Adventures in Dining Out: Kogi BBQ (Take 2)

My very first Adventures in Dining Out post was also my very first food truck experience. Almost exactly a year from my first meet-up with Kogi BBQ, I was finally able to meet-up again. A special Thanks to Twitter!


I saw this week yesterday morning and realized BOTH those locations were close to my office, BOTH! Luckily I was able to talk my co-worker into going, since she’s been wanting to try Kogi for awhile. We ended up getting there about 30 mins before the truck because it was running late, but that ended up working to our advantage because we were like 6th in line. Really, we should have been 2nd, but a group of people were rude and didn’t respect that some people had arrived before they had and rushed the truck. We only had to wait about 20 mins for our food, so it wasn’t a bid deal… last time we waited hours.


My co-worker and I decided to stick with the tacos for two reasons: 1) I remembered the tacos were amazing, and 2) the tacos are corn tortillas and not flour = no gluten*


I ordered two Korean Short Rib Tacos and one Korean Spicy Pork Taco. Seriously you guys, I had forgotten just how good Kogi BBQ is. I’m not trying to rub it in or anything, but Oh.My.God!


The meat is seasoned just right and the cabbage slaw they put on top is juicy and a little zingy. (Zingy is totally a word, by the way). They were a bit greasier than I remembered. They must fry the tortillas in a bit of oil before filling them. It was tasty, but greasy, that’s all I’m saying. My co-worker LOVED them as well.

*I say gluten free, but I honestly don’t know how gluten free this meal was. The safe bet in these cases is for me to order the corn tortillas. Chances are they are regular corn tortillas and contain no gluten. The thing I should pay more attention to is gluten found in sauces. Most likely the Korean Short Rib meat’s sauce has gluten containing soy sauce in it. As much as I LOVE all this Korean BBQ I think I’m going to have to start trying to make it as home with Gluten Free Soy Sauce because I didn’t feel so hot when I woke up this morning and I had a killer headache when I went to bed.

Adventures in Dining Out: Barcelona On The Go & Dan Dan BBQ

Guess what guys? I eat at more food trucks! Shocking, I know. This past Wednesday, I ventured out in the questionable weather Southern California is experiencing right now, to make my favorite food truck meet-up.


Since I needed to get back to work to get some homework done on my lunch break, I had a game plan. Stop at Barcelona On The Go and get their salad of the day, then stop at Dan Dan BBQ and get a lettuce wrapped taco. In and out. GO!



First stop was Barcelona On The Go. The salad of the day was a "Duck Prosciutto, Goat Cheese & Orange Salad”.

I read that as duck ,comma, prosciutto, so I was a bit confused when I got the salad. At first glance I thought, “Oh that’s prosciutto wrapped around duck.” After further examination (putting it in my mouth) is discovered it was FAT! I was so disgusted.


To be fair the salad was really good (minus the fat, natch) but I would definitely recommend they take the fat off the duck prosciutto… YUCK! Also, last night Hubs & I went to another Food Truck Meet-up with some friends. My Friend, Felicia, ordered the sweet potato fries with lime salt and the top sirloin taco. She said the taco and fries were excellent… I stole some of the fries and I agree.

Next Dan Dan BBQ, of course. I love their little Karate dude :)


I read online that you could order any of their tacos as a lettuce wrap, SCORE! I can probably eat corn tortillas, but I don’t need the tortilla, so it’s nice to have the option. Plus, I love lettuce.

I decided to try the Spicy Pork lettuce wrap… and then felt silly paying for a $3 taco with my debit card. Note to self: bring cash to these things!


This taco was amazing! I ate everything out of the lettuce with a fork (because it’s easy to do CAD homework that way) and then found myself trying to find pieces of lettuce with the most spices leftover. The seasoning was amazing!

Have you discovered any Food Trucks in your area?

