taken from the internet.  I'll post my own picture once I can convince my friends to go with me, chasing this truck all over LA, LOL.

Regards,

ATM

No message body

. . . when Chema's Taco truck used to serve up six varieties of tacos Friday and Saturday nights on the south-east corner of Whittier Blvd and Gretna in Whittier. Their tacos were so indescribably delicious that there would be a line extending around the corner, and it would often take over half an hour to receive the precious carne asada manna from heaven (and no, I never tried the tripas, lengua, cabeza, or carnitas). I was working the swing shift in nearby Santa Fe Springs, and we would send one guy out to get an order for all of us. On one occasion, one of the guys announced he could eat twenty tacos in the span of our half-hour lunch break if we would pick up the tab. Of course, we took him up on it, and sure enough, he devoured the twenty carne asada tacos like they were Tootsie rolls.

Well, Chema was so successful that he bought a restaurant right across the street, and retired the roach coach . . . as luck would have it, the flavor and aroma retired, too, and the few times I went back were hugely disappointing. I've been a vegetarian for almost two decades now, but if I knew the tacos were as tasty as they used to be, I'd make the trip for a plate of carne asada anytime - they were that good ;-) . . . cordially, Art

a large Pitta bread filled with half cooked compressed minced lamb and fat still dripping in hot fat covered in hot chilli sauce salad and pickled green chilli's was pure bliss. it really is as bad as it sounds, but after a few beers its now the staple diet of most UK binge drinkers.

when i used to work nights i needed great willpower. if i had a kebab on monday night i'd end up having one every night. not good for the waistline and not good for the interior smell of the patrol car. i think Pitta bread was specifically designed so that the salad fell out all over my uniform. moving from cars to bikes was my saviour. you can eat a kebab and drive a car... just, but you cant eat one riding a motorbike.

those were the days

Graham

Hi Art,

Let us know when you find another to-die-for carne asada place!

Hi Graham,

Sounds tasty! I had my share of Pitta bread filled with compressed minced lamb during my trip to New York.  It was served from a truck, came highly recommended from my New Yorker friend. After waiting in line hungrily for almost an hour, I recalled the food was quite tasty... sometimes I wonder, was it tasty or was I just hungry?

Regards,

ATM

Hi Graham,

Everything taste better when I'm hungry, lol. Have a great weekend!

ATM

I went downstairs to look for today's lunch, and there it was! After a 40-minute wait, I walked away with a short rib burrito, pork sliders and a chicken taco. Regrettably, I didn't love any of it. The meats weren't hot, and the veggies weren't cold or crisp. The cheese seemed terribly out of place.

Oh well, following the ways of the "cognoscenti" can be tough on one's tummy.

Hi Glickman,

After a taste of taco short rib last night, I'm going to appreciate tonight's dinner at authentic Korean bbq much more! For now, i'll keep my "truck-food-adventure" to grilled hot-dog wrapped in bacon outside my office. The joy of lunch in downtown LA...

Have a good weekend,

ATM

Hi ATM,
Cool post regarding the Kogi truck.  Sorry to hear that it didn't live up to the hype, but IMO I kinda expected that.  I also agree with you regarding K-town, nothing beats grilled beef versus Mexican/Korean fusion soft tacos.  But you never know unless you try it at least once. 

Regards,
Ed

Hi ED-209,

Thanks for checking out the post! IMO, charcoal grill bbq taste better than flame grilled Korean bbq. Hmm... I should look for a new Korean bbq place to try out this weekend .

As you may very well know, we have a lot of "Lunch Wagons" in Hawaii. Even before them, there used to be what we called, Manapua Man. There were several, old Chinese men, walking the neighborhoods with a broomstick-like bar across their shoulders, and on each end of the "broomstick" were five gallon tin cans. One can had manapuas (char siu bao) and the other, rice cakes. They would go around crying, Maaaa-naaaa-pua!

i guess you could say they were out done by progress, hence the lunch wagons. We've got them selling, every type of food. Korean, Japanese, Greek, Hawaiian, italian, American, Filipino...whatever!

However, nowadays, i stay clear of them. Too many calories for me and my age!

Aloha,

Bob

Hi Bob,

I'm doing well. How are you and Patty? I sure miss Honolulu, especially the food there are awesome! I'll fly out there just to drive out to North Shore for Romy's shrimp shack. Thinking about the good time I had during March visit, I guess I should plan my next trip to Hawaii in the near future .

Have a good weekend,
ATM

Who could not love fermented vegetables that have been sitting outdoors in semi-open jars for 6 months?

;-)

Love the stuff and Korean BBQ. Live too far away to chase the truck, but it's got quite the hipster quotient in L.A. these days.

Hi Mrsnak,

IMO, you won't be missing much for not chasing the truck. Don't you just love living in LA and having Korea Town located centrally in LA? .

Regards,
ATM