Kogi BBQ – Korean BBQ To Go
Knowing that I would be headed to Los Angeles, CA, I had to set aside some time to check out Kogi BBQ (Korean BBQ-To-Go). I had heard of the Kogi food trucks so I wanted to experience them for myself. For those who haven’t heard of Kogi BBQ, they are a fleet of food trucks based in the LA area and I would say they are one of the pioneers of effectively using social media (Twitter and YouTube) to spread information about their locations and offerings. Kogi BBQ has been recognized by various Foodie establishments which helps to perpetuate their following.
Looking at Kogi BBQ’s web page, I noted a couple spots where we might be able to check them out. We ended up hitting up the Kogi Verde truck in Pasadena, CA on July 5th, 2012 around dusk. The line wasn’t too bad since it was a little later in the evening and not prime dinner time. We ended up ordering:
- Short Rib Tacos
- Spicy Pork Burrito
- Kogi Dog
Kogi BBQ – Short Rib Tacos
I’m going to rant for a bit because we were behind some folks that were hardcore vegetarian and hitting up the Kogi BBQ food truck. Ok, I understand you have dietary restrictions but seriously? Why would you hit up a food truck known for their meat items to try and order vegetarian items? “Kogi” in Korean means “meat”. Kogi BBQ has even blogged to clarify things for diet-restricted folks looking to try out their food. Sure, there are veggies in kimchi but even kimchi, made with fish sauce, isn’t actually vegetarian! I understand you want to check out the ambience and experience of Kogi BBQ but please don’t get frustrated when they only have limited vegetarian options.
Anyhow, once we did get our order we were ready to dig in. The portion sizes were good and priced competitively based on the market so you won’t feel like you’re overpaying for what you get. As you can see from the pictures of the tacos and Kogi dog, there was a generous amount of veggies topping the meats to help get one’s dietary fix of greens. The veggies were refreshing and I appreciated that they weren’t soggy or led to the carbs getting soggy.
All in all, the food was good but my tastebuds weren’t blown away. Perhaps since I had heard so much about Kogi prior to trying it I had higher expectations for the food. Don’t get me wrong, the food had some good flavors and was a nice fusion of Asian and Latin cuisines. My wife had mentioned that she thought the food from Kogi is overhyped and I might have to agree. Even so, it’s great what they have done with the food and for the food truck industry as a whole, and I would still hit up Kogi again for a meal. Next time I want to check out the Kogi Kimchi Quesadilla and the Kogi sliders.
For the most up to date information on trucks, locations, and menu options, check out their webpage as they are all over the greater Los Angeles area.
Kogi BBQ | Korean BBQ-To-Go
21 S El Molino Ave
Pasadena, CA 91101
Reposado
After a soccer game in Palo Alto, CA on Sunday morning (June 17th, 2012), my wife, our friend Meg and I were looking to grab a quick bite to eat in the area before headed back to the East Bay. Meg had grown up in the Palo Alto area and had thrown out some suggestions on some of her favorite places but doing a quick search on their business hours showed that all those places were closed on Sundays. By then we had narrowed our choices to Mexican cuisine so we headed towards downtown Palo Alto from the soccer fields while doing a Yelp search on our phones for a place to eat. Within a minute or two we heard Meg exclaim “Ah ha, I got it. Let’s try Reposado.”
As we continued toward Reposado, Meg described it as a more upscale sit down type place and told us she had wanted to try it for a while now, and shared that it had gotten decent Yelp reviews. Connie and I are not picky eaters and are always up for trying new places, preferably with delicious food, so we were looking forward to our upcoming dining experience especially since we had not gone out to eat in a while (hence the lack of new content for this blog!).
Once at Reposado we decided to sit at the bar and then contemplated the menu. Should we pick from the brunch menu, small plates or traditional style plates? Having just played soccer we were thinking a smaller portion size but we were still debating between the small plates vs traditional style plates. Fortunately, the bartender clarified that the small plates still had a decent amount of food on them. We ended up ordering a cerveza, a margarita (customized), some chips and guacamole and:
- Tacos De La Calle – Four “street” tacos, pollo & salsa verde, carnitas, pescado & mango salsa fresca, asada & guajillo salsa
- Ceviche de Hauchinango – Pacific Snapper in agua chile cucumber sauce, jicama, mango, and red onion
Being seated at the bar we had the advantage of being able to see the TV screens that were nestled in the bar shelves. They had one of the Euro 2012 soccer matches on (Netherlands vs Portugal) which was a bonus for soccer fans like us. Perhaps it was the distraction of the match but it didn’t seem too long after we had ordered that our food came out – a pleasant surprise since we had ventured into Reposado right at lunchtime. Furthermore, there did not seem to be any sort of detrimental influence of a crowded venue on our dishes, yet another plus.
