Kogi Korean BBQ truck

That catering truck was out of Anaheim. If they don't have a license, somebody with the truck did.



Across the parking lot is the massage place with the lady who fixed my back last time I hurt myself. My wife was disaponted to find she doesn't work there anymore becasue she was doing some, uh, "extra" work if you asked for it.



The food was good. Bring a flashlight so you can see the menu. Your phone will work fine.



The tortillas were interesting.
 
[quote author="reason" date=1249825456]Pssst!! Was Look4ahouse there? haha!</blockquote>


If he was, I'd of bought him lunch for saying hi. His loss.
 
Just got back home. No, it didn't take four hours to get the food, might have made an, umm --- post taco pit stop on the way home. Don't know who's idea it was to put that damn BJ's right on the way home, but it was brilliant on their part.



Anyway, the grub was great at Koji''s. I stuck to the basics and got two of short rib tacos, but probably could have eaten 8 of those things. The guy I was with got about 10 tacos just for himself ---- and he finished those before I could get through my two. And I had to hold him back from jumping into the line again. So I think he liked it, too. We got a chance to chat with "Eric" who was apparentely the head(?) of the Koji marketing plan in OC, and he gave us the lowdown on their big plans in OC. Actually, he came over and chatted us up out of nowhere, because I'm pretty sure we were the only dudes over 21 years old there, and probably the only ones who knew what "marketing" meant. Anyway, sounds like they are planning to go big in OC --- so if you missed out tonight don't worry, you'll be seeing much more of Koji in the near future.
 
[quote author="no_vaseline" date=1249825268]That catering truck was out of Anaheim. If they don't have a license, somebody with the truck did.</blockquote>


It was definitely not their truck. The "Kogi" sign they taped up to the back fell down when we were there. Plus, the menu on the outside of the truck said it was "AA Catering" and the menu was a mile long and no kimchi or spicy could be found on said menu.



<blockquote>Across the parking lot is the massage place with the lady who fixed my back last time I hurt myself. My wife was disaponted to find she doesn't work there anymore becasue she was doing some, uh, "extra" work if you asked for it.</blockquote>


Heh... I asked Cayci if she wanted to bet that they give "happy endings" there. She said... eh... no bet, I wouldn't doubt it. They were hanging outside the door hoping to find some new customers. I think a couple of regulars showed up but didn't want to be embarrassed by the crowd. Two separate older gentlemen pulled in and when they saw the crowd and were told they couldn't park there, they left and never got in line... DOH! Gotta go down the street to the one next to Bestbuy.
 
First: Damn it! We missed BK and Grace by <em>this much</em>. And had we known that CK would be willing to leave the confines of Irvine to hang with some "haters" we might have stuck around. Especially if his special guest was the notorious West Irvine beer thief. I would have had some fun picking on him with his massive amount of tacos he got.



But anyway, we got there a little after 7, maybe 7:30, (Cayci might be able to confirm the time since she timed when we got there to when we ordered our food), and we were freakin S T A R V I N G! The truck wasn't open yet, so Cayci went across the street to Blockbuster to rent the first three DVDs of season 1 of Mad Men. When she got back she counted roughly (and her math nerd like minded "roughly" has a margin of error of 0.01%) 42 people ahead of us. It took a full hour before we ordered our food, but only 10-15 minutes to get it after the order. Funny story, so we watch these three 1.0s/1.5s that were behind us to order food as we are waiting to pick up our food. They are sitting there playing on their fobby mini-computers they bought at Zions market, and they are so f'ing into there game/texting that they are oblivious that the line in front of them have all ordered their food. Finally... someone comes up and asks are they there to order food or just sit there and play around all night... because all these people behind you are hungry and want to order food. They get up and look confused (stoned), and figure out what is going on and take their sweet time finishing their game/text novella before they actually figure out what and how to order food. BK and Grace can thank them for stalling the line and for the cooks to be able to catch up a bit. The waiting for food line shrank a lot in this time.



The food: We got a BlackJack quesadilla, a kimchi quesadilla, three short rib tacos, and three spicy pork tacos. The kimchi quesadilla was surprisingly very good, I'd recommend it just as something different alone, but I'd get it again too. The BlackJack quesadilla was awesome with the yummy cilantro sauce they topped it with. Both Cayci and I would get that again in heartbeat. We mixed up the tacos and we are not really sure which was which. We think we liked the short ribs one the best since it had the same flavor as the meat in the BlackJack quesadilla. The spicy ones were good too, but the meat was really dark (marinade?) and still had a beef taste to the meat, but they were spicier than the others but still good. It sounds like a lot of food, but I didn't eat much during the day, and Cayci ran 6.5 miles (she rocks, and just thinking about 2 miles makes my heart rate go up), and one taco is in the fridge right now... but probably not for much longer. BEEFCAKE!
 
