[Updated] Kogi BBQ

[Update]: Thank you so much to Aliiiiiiice for the feedback! Review stands corrected ;) btw I had to go again today for another taste @ the LA Mart lunch time stop.

(Pictured above: ‘Verde’ truck setting up shop in Hancock Park)
All around LA
http://kogibbq.com


How do I find this thing again?

If you haven’t heard of the Kogi Taco truck, here’s the short history: the ‘Kogi’ taco is a taco which is made with Korean BBQ meats such as short ribs and chicken, served with ‘slaw’ and spicy sauce. It's a fusion of Korean and Mexican food at it's finest. They began selling tacos at the Alibi Room and then expanded around LA in taco trucks, and after taking some time to catch on in popularity, now have (at the current time) three trucks, Roja, Verde, and the latest Azul. These three travel around LA serving up their tacos to hungry and waiting customers. And boy do the customers wait. As in hours. And hours. At some locations, you’re lucky to get food if you show up 90 minutes before their closing time, its that ridiculous. Why would people do this? Well for one, the tacos are great. However, they’ve created an interesting appeal in that the trucks are never in the same location day in and day out -- the locations for the trucks are posted on their twitter feed (http://twitter.com/kogibbq). You can, however, cheat and check their website, which they update weekly, but that takes the fun out of it. Alice maintains both and runs them efficiently and keeps them well up to date. So then -- its hard to find, the lines are long, and its a taco truck -- what’s the big f’n deal? The taco.

Meat
The meats are an original and inspired choice. There have been variants of the meats and locations claiming to have ‘invented’ the Korean BBQ taco (I won’t name them to help them in any way, but I’ve had them and they’re awful). However, the Kogi taco is where it’s at. Tender and flavorful short rib meat that's been marinated perfectly, juicy and slightly spicy BBQ pork, and although I didn’t have it myself, I have it on good word that the chicken is damn good as well and worthy of being lusted over. (There's also a tofu option, however I can't vouch for it. Anyone had it???)

Short Rib - 10/10
BBQ Pork - 9/10
Chicken - 9/10
Score: 9.66/10, for originality and how damned good they are…

Tortilla
Plain and basic, and not greasy nor overly toasty. Just right.
[Update] The tortillas are fresh and hand-made every day from Romero's. I've also got it on good word to ask for the tortilla 'raw' to experience a whole different taste, heh ;)
Score: 8/10, for doing it right with Romero's fresh tortillas, but next time I'll have to ask for them 'raw'....

Toppings
Toppings are interesting with the ‘slaw’ on the taco that’s comprised mainly of cabbage and a bit of pickled onion. Tasty and complimentary, its matches the meats well. There’s also a sauce which varies based on your meat, and is slightly spicy, but not terrible at all. I did find it particularly helpful though to toss some Sriracha onto the taco (which they provide at the truck).
Score: 10/10, memorable and perfectly complementary...

"After-effects"
None, except for the itch for more Kogi.
Score: 10/10 for making me want it again unlike any taco before...


Bottom line, The prices aren’t the cheapest, and depending on the location/time, the wait times can be utterly ridiculous, but if you can make it out to one, its more than worth your time. Get to a truck as soon as they’re opening, and check up on their status on Twitter (the trucks run late sometimes and updates are provided there). They will also occasionally have a “chef’s special” for dessert or entreés, such as sliders or quesadillas, etc., but you’re really going for the taco. You may find competitors or imitators serving up this style taco, but you’re kidding yourself if you think you’re getting the same deal anywhere else.


Bonus Points: (0) None =( A ‘Mexi-Coke’ would go great with it, alas only cans of soda, and none from across the border...
Price: $2 / taco, $5 / burrito, $1.50 / drink (I suggest you get drinks elsewhere)
Wait time: 5-90 minutes
Distance (from downtown): Varying on the day and location, anywhere from 5-60 minutes
Total Score: 35.66/40 , and this is just about right, all things considered, including its elusiveness and the fact that you have to plan your day around it to get it.
What I would order next time: 2&2 of short rib and BBQ pork with plenty of Sriracha :)

El Parian

(Pictured Right: Tacos de Asada, Carnitas and Birria with bowl of chips)

1528 W Pico Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90015
(213) 386-7361

Open 8a-10p daily
Downtown Tacos!

I got it on good word that I needed to try the tacos here, so I rushed over on my lunch hour to try out the tacos where you can see both Diego Rivera prints and George Washington in Masonic regalia on the walls.

Significantly easier than I thought it would be to find, this place is a perfect example of a hole-in-the-wall. From the street, it doesn't even look like its open. Parking is plenty in the rear though, as it shares a lot with the adjoining businesses. The lunch time crowd was pretty diverse, ranging from locals to what appeared to be an office gathering from nearby USC. The main thing you'll notice is that the kitchen is right at the front door -- no missing out on any of the good stuff!