Adventures in Dining Out: Seabirds Truck

I have a problem, I’m addicted to the Wednesday’s food truck meet-up. I can’t not go. This week I was going to meet-up with fellow Weddingbee blogger Mrs Paisley, but she couldn’t make it. So, I tried to talk my co-worker into going again and she didn’t want to go… Didn’t want to go? It doesn’t compute. The trucks are there, you’re missing out! Anywhoodle, I went alone.

I knew the Seabirds truck was going to be there again and I wanted to try their Gluten Free (and soy free) Jerk Jackfruit Taco.

What is a Jackfruit? Don’t worry, I wondered the same thing. According to Seabirds' website:

"...jackfruit is a very large asian fruit. Its a funny looking thing, huge, prickly and green and grows from a tree’s trunk instead of its branches because it’s so heavy. Quite honestly, I have never tried a ripe jackfruit, so I couldn’t tell you what that tastes like. But we use green jackfruit (not fully ripened) and it is almost tasteless, which makes it a blank canvas to create our own flavor."

Source

Your probably wondering, so is it tasty? Yes, yes it is.


It almost had the consistency on chicken, but more plant like. Seabirds says, "flesh of the jackfruit closely resembles a pineapple in structure" and that really is the best way to describe it. However, it doesn’t taste anything like pineapple.

I really enjoyed these tacos and would totally recommend trying the Seabirds truck and the Jerk Jackfruit taco.

Another big reason I wanted to try the Seabirds truck is there philosophy. Seabirds’ is a completely organic and vegetarian truck. The produce they use is as local as they can find it. I love giving my business to a company with business practices I believe in. I wish more companies would make and effort to buy locally and organic.

Adventures in Dining Out: Crepes Bonaparte

This past Wednesday I headed over to the parking lot on the corner of Dupont and Teller for another Food Truck Brigade meet-up.

Wednesday was also the day I got my allergy test results back and I wasn’t quite sure if I was going to start my gluten free diet that day or not. Since I hadn’t eat yet, by the time lunch rolled around, I could start my new diet that day. However, I kinda wanted to cheat and start on Monday.

We walked around a checked out all the trucks that were there: Dan Dan BBQ, The Lime Truck, Barcelano On The Go, Dos Chinos, the same cupcake truck, a Chimichurri truck, and Crepes Bonaparte.


Crepes Bonaparte intrigued me the most and after I heard they made it pretty far on that Food Truck show (we don’t have cable so I never got to see it), I jumped on the bandwagon, so to speak, and hoped in line.

I felt a little guilty, but I figured I could start being Gluten Free on Thursday. That was until I read their menu…

I believe this was God’s was of saying, “Seriously Allison? Start today!” Sign taken, God. Thanks!

It wasn’t hard for me to decide what to order…


I’m on a serious Caprese salad kick right now and tomatoes are an “acceptable food”, YAY! Needless to say, I ordered the Caprese Savory Crepe. Gluten Free, of course.


They had a special: 1 Savory Crepe & 1 Nutella Crepe for $7.99, so I also ordered the Nutella Crepe in gluten free.


The problem with taking pictures of crepes is they are only mildly more exciting than a burrito. But tastier, if you ask me. It’s been awhile since I’ve had a crepe, but I really couldn’t tell they were gluten free.

My co-worker, Yolanda, and her husband also ordered from Crepes Bonaparte. Yolanda had the In Da Club (Bacon, Mozzarella, Avocado and tomato) without the tomato.


And her husband, Ruben, ordered the Southwestern Spice (Spicy Chipotle Chicken, Cheddar, Grilled Onion & Bell Pepper).


Yolanda wasn’t quite sure what to expect and was pleasantly surprised and, Ruben could not stop raving about his crepe.

I’ve never had bad service as a Food Truck and found Crepes Bonaparte to be especially friendly.


I love that they had uniforms and dressed the part with the hats and scarf/ties.


