Kogi BBQ taco truck (Westwood, Hollywood and beyond)

I heard something interesting today from an entrepreneurial guru. He said that although the national economy may be in shambles, Silicon Valley isn't going down with it. That's because innovation is the entrepreneur's strong suit. They roll with the punches far better than the big three in Michigan, and besides that, they're attuned to what people want.

So when I caught word that a taco truck was going around the town packing Korean BBQ meat into tortillas and keeping customers in tow via Twitter, I thought, cool. That's entrepreneurship for you. It's a brilliant use of new media; letting people know things like your exact location ("Running a bit late. Be at UCLA by 8:30"), what the day's specials are ("sesame leaf vegan taco with asian pear and pomegranite"), and simply maintaining an open flow of communication with customers ("Thanks for waiting, The line was crazy last night!") Check out their Twitters here.


I tried each of the five tacos a la Korea available tonight: 1) short rib, 2) spicy pork, 3) chicken, 4) tofu, and 5) their special vegan mix wrapped in a sesame leaf the size of a large man's hand. At $2 a pop, they made for a tasty and unbelievably filling meal. My favorite was the spicy pork which got me a little sniffly (though I'm weak-sauce). They all run on the tangy-saucy side with the chicken being a tad sweet, but on a cold night out of a Hollywood club I can't imagine anything better than this.

special of the day: Vegan taco

One thing not listed on the menu is their Korean BBQ slider. Didn't try it but it's definitely on my list for next time.

In the News:

Jonathan Gold's take on the Kogi craze here.

KyoChon Chicken @Koreatown

"Yes, we sprinkle our chicken with crack!" That's what I expected the good people at KyoChon Chicken to say... well, if any of them actually spoke English. Mikey tried this Korea-based chain a few weeks earlier and couldn't stop thinking about it. It was mainly the garlic-infused batter that hooked him. It gives you stinky-breath and lingers on your fingers for hours, but completely worth it, he said.

The restaurant runs a modest operation in a strip mall on 6th St. in the heart of Koreatown. The entire place fits no more than 20, but even if you get a seat bring your Nintendo DS because you'll be waiting a while. They abide by a slow-cook method where they deep-fry the chicken, remove and cool down, then deep-fry again. What results is a savory piece of chicken wrapped around crispy-thin skin. They don't tell you what's in the batter except for soy sauce, garlic "and 20 different ingredients" but there's got to be something illicit in there. Meth?

We ordered the $15.99 KyoChon whole chicken, which must have been hard to wrangle from the farm because it took them a good 30 minutes to bring it out. Next to us, a couple of punk kids were crying out their lungs and two girls seated after us had already gotten their order. Were we supposed to know the secret password? No matter. Every order comes with a basket of pickled white radish which held us over ... for a good 5 minutes until we darted the evil eye at the prepubescent waiter. Still not quite sure he spoke English or not.

The whole chicken is actually chopped up into bite-sized chunks, bone and all. We dug right in and didn't stop until the basket was empty. The rest of their menu of miscellaneous chicken parts looked pretty good, too: soy/garlic seasoned wings, legs, hot wings. They also throw chicken bulgogi, cheese sticks, French fries, and spicy chicken and rice cakes onto the menu, but I think that's just for the sake of variety. This is obviously a fried chicken joint. It'd be like ordering a salad at a steak house.

KyoChon Chicken
3833 W. 6th St.
LA, CA 90020
(213) 739-9292

NY Times raves about Korean chicken here.

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In other news...

• Local blogger Himawari talks about Japanese candy here.

• Who invented the California Roll? Some guy in California, of course!

• Back in May, 110 of Japan's most sunbaked-ladies, a.k.a. gyaru, took to the streets of Tokyo to promote carrying one's own pair of chopsticks around whenever you eat out. What the heck?~! Yeah, well, basically, China recently imposed a tax on wooden chopsticks to help curb deforestation. Japan loves passing out chopsticks whenever they can, but now that generosity will have to stop. So after a hedonistic night of clubbing, these lovely ladies were rounded up to compel others to become better citizens of the Earth. You know you want to see this.