Come on, LA food trucks. We know traffic on the 5 and 405 sucks, but if you make Orange County a regular stop on your weekly routes, you'd surely have lines waiting. Bonus: OC has more parking.
Here are five of my favorites:
I had a chance to try the very-hyped fried chicken balls by Chef Ludo Lefebvre on two occasions, once when a friend waited in line for nearly two hours at the first LA Food Truck Festival (an utter disaster), and another time when the truck rolled up to an office building in Culver City, a much calmer setting. The chicken, infused with rosemary and other herbs and prepared over three days, is the most wonderfully juicy and flavorful I've ever tasted. Don't bother ordering anything else on the menu, as nothing remotely compares.
1. LudoTruck
I had a chance to try the very-hyped fried chicken balls by Chef Ludo Lefebvre on two occasions, once when a friend waited in line for nearly two hours at the first LA Food Truck Festival (an utter disaster), and another time when the truck rolled up to an office building in Culver City, a much calmer setting. The chicken, infused with rosemary and other herbs and prepared over three days, is the most wonderfully juicy and flavorful I've ever tasted. Don't bother ordering anything else on the menu, as nothing remotely compares.
Twitter: @ludotruck
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2. India Jones Chow Truck
Good name, good food. The butter chicken curry served over Basmati rice is packed with flavor and the chef can crank up the spice level if you prefer. There are different curries du jour, like seafood, chicken tikka marsala and various vegetarian varieties. The truck is a great option for those who don't have time to sit down at an Indian restaurant, where service typically comes at a slow pace.
Twitter: @IndiaJonesCT
Raw fish from a food truck sounds like a one-way ticket to the porcelain throne, but the rolls from Fishlips are surprisingly fresh and flavorful. They've got all the basic varieties, like California, Caterpillar, Crunchy, Red Dragon and Rainbow, most for under 8 bucks. And call me a sucker, but the “temari”–fish and rice shaped into a little ball–is oh-so adorable.
On second thought, maybe this truck shouldn't come down more often as I'd most definitely need longer belts. The wheeled wonder serves up gloriously decadent buttermilk creations, like red velvet pancake bites with butter and syrup, and fried chicken with housemade cinnamon waffles. Huh? What New Year's Resolution?
Every time CoolHaus, the truck that brings “gourmet, artisan and all-natural ice cream sandwiches,” appears in my Twitter stream, I feel like reaching for my car keys. “Balsamic fig anyone? Candied bacon? Date rum?” one tweet reads. Yum. My favorite sandwich concoction is red wine ice cream with chocolate cookies. The wrapper is edible, too.
3. Fishlips Sushi
Raw fish from a food truck sounds like a one-way ticket to the porcelain throne, but the rolls from Fishlips are surprisingly fresh and flavorful. They've got all the basic varieties, like California, Caterpillar, Crunchy, Red Dragon and Rainbow, most for under 8 bucks. And call me a sucker, but the “temari”–fish and rice shaped into a little ball–is oh-so adorable.
Twitter: @fishlips_sushi
4. Buttermilk Truck
On second thought, maybe this truck shouldn't come down more often as I'd most definitely need longer belts. The wheeled wonder serves up gloriously decadent buttermilk creations, like red velvet pancake bites with butter and syrup, and fried chicken with housemade cinnamon waffles. Huh? What New Year's Resolution?
Twitter: @buttermilktruck
5. CoolHaus
Every time CoolHaus, the truck that brings “gourmet, artisan and all-natural ice cream sandwiches,” appears in my Twitter stream, I feel like reaching for my car keys. “Balsamic fig anyone? Candied bacon? Date rum?” one tweet reads. Yum. My favorite sandwich concoction is red wine ice cream with chocolate cookies. The wrapper is edible, too.
Twitter: @CoolHaus
