Recently in Rosemead Category

If you were at the first ever Food Truck Festival at Santa Anita Park as I was last month, you know how crazy busy they can get and how long one might have to wait just for a nibble of what is to be gourmet food truck fare.

I'll admit, I was expecting some wait, having been to a food truck festival a while back in Glendale. But this was different. First, the Santa Anita event was a weekend, unlike the festival I'd been to at the Americana was a weekday. A weekend event seems to draw more of a crowd. Second, there was a separate entrance fee to the festival area within the park unlike in Glendale, where it was all open and no extra fee aside from the food.

Web comments after the Santa Anita festival showed how frustrated event attendees were as they waited hours at just one food truck. I arrived with my friends about an hour after the festival began and already could see at least 50 people at each line. Some trucks were already shut down by that time. Lines were intertwining with other lines making it confusing to find an end to one.

A friend and I found the shortest line at the Knockout Tacos Truck, which serves tacos inspired by various global cuisines.

Our other group of friends waited about 30 minutes at the beer garden as well, where the selections weren't much to be desired but still better than the typical domestic or imports you find at the local dive.

Luckily for me, the KO Taco truck was next to the soundstage and I was entertained by the Spazmatics as I waited, mostly alone. My friends gave up and went to get hot dogs and popcorn from the park concession stands and place a few bets on some races. I hung in, even though there were a few times I also gave up. Every once in a while, the girl taking taco orders would come out and cover up another item on the menu that is sold out. I wondered if it would even be worth waiting all that time - almost three hours - for a few tacos or maybe none at all, if they ran out before I got up to the front of the line.

I hung in considering I hadn't ever heard of this food truck before and didn't know if these tacos were any good. I got three behind and I could still see four kinds of tacos on the menu - taco dorado con carne (shredded beef taco in a fried, crunchy tortilla shell); jalapeno teriyaki chicken taco with marinated cucumber and roasted jalapenos; bbq pork burnt ends taco with baked beans and southern style cole slaw; and the taco de papas, or spiced yukon gold mashed potatoes with lettuce, salsa, pico de gallo, cheese and crema mexicana, a Mexican-style cream.


Finally, I reached the end and these taco items were still available - "two of each please," I said with a slight hesitation. I wasn't sure if there would be enough to order two of each or if something changed last minute and nothing was available. They were and at $2.50 to $3.50 each, and hours later - I was holding a lot of expectations for these tacos.

As hungry as I was by the time I got the tacos - 10 minutes later - I did share them with friends who still had room after hot dogs.
We all agreed the jalapeno teriyaki had moist pieces of chicken and a great cucumber topping, almost like a slaw, with a nice cool spiciness to it. No one else seemed to share the same love and enthusiasm I had for the potato tacos though but they were my favorite. The potatoes were creamy and had a great spicy salsa flavor mashed right in. It was also topped with lots of grated cheese, I can never have enough cheese.


The bbq burnt end taco was also tasty but I was expecting a little more burnt end pieces with a crunchiness where it was more of cubed pork pieces.

The Lobster Truck still had a line as the festival winded down, though smaller, and I was tempted to give it a try. That was one of the trucks we wanted to try first.
Instead I settled for some dessert at Tapa Boy, a Filipino food truck. I had the fried flan pieces. My friend visited the Chunk N' Chip truck for a warm chocolate chip cookie and cool mint ice cream sandwich.

After our experience at two different truck festivals, we decided to just stick to following certain food trucks as they come to the area, one truck at a time. But with the city of Rosemead's Munch for the Memorial food truck festival this weekend - Saturday and Sunday - and the appearance of the Grill 'Em All truck, the winners of the Food Network's first The Great Food Truck Race, I can't say never just yet.

Even after hearing of the Grill 'Em All truck coming to the San Gabriel Valley, I couldn't help but take advantage of their recent President's Day lunch stop in Echo Park. I happened to be off as well and my husband and I decided for some burger lunch.

We watched the Food Network reality competition show so we're already aware of some of the burgers the truck featured including the Behemoth - a nice grilled burger patty, cheddar, bacon, beer soaked onions, pickles, Grandma's mosh pit bbq, sandwiched between two grilled cheese sandwich buns. I think the name says it all.

My husband decided to take on the Behemoth while I wanted to Waste 'em All - burger with green chilies, beer soaked onions and pepper jack. Fries are nice and crunchy and come with your choice of sauce - garlic aioli, Grandma's mosh pit bbq, malt vinegar aioli, chipotle ketchup, ketchup or blue cheese.

We tried the bbq and chipotle ketchup. Both pretty delicious. My favorite thing about the burgers were we could tell it was quality ground beef, very tasty, and the patties were not small by any means. Mine was even a little medium rare - I love medium rare!

If you don't mind the festival crowd, check out Grill 'Em All and more than 15 more food trucks including Tapa Boy, Sweets Truck, Dosa Truck, Jose O'Malleys and more from 12:30 to 7:30 p.m. on Feb. 26 and from 11:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. on Feb. 27 at the UFC Gym parking lot, 8920 Glendon Way, Rosemead.

The festival is being held to benefit the city's September 11 Memorial. Admission is free and a limited number of 'Cut to the Front' passes will be sold at $20 for each truck on each day. For more information, visit www.cityofrosemead.org, www.facebook.com/rosemeadca or www.grillemalltruck.com .

 

Dining on a budget - by Emma Gallegos

By the time you read this review of the food on the Kogi BBQ truck, it will be obsolete.

At this moment in time, it's safe to say the truck serves Korean fusion cuisine at rock-bottom prices to snaking lines of foodies who follow the truck on the web from the Venice to Rosemead. But it's hard to keep pace.