Friendly staff waited on us, and promptly brought out chips and salsa. Salsa was good, and chips were typical of what you would get with cheese nachos. The salsa was just a little spicy, but very tasty. Jarritos are on the menu! I went for piña this time around.

There are only three meats on the menu here - asada, carnitas and birria. We each got one taco of each meat and dove in from there!

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Meat

The thing you'll notice straight away is the sheer amount of meat on the tacos. There was easily enough meat on each one for two tacos, which should be taken into consideration. These tacos are good-sized tacos as well, bigger than what you'll normally find, so unless you're feeling particularly starved, you will be good with either 2 or 3 tacos total.

First meat up was the asada, which was pretty good. It was extremely tender which is a sign of excellent cooking, however it suffered from a lack of flavor. Not that it was terrible by any means, but it certainly wasn't something to write home about. Slightly above average though, really.

Next were the carnitas, and oh mannnn was I in hog heaven (haha)! Super-tender, they melted with each bite, which is hard to do for such a stringy meat. My only suggestion, which is very slight, is that I wouldn't mind if the meat had been just a little less salty. If not for that, they would have been absolutely perfect, and rivaled anything I've tasted in Mexico. For those that prefer their carnitas saltier than the typical, this may be your spot to go, but in my opinion, they could've done with slightly less.

Last was the birria, and here I was conflicted and ultimately disappointed. My first bite left me quite puzzled, as the meat was just lacking flavor. As in, there was nothing to it. It was very noticeable that this meat lacks the salsa which is typically served with birria. For the uninitiated, birria is goat meat, and man...it was soft, which is a GREAT sign of cooking the meat well, but I just found nothing in the taco that did it for me. By the second bite, I stopped eating the taco and left it on my plate. I felt as though I were eating meat just to eat at that point. Perhaps with the salsa the birria would have been better, but for now, I just saw no point in eating this particular taco.

Asada: 8/10
Carnitas: 9/10
Birria: 6/10

Score: 7.5/10, which after consideration, is really just about right.

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Tortilla

Tortillas were pretty damn good, actually. Hand made as well (why can't more places do this), they were heavy on the corn, which is much more authentic to the traditional style. Downside to this though, was that they fell apart easily, which happens to be a pet peeve of mine. They also double-bagged the tacos (2 tortillas to each taco), which made them thicker, and lends itself perfectly to forming 2 tacos out of 1. If you don't split the taco, there's so much meat in there that its bound to fall apart and get messy.

Score: 8.5/10, for falling apart too easily =(

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Toppings

The topping here was a welcome change of pace, with "pico de gallo", which is diced tomatoes, onion, salt, pepper and cilantro, and depending on the recipe, will incorporate some sort of spice or jalapeño. Here, it was a good complement, although I would've liked to have had more put on each taco, as the pico was pretty tasty. The one knock I had against it was that it didn't taste very fresh or cool, which leads me to believe that large batches are made early in the morning and sit in the kitchen instead of a fridge, allowing it to warm up, which sucks for salsa. Ask for extra if you care for a good amount of salsa on the taco. We ended up dumping some of the chip salsa on the tacos to make up for lack of pico de gallo.

Score: 7/10

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"After-effects"

I went away pretty pleasantly satisfied, but due to the large amount of meat in each taco, I felt a bit bloated, but only because of the amount I ate. I wasn't expecting that much in each taco, so after ordering 3, I felt fine, just slightly heavy from the mass of food sitting in my stomach.

Score: 9/10, just as a personal experience to remember next time to only eat 2.

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Bottom line, is that perhaps I shouldn't have listened to the hype as much, because that may be what's leading me to undervalue the tacos here. Granted, I'm not dissatisfied, but I also can't help the feeling inside of me that the tacos could have been much better with a few slight changes, or that maybe I caught it at a wrong time. I was a bit annoyed that I found myself constantly reaching over for more and more napkins, quickly making a mess on my plate. Either way, I'll emphasize that they were NOT bad, but only that I was expecting a bit more. From now on, no more buying into hype -- it only taints my experience which I'm trying to make as completely objective as possible for anyone else reading.

Bonus Points: (+1) For having every flavor of Jarritos available to order!
Price: $2.75 / taco, $1.75 for bottle of Jarritos
Wait time: 10-15 minutes
Distance (from downtown): 5-10 minutes by street from anywhere in downtown, depending on traffic

Total Score: 32/40

What I would order next time: One and one of asada and carnitas, with EXTRA pico de gallo!


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Super Tacos Culiacan

(Pictured Left: Taco de Cabeza along with a bottle of Jarritos of the Toronja, or grapefruit, flavor)

8505 Rosecrans Ave, Paramount, CA 90723
562-531-7088

9a-9p, except Sundays which are 9a-7p
Our first review!

