Summer in November @Willoughby Road

The last couple of days it's been summer in November here in L.A. Heard it hit/almost hit a 100 degrees on Wednesday....in November! Needed to escape the heat and grab some lunch, so Miss Absinthe and I promptly went down to Wilshire near LACMA to find a food truck for lunch, in the heat (yah I know). Found a convenient metered parking spot and then realized it had a nice big flashing FAIL on it and wasn't sure if it's still legal or not to park at a failed meter. As we were discussing it, a bicycle officer, who noticed our confusion, rode over and told us, "You're ok to park there for 2 hours, no worries". Thought that was pretty cool and nice to let us know like that, especially considering last time I got pinched for not paying attention to the signs. This seemed to make up for it, well kinda sorta. Barely out of the car, hot, but off to a good start.



Lots of trucks parked out on Wilshire has become the norm, plenty of options. Came across the Willoughby Road Food Truck, "classic southern cuisine re-defined." What's great to eat on a hot summer like day in the fall? Fried chicken! Twice fried chicken and grilled watermelon with a generous side of mac n cheese.



First off, generous sized portions of chicken (we took one piece home and finished it off a couple of hours later). The chicken is twice fried, with one layer of coating being a tempura type of batter. There's a lot of crunch and flavor going on, a good savory coating. The meat was really tender and juicy. They pour a Harrisa glaze (North African spice) on the chicken which adds this spicy, but sweet quality. I didn't know that when I ordered, even though I enjoyed the extra level of flavor it added, I would have preferred it on the side to add as needed or maybe just a little less. That being said, it was still really great. The cut of the chicken is a little odd, kind of block like, but easy to handle. Not your regular cuts of leg, breast, thigh etc. The grilled watermelon, wow, these were great, almost steals the show. The grilling process seemed to have tenderized the watermelon and with a bit of that grill flavor and a touch of salt, mmmm, just a great way to finish off the meal. The mac n cheese was good, but not necessarily a stand out in comparison to the flavor/seasoning of the fried chicken or the watermelon.



It really was a sweltering day out and I know the chefs were definitely cooking themselves in the process. So a big thanks for making a great meal on such a hot day. Definitely recommend checking them out and I know I'll hit them up again as well. You can follow them on Twitter here and find more info about them on their site here.