....just finished up eating (for breakfast) half of the Kogi burrito brought home for my wife. So big she couldn't finish it herself. Great deal for $5. The burrito is officially my favorite. Tasted just like the taco, but just a whole lot more! And more is definitely better.
 
We drove on Meats for 20 minutes and could not find the truck hidden deep by the Massage parlor. It was a covert operation. By the time we got there the line was not long enough to be seen while I was driving on the public street. We drove around the food places around the Village Mall and by Trader Joes then we drove a mile down west the residential neighborhood but can't read the dark house address sign to even approximate our vicinity. Then we drove into the parking lots of the remaining 3 corner shopping centers and could not locate a taco truck. The address to the shopping centers are off Tustin Ave and not Meats. We then drove East to the residential neighborhoods and it got really dark and we turned around quick. I was about to give up then Mrs BK saw a glimpse of people clustered around the tail end of the truck in a dead end parking lot totally blocked by 2 massive Escalates and Suburban parked by the front of the parking lot deliberately to conceal the operation.



Everything on the truck was temporary Kogi. sign was taped on like Graph said. The place was dark without light, there were one piece of paper menu that were passed down from the earlier crowds and I could not even imagined the germs on that piece of paper. Almost everyone had an Iphone used as a flashlight. The menu on on the sign of this truck with an Anaheim address and its hamburger and omelette breakfast menu were obvious some sort of creative way to get around the Permit and licensing required.



As I was ordering I immediately thought about Soup Nazi from Seinfield and my desperation for good tacos.
 
During the bubble era taco truck operation was a booming and profitable business at construction job sites through out southern and northern CA. As many of these businesses became the casualties of housing industry collapse. Even the mom and pop taco truck operations are shifting their method of operation to serving dinners in residential neighborhoods. Driving through the city of Santa Ana I noticed quite a few of the night time taco trucks around the city.



Kogi is not only smart in operating his business with low overhead. He is also rapidly expanding his business coverage by buying a fleet of used taco trucks from financially stressed operators.
 
[quote author="graphrix" date=1249837632]



But anyway, we got there a little after 7, maybe 7:30, (Cayci might be able to confirm the time since she timed when we got there to when we ordered our food), and we were freakin S T A R V I N G! The truck wasn't open yet, so Cayci went across the street to Blockbuster to rent the first three DVDs of season 1 of Mad Men. When she got back she counted roughly (and her math nerd like minded "roughly" has a margin of error of 0.01%) 42 people ahead of us. It took a full hour before we ordered our food, but only 10-15 minutes to get it after the order. Funny story, so we watch these three 1.0s/1.5s that were behind us to order food as we are waiting to pick up our food. They are sitting there playing on their fobby mini-computers they bought at Zions market, and they are so f'ing into there game/texting that they are oblivious that the line in front of them have all ordered their food. Finally... someone comes up and asks are they there to order food or just sit there and play around all night... because all these people behind you are hungry and want to order food. They get up and look confused (stoned), and figure out what is going on and take their sweet time finishing their game/text novella before they actually figure out what and how to order food. BK and Grace can thank them for stalling the line and for the cooks to be able to catch up a bit. The waiting for food line shrank a lot in this time.



The food: We got a BlackJack quesadilla, a kimchi quesadilla, three short rib tacos, and three spicy pork tacos. The kimchi quesadilla was surprisingly very good, I'd recommend it just as something different alone, but I'd get it again too. The BlackJack quesadilla was awesome with the yummy cilantro sauce they topped it with. Both Cayci and I would get that again in heartbeat. We mixed up the tacos and we are not really sure which was which. We think we liked the short ribs one the best since it had the same flavor as the meat in the BlackJack quesadilla. The spicy ones were good too, but the meat was really dark (marinade?) and still had a beef taste to the meat, but they were spicier than the others but still good. It sounds like a lot of food, but I didn't eat much during the day, and Cayci ran 6.5 miles (she rocks, and just thinking about 2 miles makes my heart rate go up), and one taco is in the fridge right now... but probably not for much longer. BEEFCAKE!</blockquote>


Arrived: 7:25 pm

Food orders started to be taken and line started moving: 7:30 pm

Number of adults/teenagers in line ahead of us: 62 (not 42)

Started waiting for our food after ordering: 8:26 pm

Got food: too hungry and hands too full of yummy goodness to check



And the story about the kids on the hand-held machines was true. I made fun of them for being so oblivious to the fact that they were next in line, and folks waiting for food with us started looking in their direction and snickering, and then one of them looked up and alerted the rest and the line finally moved.



I have a theory that Kogi's is borrowing a nightclub marketing strategy. They say 7-12, but they didn't start taking orders until there were at least 75 people in line and 30 minutes had passed. Long line = big hype. Brilliant.



