Lobsta!!!

Lobster + food truck = LobstaTruck. One of the latest gourmet style food trucks to roll out recently. Based on the crowds it looks like they are turning out to be a pretty popular truck, I mean it is lobster after all. I know they get their lobster flown in, just not sure from where, it's definitely fresh though. They have a simple menu, lobster rolls with butter or with mayo, crab rolls, chowder and a few sweets. The lobster roll is fairly straightforward, cooked lobster bathed in butter (mayo, just not my thing ever) on a lightly grilled/toasted roll. That's it. Its quite good and satisfying with sweet and succulent meat and the roll is quite tasty as well. I've had them twice now, both times, equally great. Since its seafood, you don't feel heavy after eating which is nice, but I did find myself getting hungry again sooner then later though. For the price, $11 or $9 for crab, its not something I can justify to eat at to often (is once a week to often?), makes for a nice indulgence though. My only real grumble is that it seemed to take a while to get my food, first time they were swamped, so I attributed it to that, but the second time there was no line and it still took a while. Maybe they steam/boil and cook to order? I'll have to ask next time, and yes there will be several next times. If you love the lobster, this is definitely a tasty way to get your fix and it's worth the wait.



You can find out more info about them on their site here or follow them on Twitter here.

The Best Fish Taco In Ensenada

Great little taco place in Los Feliz, The Best Fish Taco In Ensenada. Very simple and straight forward. You order fish or shrimp tacos. That's it. The fish and shrimp are lightly battered and quickly deep fried, the corn tortillas are warmed on the grill and the tacos are served naked. On their own, the shrimp and fish are really tender and sweet and with a crunch of the batter are pretty tasty. Where the tacos really shine is with the salsa bar. You dress em' up yourself. There are the basics like cream and shredded cabbage, but what is really great is that they make a bunch of different fresh salsas like mango spicy or mild, or guacamole style or my favorite, the radish salsa which is both a little spicy and tangy. You can load it up as much or little as you're feeling like.

Every time I've eaten here, its been really good. Always satisfying and surprisingly filling. You can't beat the prices either, $2 for shrimp and $1.50 for fish. Very affordable, fresh and tasty tacos. They have 3 locations. You can find more info on their web site.

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.

Ludo Truck!

"Look for the big red coq"

Finally, after many months, the Ludo Truck has arrived, or at least in a soft roll out schedule. Don't think they're doing a regular schedule just yet. For those who have had Ludo's cooking know why its a big deal for the truck to be out and about now. I found them parked on Melrose on a recent Saturday afternoon where a few other trucks have parked recently. I hope more trucks will continue to do so since its very convenient to me a lot of people, plus the city needs some new truck hot spots.

The menu consisted of 3 different chicken styles, slaw, fries, lavender biscuits and crème brûlée and a few other items. Plus they do specials, like a chicken sandwich on Breadbar bread, which I hear is really good. 

  

They have the menu set up in orders of two or three pieces of chicken, your choice, mix or match. I got a three piece order, with two of the Provencal Pepittes, infused with rosemary and herbs de provence and one piece chicken strip style which was buttermilk based and all white meat. Also got a side of the slaw and the honey lavender biscuits. You also get a choice of sauces for dipping. I got the chipotle ketchup bbq type of sauce.

The chicken was fantastic. Just like I remembered, but smaller of course. Super moist and flavorful, with a nice crunch. The seasoning is great, nice and savory. They looked like they are formed from dark meat, not ground, but molded. The chicken strip was terrific as well, great coating and crunch. Well seasoned and almost fluffy like. The slaw was good, but didn't seem that different then other spicy slaws. Not bad by any means, just a good slaw. The lavender biscuits with honey (bathed in it) were quite good. They had more of smell of lavender then taste or just a hint of it perhaps. With the honey though, they were really tasty regardless. More dense then flakey. Good way to finish of with something sweet after a nice savory, fried meal. Plan to try the crème brûlée next time though and there will be other times.

Its great, a food truck with the quality and unique styling of Chef Ludo at prices that are quite affordable. Another truck that raises the bar. I think its hard not to become a fan of him after you've tried his cooking. You can find more about the truck on their website here and follow them on twitter here.

Coconut M & M's - but there's no coconut...

Ok so this is not my usual thing to blog about, but somehow I could not not do it. Was at the gas station that had a mini mart. Noticed the white package of Coconut M & M's and thought, hey cool I'll try that. After dinner I opened them and split them with my wife (yah, I know, how fancy). We scarfed them down in no time. Admittedly they were pretty tasty. I mean its candied chocolate with coconut. My wife grabs the package and after a short pause says "but there's no coconut in the ingredients." So yah, there is no coconut in the coconut M & M's, but a lot of other non-food sounding items. Just had to share.

Tasty Balls @ Great Balls On Tires

Tried a fairly new truck recently over at the T-Lofts on the west side, Great Balls On Tires or G-BOT for short. Everything is ball based in both food and pun. They cover the range of quality meats and styles like, kobe beef, Korean beef, garam masala chicken, Vietnamese pork and Middle Eastern vegetarian. I've heard that the Incrediball is well incredible. I decided to try the Ballywood Balls for lunch.



These were really really good. Like lick the plate clean when no one is looking kinda good (come on you know you do). A lot of flavors going on. Made with garam masala chicken, coconut madras curry, over saffron rice, topped with crispy fried onions and both a tomato chutney and cilantro mint aioli on the side. Yah, all that for $5.50. Found it to be very satisfying on many levels. Wonderful rich masala flavors with the sauces and the crispy onions, really excellent. The rice was well done as well and complimented it all nicely. It was just enough to fill me up, yet wanting just a little more.



I'm definitely looking forward to trying them again and I could see them becoming a fast favorite. Hope they hit the west side more often. Definitely want to try out the Ball Mi Vietnamese pork balls. There is the Oddball and Guestball menu options for suggestions and guest chefs as well, which is a pretty cool idea.

You can find out more info about them on their website here and follow them on Twitter here.

Flying Pig Revisited

Just a quick post, trying to get caught up. Have several more posts coming.

Hadn't been to the Flying Pig in a little while. Looked like they had updated some of the items on the menu. I went with the Smoked Chicken Taco and the Crunchy Tofu Bun this time. Last time I had the Duck Taco and Pork Taco, both of which I liked.



The smoked chicken is hickory-smoked chicken thigh with mango slaw, honey-roasted peanuts,
and green curry aioli. Found this to be pretty good, not overly smokey in flavor, nice light pairing of taste and crunchy textures over all. The portions are on the smaller side, but satisfying.


The Crunchy Tofu Bun is deep-fried, marinated tofu with ‘quick’ kimchi, honey-roasted peanuts, and death sauce on a steamed bao bun. This was pretty tasty, although I should have eaten it first since parts of the tofu went a little soft by the time I got to it. Good amount of heat in the kimchi, not a lot of crunch per se. Didn't really get a sense that there were peanuts in it. Since there was a lot of bun, definitely filled me up.

You can find more info about Flying Pig here and you can follow them on Twitter here.