Saturday, we headed down to Venice to have brunch at a restaurant I’ve been wanting to try. We thought we were being smart by going late in the afternoon to miss the rush of the brunch crowd, but we underestimated the popularity of this particular place; they said they couldn’t seat us for at least an hour! We decided to walk around the block, and came across the Kogi truck at one of its usual spots, outside of The Brig. Believe it or not, we had never tried any of the food trucks before, so we decided to skip the nice brunch and try the infamous Korean-Mexican fusion treats that inspired an entire mobile food movement.
The infamous Kogi truck
Kogi dog ($5)
Kogi dog cross section
Kogi sliders ($5)
Spicy pork & short rib tacos ($2/each)
Spicy pork taco cross section
Final thoughts? It was good – our favorites of the bunch were the sliders. Was it as amazing as all of the hype would lead you to believe? Not really. Honestly, once you have the flavors for the kalbi and dwejikalbi down, you’re more than halfway there, which means that I think most Korean people (or even anyone with access to a Korean market) could make these at home pretty easily without the frustration of waiting in line or of having the truck run out of something you wanted to order – I’m looking at you, kimchi quesadilla!
We caught the tail end of their service because they had to go to a private catering event. They announced every few minutes that they would not be able to get to everyone, but would do their best. As they started to close up shop, we saw an unhappy girl march up to the window and throw a small fit about how she follows them ALL OVER and never manages to get any food – she even stomped away! I also overheard a latecomer offer to buy a couple’s food (they declined because they said it was their first time). Now, I really don’t think it’s worth all that, but I can definitely see it being a very welcome post-drinking snack to stumble on outside of a bar. Just as long as there’s no long line, of course!