The blackjack quesadilla was awesomesauce. I'm sure there are folks out there who view kimchi and cheese together as an abomination, but it strangely worked as well. Graph and I had to negotiate for the last short rib taco because it was both of our favorite.



Correction: the blackjack quesadilla is made with the spicy pork, so THAT was our favorite of the tacos.
 
I am going to knock off some short rib tacos using my backyard grille. Graph, Cayci, No Vas, CK, and Beernapper, please post the ingredients of the short rib tacos and where I can buy them. The sauce is the hardest.
 
This clandestine operation is the first proof I've seen that "twitter" has hope for being used profitably for more than just drug-trafficking.
 
[quote author="bkshopr" date=1249867529]I am going to knock off some short rib tacos using my backyard grille. Graph, Cayci, No Vas, CK, and Beernapper, please post the ingredients of the short rib tacos and where I can buy them. The sauce is the hardest.</blockquote>


Never made them before. IMO I'd start this way (because it's a time tested family recipe and it's more authentic):



<a href="http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=4793091">http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=4793091</a>



YOON FAMILY KALBI





1 1/2 cups lite soy sauce



1/4 cup white sugar



1/4 cup sesame oil



3 tablespoons vegetable oil



8-10 cloves of fresh garlic, crushed



6 large green onions, chopped roughly



4 pounds Korean-style short ribs *



Toasted sesame seeds



Combine the soy sauce, sugar, sesame oil and corn oil in a large mixing bowl. Add garlic and green onion and stir together. Put short ribs into large sealable freezer bag (you may need two). Pour marinade into bag and turn bag over several times to ensure all meat pieces are covered. Refrigerate for at least four hours, but preferably overnight. Turn bag at least once in the middle of the marinating process.



Heat grill to medium-high heat before adding the meat. Drain excess marinade off short ribs and grill them until medium, about 6-8 minutes. Sprinkle with toasted sesame seeds and chopped green onions. Serves 6.



* NOTE ON RIBS: Korean-style short ribs can be found at most Asian markets. The cut is called "flanken," a strange word that refers to a strip of beef cut across the bone from the chuck end of the short ribs. Most short rib recipes call for individual bones cut into thick pieces. Kalbi is unusual in that it calls for 3 ribs, cut lengthwise across the bones, so that you end up with a strip of meat about 8-10 inches long that has 3, 1/2-inch rib bones lining the top.



You can also use the marinade for a traditional cut of short ribs, but this is best cooked by braising -? a crock pot is excellent for this type of dish. (My mother calls this version Mushy Kalbi because the meat falls off the bone and melts in your mouth.) You can also use the marinade on chicken.



MORE TIPS



The grilling technique for kalbi is the exact opposite of grilling a big American steak. Kalbi is much more of a hands-on dish. Because of its thinner cut, the meat cooks faster and requires constant attention and turning over, which is why it is so much fun to cook it at the table with a group of friends.



Like most Korean meals, kalbi should be served with panchan, an assortment of side dishes that might include marinated spinach, cooked bean sprouts, salt-cured fish and of course the ubiquitous Korean side dish, kimchi, a spicy fermented cabbage or radish that people either love or hate.
 
[quote author="caycifish" date=1249866789]





Long line = big hype. Brilliant.



</blockquote>


A friend of mine is convinced that this is the M.O. for 85 degrees. A line out the door always attracts curiosity.
 
i've copied their recipes before and made them at home. relatively easy although i cheated by using pre-marinated short ribs from h-mart. the garnishes are easy and what make the tacos.



<a href="http://kogibbq.com/2008/11/24/korean-short-ribs/">http://kogibbq.com/2008/11/24/korean-short-ribs/</a>



anyone here from SD and been to south beach grill in ocean beach for fish tacos?
 
FYI: <a href="http://blogs.ocweekly.com/stickaforkinit/things-to-look-forward-to/kogi-bbq-truck-scheduled-to-do/">Kogi in Costa Mesa this weekend.</a>
 
[quote author="EvaLSeraphim" date=1250326003]FYI: <a href="http://blogs.ocweekly.com/stickaforkinit/things-to-look-forward-to/kogi-bbq-truck-scheduled-to-do/">Kogi in Costa Mesa this weekend.</a></blockquote>
YESSSSSSSSSSSSS!!!



I'm so there...who's joining me??? Group IHB meet at the Kogi truck in Costa Mesa.
 
The Kogi truck will be in costa mesa tomorrow night if anyone is interested. However I will be trying to knock off their tacos tomorrow night so I will not be in line.
 
[quote author="EvaLSeraphim" date=1250326003]FYI: <a href="http://blogs.ocweekly.com/stickaforkinit/things-to-look-forward-to/kogi-bbq-truck-scheduled-to-do/">Kogi in Costa Mesa this weekend.</a></blockquote>


6 pm to midnight at the Holiday Inn, Costa Mesa.
 
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