Korean BBQ – DailyFoodtoEat

Chief Chef of Kogi BBQ May Leave it all Behind

Kogi BBQ is widely considered to be the most successful food truck brand in the world, being one of the first food trucks to gain national prominence, and spawning a wave of Korean-taco trucks trying to emulate their original recipe. Kogi is so successful that their fleet has now launched five food trucks and several restaurants throughout California, and their chief chef Roy Choi was recognized as one of Food & Wine’s best new chefs of 2010.

However there is a chance all of this might change with a recent blog post Roy Choi made on Monday. Roy wrote that he’s considering leaving the cooking world behind because he recently became a vegetarian.

“I’ve been thinking about leaving cooking for awhile. I can’t find meaning anymore…I stopped eating meat this week. That’s why I’m thinking about leaving cooking. How can I cook with out using meat? Animals be talking to me. They told me..stop. Stop, Roy. Please.”

Seeing as how Kogi BBQ’s are heavy in meat, it might understandably be hard for Choi to continue cooking with a moral objection to animals as food. Choi goes on to cite Chef Jamie Oliver, and declare that he would love to work with him in improving children’s diets. Many commenter’s on his blog suggested opening a vegetarian or vegan restaurant to attract more people to healthier eating. In the long run, Choi’s tentative decision to quit cooking will hopefully not affect the fleet of Kogi trucks and restaurants in California. Choi will be publishing a book about his life through the Anthony Bourdain book series soon, so more on his take on children and animals should be available soon.

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Kimchi Taco Truck, A New Take on Korean Fusion

The Kimchi Taco Truck stops in midtown for lunch during weekdays, and offers yet another take on the increasingly popular Korean fusion food genre. As one of the few food trucks still around midtown, we decided to check it out to see what all the buzz was about. That, and the mouthwatering photos the truck posted to it’s twitter. The truck offers a variety of tacos, “kim” cheese steaks, burrito bowls, and authentic Korean sides like spicy rice cakes. We opted to try the most notable menu item, the Kimchi taco. The menu was pricier than we’d hoped, but for $7 we got three kimchi tacos, choosing the Korean BBQ beef over the spicy pork and pulled chicken.

The taco’s came in a biodegradable box, it seems that all of the Kimchi Truck’s packaging is biodegradable, including their utensils, straws and bags. The tacos were packed full of beef and kimchi, and topped with scallions and cilantro. The kimchi was definitely authentic, pungent enough that it smelled through the bag and still left a lingering smell in our office. Adding kimchi to a taco is sheer brilliance, it went amazingly with the scallions and cilantro, and created a truly unique taste. We were sadly underwhelmed by the beef however. It was cut in smaller pieces than I expected and the texture was more like ground beef than Korean BBQ. The kimchi may have overpowered some of its taste, but the beef was a little too mild, and we could hardly taste it beneath the flavorful toppings. The soft taco shell was pretty standard, though a little tough sometimes.

Overall we found the kimchi to be the best part of the entire taco, while the beef was much blander than other Korean BBQ trucks like Bapcha or Korilla. Our advice: order a side of kimchi for $3 and get the rest of your meal somewhere else.

Kim’s Aunt Kitchen

Today I decided to try Kim’s Aunt Kitchen, a small fried food cart with a wide array of options. Kim’s is surrounded by several other food trucks and carts on Avenue of the Americas, but does well for itself with its delicious fried options. Kim’s is another Mexican-Korean fusion trucks, though the bulgogi beef platter seems to be the only truly Korean item on the menu. The rest are fried fish or chicken options, served on a platter with either rice, French fries or lo mein, or simply in sandwich form.

After seeing some sandwiches served, I went with a flounder sandwich on a hero roll, served with a salad topping and white sauce. The fish was delicious, fried to a perfect crisp and soft and flaky on the inside. It had a mild taste to it but that went well with the fried bread and sauce. The sandwich was perfect for eating on the go too, and at only $5, a genuine deal.

For me, Kim’s Aunt Kitchen represented the ideal street food; cheap, fried and delicious. It didn’t hurt that free sample were being given away as well (the bulgogi beef is not as authentic as Bapcha’s). Leaving this crowded spot on Avenue of the Americas I know that there are still many more food trucks to try, but Kim’s Aunt Kitchen left me satisfied enough to wait another day to try the others.

Quality Korean Food in a Cart

Bapcha food cart is Korean-style vendor on West 49^thStreet and Avenue of the Americas. They serve a variety of Korean Barbecued meats, as well as some vegetarian noodle options. Their cart was pricier than I had hoped, but quality Korean food tends to be more expensive than most other New York street food. I ordered a Galbi Box for $8, thin slices of barbecued beef over rice and served with lettuce and egg. The chef drizzled hot sauce over the beef and a sweet type of vinaigrette over the lettuce. The beef was tender and well flavored, and the white rice underneath absorbed a lot of the flavor from the beef. The lettuce was a good choice when paired with the heavy barbecued flavor from the beef, giving the meal a good sense of balance.

The egg portion added an excellent touch of authenticity to the meal, though was blander than I had hoped. The beef easily stole the show, but would have been hard to finish without the other servings. The portion was slightly smaller than I had hoped, with only four or five slices of beef. In the end I was left over with extra rice, but the juices from the beef left it with a savory taste. For $8 I expected more food for the price, but the meal was delicious enough and demonstrated that Bapcha certainly knows it’s Korean food.

To order online from Bapcha click here.