The little taco truck that sets out into the night a-Twitterin' is gaining steam in an economy that's grinding to a halt.

When I visited the truck first a mere two weeks ago, it was a simpler time - the truck was charging a tax-free $2 for its tacos. The Kogi crew was ironing out the kinks in the second taco truck they had just launched.

And it had only been last Thanksgiving that the first taco truck made its failed inaugural round on the streets of LA. On that first night, the crew slashed prices, they pleaded and offered the tacos for free but barhoppers stumbling out onto the curb refused to give the Korean fusion tacos a try.

Saying the tides had turned for Kogi BBQ would be an understatement.

A week after my first taste test, Kogi BBQ was paying taxes, employing a staff of 25 and they had made the transition to selling tacos in a brick-and-mortar joint - Alibi in Culver City - in addition to the two roving trucks. Chef Roy Choi added taro and lotus chips and Korean-spiced french fries to the menu, rendering my initial taste test obsolete.

As I was finishing up this column, the Kogi BBQ bloggiste Alice Shin posted that they've hired a pastry chef to make ice cream sandwiches with ingredients that run the gamut from oreos to beer.

I'd like to review those, but I did manage to try a couple Kogi originals and one of the specials. I tried the tofu taco ($2), a Korean short rib taco ($2) and kimchi-filled quesadillas ($4).

I hope I'm not cresting on a wave of hype, but I was sold. The food was fresh and hot and flavorful. Normally, that would be enough for $2.

But the cabbage and lettuce was fried with toasted sesame oil - unwilted with just enough crunch. Both tacos had a spicy red sauce and a tangy vinaigrette. The tofu was tasty, but short ribs were something else entirely: tender, sweet, rich - almost like a savory caramel. The kimchi quesadillas were fiery and drizzled with a rich red sauce and sprinkled with sesame seeds.

Kogi has become its own beast - its head chef Choi will admit as much. It's spawned its own culture - Kogi Kulture - through blogs and music and the crowd that gathers to greet the truck at its stops and wait long into the night. It's not for everyone.

Initial crowds skewed toward the young, the patient, the tech-savvy. They are an army of foodies armed with cameras, taking pictures of food, taking pictures of people waiting for food and self-consciously discussing the insanity of this venture with strangers. They bring friends, too, and sometimes lawn chairs and DJs. They wait. They make it a night. Only $2 a pop - plus tax.

Kogi typically docks in the parking lot of the Glendon Hotel in Rosemead Saturday nights around 6. But! Sometimes they don't. To find the roving Kogi BBQ truck's location, log on to www.KogiBBQ.com. For precise, up-to-the-minute information follow them on Twitter @KogiBBQ .

By Emma Gallegos

I was initially interested in Chinese Muslim food as a curiosity. I knew there was a sizeable population of Muslims in China (China stretching pretty far west and the Islamic empire stretching pretty far east at one point), but I had no idea what they ate.

If China Islamic Restaurant in Rosemead is any indication, the answer is that they mostly eat the same things other Chinese eat but with a few restrictions.

The menu here doesn't look a whole lot different than most Chinese restaurants. There are all the usual Chinese staples: wontons, egg rolls and dumplings.

But if you order moo shu, it's going to have shrimp or beef or anything but pork. Pork is off-limits, and the meat is halal. You won't find alcohol on the menu either, but that's true at a lot of Chinese restaurants anyway.

There was beef and chicken and a healthy selection of tofu dishes (vegetarian friends won't be left wanting) and quite a few fish and shrimp dishes, but I came here for the lamb.

I was glad to see lamb celebrated in its own section of the menu: lamb in chili sauce, Beijing-style lamb, moo-shu lamb, curry lamb and, my ultimate choice, lamb in sa cha sauce ($10.95).

 

I would never have guessed how well the thick, brown, slightly sweet, slightly spicy sauce - a kind of barbeque sauce, really - would work with lamb. Lamb is finicky - it has that distinctive, almost gamey taste that doesn't necessarily work with whatever sauce you throw on it - it doesn't taste just like chicken.

Most of the lamb I've eaten has been mostly unadorned with the exception of some pepper, onions and garlic. It tastes good roasted in its own fatty juices or as part of a bland stew.

But with sa cha sauce? I hadn't ever thought of smothering lamb with any kind of barbeque sauce. Sa cha sauce also doesn't play well with others, and it tends to take over the dish. Somehow the two on a bed of tender, wilted bok choy come together in a kind of meeting of the minds. The flavors remain distinct but they play off of each other nicely.

The pickled cucumber ($2.50) is the obvious side dish. The vinegar and chili-drenched cucumbers were what coleslaw is to barbequed pork (if the halal-minded don't mind the slightly irreverent comparison): the right combination of light and rich, sweet and sour.

I had some Szechuan kim chi ($1.75), too, but you should skip that. They were just huge hunks of raw cabbage drizzled with some vinegar and hot sauce. It was similar to the pickled cucumbers, except the latter were chopped up into smaller bits that better absorbed the flavor.

Tip included, I spent about $20. Budget dining, it wasn't, but I did it all wrong. I went alone, and, as at most sit-down Chinese restaurants, that was a mistake.

Most of the main dishes are around $11 and serve two to four people. Bring some friends, order more dishes, heat up the leftovers for lunch the next day (making your co-workers insanely jealous) and you shouldn't stray too far from $10.

I'm already plotting round two. Having already tried the Chinese Islamic version of barbeque, I'm ready to try the Chinese Islamic version of another American Southern specialty: ox-tail soup.

China Islamic Restaurant is at 7727 E. Garvey Ave., Rosemead. For more information, call (626) 288-4246 or visit www.chinaislamic.com .