The journey begins in the city of Paramount, just West of the intersection for the 605 and 105 freeways.

This humble hole-in-the-wall with friendly and bilingual staff is located in a shopping center on the corner of the intersection. Parking is CRAMPED and difficult to say the least. It wasn't hard though finding the restaurant coming from the highway.

The entire "venue" has seating for about 12 people, and you'll be greeted by the staff who will take your order before you are seated. The menu covers standard fare such as tacos, burritos, and tamales which we were told are definitely worth having. Perhaps next time...

There were no 'carnitas' available at this location, and the chicken was not on the menu today, so we instead added 'cabeza' to the order to judge.

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Meat

We were pleasantly surprised in all of the meats in that they were very lean with only trace amounts of fat to be found anywhere, which is always a great sign on a taco (the less grizzle, the better). It's impossible to get all of the fat off the meat due to the manner that taco meats are prepared, so the fact that they were not greasy or fatty was certainly a highlight.

The al pastor/adobada lacked flavor. It wasn't terrible by any means, but certainly nothing to order again. In what seemed to be their attempt to have a subtle taste to the meat, it left me wanting more. At the same time, being disappointed by the al pastor/adobada which was underwhelming made me that much more pleased with the the asada. This meat tasted just like freshly cooked steak at a barbeque. The asada was tender, flavorful, and reminded me of so many summers past, relaxing in a backyard somewhere while getting meat cooked on the spot with family. Definitely a winner.

The take-home from this place though was certainly the 'cabeza'. If done wrong, cabeza can come out fatty and salty. Whoever crafted this fine meat, however, knew what they were doing. The flavor was just right; In this case, subtlety working out in its favor, as proper cabeza should. The texture was perfection, with every additional bite letting more meat melt once it hits your tongue. If you are a fan, this is THE place to head! I dare say it was the best taco on our plate overall.

Al Pastor: 5/10
Asada: 9/10
Cabeza: 10/10

Score: 8/10, both for the chicken being off the menu at the time we went, and the drastically disappointing al pastor, especially when compared to the other excellent meats.

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Tortilla

Most places will use store-bought tortillas, which are noticeably older and lower quality than hand-made. Here, they made no bones about their tortillas being fresh and hand-made, which were the main reason we waited a few minutes for our food even with only one other person in the restaurant.

The tortillas had zero trace of grease or lard on them, so we appreciated that greatly. They were doughy enough to have substance, and without falling into pieces at the mere sight of the meat. After eating so many tacos, when you have them somewhere where 'oil' is not a main ingredient, its as welcome a reprieve as you'll get.

Score: 9/10. They were just about as good as it gets, although not quite "perfect".

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Toppings

These were simple and expected, consisting of diced onions and cilantro. Not being a fan of the red/green sauces that are normally used, I was very pleased with their offering. I would have no qualms recommending these sauces to others who typically disdain the sauces as well, since these were nowhere near being overwhelming, and did their job -- they added some kick to the food without killing all of the flavor.

The green sauce was especially pleasing, since it added flavor to each bite instead of scorching your mouth. The red was a bit too salty, although still tasty. They also used the sauces appropriately, with the different flavors on different types of meat. This is the sign of a cook that cares about the food they're providing and its taste, not one that rushes out plates to fill another order. There was also the "sides" cart in the seating area which had sliced radishes, pickled onion strings and carrots, which I was told were quite tasty.

Score: 9/10

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"After-effects"

VERY happy that I went home being satisfied without the feeling of food swelling in my stomach, or the hot sauce eating away at my linings. I did feel a slight bit of heartburn and could even go for a Tums right now, but this nothing out of the ordinary as eating anywhere where food is served with some spice to it. In general, reviews on after-effects should be scored highly. This section will only ever outline strange occurrences....

Score: 9/10, if only because I wouldn't turn down a Pepcid AC at this point, but don't need to go out of my way for one.

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Bottom line, this place makes a great taco. The fact that its lined by other stores such as a check cashing store, donuts and a nail salon only adds to the stereotype of it being one of the many excellent, hidden taco spots in LA. The wait wasn't long or terrible by any stretch of the imagination, and was that much more satisfying when we saw our tortillas being made on request. Being a tiny place though, there is no accessible restroom for the clientele. Surrounding area is so-so, but not dangerous in any sense. For what it's worth, it also received an 'A' on the city's health department ratings.

Bonus Points: (+1) For having sodas in bottles imported from Mexico, including all flavors of Jarritos to accompany your meal!
Price: $1.50 / taco, $1.50 for bottle of Jarritos
Wait time: 10-15 minutes
Distance (from downtown): 20-30 minutes by freeway, depending on traffic

Total Score: 36/40

We will eat here again!


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