Next week I’m meeting a fellow Weddingbee blogger, Mrs Paisley, and I secretly hope Crepes Bonaparte is there again :)

Adventures in Dining Out: The Lime Truck

This morning on Twitter one of the people I follow (OCMexFood) Tweeted about something I’d only read as a rumor…


Food Truck Brigade!?!? A couple months ago I saw something about a bunch of Food Trucks that met up in a parking lot near my office, but I thought it was just a one time thing. Guys, this is a WEEKLY occurrence. WEEKLY! Every Wednesday from 11:30-2!

I was able to talk my co-worker, Yolanda, into checking out today. She’d never eaten from a food truck and my only experience was with the delicious Kogi BBQ months ago. We were nervous we’d drive over there and no-one would be there or it’s be crazy like the time I met the Kogi BBQ truck.


There were a total of eight trucks there: Seabirds, The Lime Truck, Barcelona On The Go, Komodo, Calbi, Dan Dan BBQ, a cupcake truck, and 1 other truck I didn’t catch the name of.


The location is perfect, most trucks were all around an area of tree cover in the abandoned parking lot.


And a few others were lined up just outside the tree cover.

Yolanda and I decided to eat at The Lime Truck because the line was a bit longer (so it looked popular), in the shade, they accepted credit cards and the menu looked appealing.


Waiting in line we got to see everyone else walk away with their food. This made us even more hungry… meaning we ordered too much food when we got the front of the line.


Yolanda ordered the Pork Flat Iron Steak and I ordered the Lamb Sandwich… together we shared the Carnitas Fries.


Prime Pork Steak with maple apples on a mashed potato pancake: Smelled delicious and according to Yolanda tasted just as good as it smelled.


Carnitas Fries with chipotle-honey cabbage: They look out of control and they are. These definitely required a fork, but OMG chipotle-honey cabbage is tasty. The perfect blend on sweet and spicy.

Lamb Sandwich with fresh tzatziki – The lamb was ground and mixed with a wonderful blend of spices that cooled off well with the fresh tzatziki.

I’m really excited to head back next Wednesday and try out a different truck. I’ve heard Dan Dan BBQ has kimchi and I’ve always wanted to try that :)

P.S. All these photos were taken with my camera phone, so sorry if they're kinda crappy... really not much different than my normal pics though :-/

Adventures in Dining Out: Kogi BBQ

About a year ago I saw a story about Kogi BBQ on the news. It told of a taco truck that drove from location to location in LA selling Korean BBQ in tacos. Um, YUM! They Tweeted their location and people would line up to eat their tasty tacos. So tasty, in fact, some people would wait in line for over an hour and not get any food because the truck was off to it's next location.

Source

I wanted to go! However, we were in the middle of planning our wedding and I was in school... there just wasn't time and then I forgot all out Kogi BBQ.

Last month, about a month after our wedding, I came out of the wedding fog and started following more foodies on Twitter and Food blogs and someone Tweeted about Kogi BBQ. When I started following them they were only in LA and North Orange County... just far enough away. However, a few weeks ago the got a new truck for South Orange County and started stopping close to my office. I watched their schedule online and noticed this past Friday they were going to be in Laguna Niguel. That is really close to our place!

Get to the part where you eat Korean BBQ! Okay, okay!

Last Friday the Hubs and I saved our appetites to meet Kogi BBQ, in front of a shady (as shady as Laguna Niguel can be) bar, near the Crown Valley exit of the 5 from 10:30pm-12pm.

We arrived at 10:15pm and there was already a line of about 50 people... as we started to wait that line tripled! Although the truck was late our nearly 1 1/2 hour wait was well worth it.

Here are your Kogi BBQ options:

The Hubs and I ordered 1 Korean Short Rib Burrito,

2 Kogi Sliders,

and 1 Korean Short Rib Taco.

Blurry and my favorite :)

If you'd like to read more about what Kogi BBQ is and how it got started, check out this LA Times article.