First, the lowdown on the tacos. All the meats on the small tacos were cooked well – not underdone or overdone. I should clarify that by small, I mean each taco could be finished in two bites. All of the tacos packed a lot of flavor. Nothing too overpowering but enough to give the taste buds a nice tingle. For those that cannot do spicy foods some of the tacos did have a little bit of a kick, easily discernable visually.
The ceviche dish was presented nicely. A generous mound of ceviche topped with mango, red onions, and jicama on its own small dish set on one side of a long rectangular plate filled with tortilla chips. The ceviche smelled a lot fishier than it actually tasted. The pieces of snapper were a good texture and they were not totally overpowered by the limes or chile cucumber sauce which I thought was quite mild . . . was there really cucumber in there? Thinking about the overall dish, I think I’d make a recommendation to provide some more chips. Even with generous helpings of ceviche on my chips, I ran out of chips before I finished my ceviche.
Looking over at the diners next to us, their huevo (egg) dishes looked really good. I do like brunch foods but I might still pass on the huevo dishes. If I do come for brunch I’m going to order the Chipotle Beef Benedict – grilled chipotle seasoned filet mignon, toasted English muffin, roasted poblano hollandaise sauce, home fried potatoes – which is also part of the brunch menu.
Overall, I’d give Reposado a thumbs up for our dining experience. The yummy meal was enough to fill our stomachs to tide us over but I’d say a little pricier (tacos @ $15, ceviche @ $13). I guess we were in a nice establishment with good ambience in downtown Palo Alto, CA – I’m sure Reposado is a popular place at nights. Side note to self – maybe I should stop hitting up my local taco truck for $1.25 tacos.
Reposado
236 Hamilton Ave
Palo Alto, CA 94301
(650) 833-3151
Bandolero Pop-up Restaurant Preview
LivingSocial voucher
After purchasing two tickets for the LivingSocial deal, I followed the instructions that I received and made dinner reservations for 7:15pm on Saturday February 18th for the pop-up preview of Bandolero Restaurant. Basically, LivingSocial, a Washington DC-headquartered online coupon company, was hosting Chef Mike Isabella’s preview of his upcoming restaurant venture in Georgetown to help kick off LivingSocial’s newly leased building in Penn Quarter where LivingSocial will host pop-ups, cooking classes, and all sorts of other activities in their new space.
I guess I don’t typically get to the Penn Quarter area at prime dinner time as I have never had any problems finding street parking in the area but this time we circled around the area a few times and could not find any street parking. So, as we were running out of time and wanted to make our reservation time on time, we bit the $16 parking tab and decided to park within two blocks at the E Street Cinema parking garage.
We walked into the LivingSocial building space (918 F St NW, Washington, DC) right at 7:15pm, had our IDs checked, and checked in at the lobby downstairs. We then headed up to the 2nd floor reception area where we each got a glass of champagne. Our table was already ready so we had only just sat down on the couches in the living area when our name was called to follow somebody up to the restaurant area on the 4th floor where we were promptly seated.
Michelada
Once seated at our table, before we had had a chance to get halfway through our glass of champagne, the accompanying first course drinks were served. The drink was the Michelada – milagro blanco, tomato lime, mole bitters, corona – essentially a tequila version of a Bloody Mary. The drink definitely served as a good appetizing drink. The first course came out shortly thereafter – warm chips and chicharrones served with:
- Guacamole – classic
- Sikil Pak – pumpkin seeds, jalapeno orange
- Salsa Roja – guajillo, tomato, garlic
The chips and dips were all very good but the chicharrones were definitely the highlight of this course. Light and crispy deep fried goodness just tastes so good!
Mmmmm . . . chicharrones
For our second course we went with:
- Albondigas – spicy pork meatballs, sofrito
- Sopes – lamb picadillo, chipotle goat cheese
This course was paired with a Margarita – milagro blanco, patron citronage, agave, grand marnier, lime, blood orange. I was tempted to select the blue crab taquito, but based on our server’s recommendation and the fact that I have Kiwi roots, I went with the lamb dish. For those who aren’t big lamb fans, the lamb was well made and did not taste very lamby. The sopes were delightful little pockets of flavor with the lamb topped with chipotle goat cheese and a little pepper slice. The spicy pork meatballs were also very good. Four of them came in a little bowl topped with some chopped veggies. The meatballs had good flavor but for my palate they could have had just a little more spice to them. In my opinion, the sopes edged out the albondigas.
Sopes – lamb picadillo, chipotle goat cheese
The third course was a selection betwen various tacos. We went with:
- Mahi Mahi – served with chipotle, avocado and lime
- Spicy Chicken – served with avocado, relish
At first we were a little surprised when the mahi mahi was presented – were we being served fried fish sticks?! However, after biting into the taco, it was apparent that we were having a delicious version of the classic “fish taco”. The mahi mahi was cooked perfectly with a lightly fried batter and flaky innards. My wife commented that perhaps the mahi mahi dish could have been better with corn tortillas instead of flour tortillas. I thought the flour tortillas were actually just right since the corn tortillas may have overpowered the mahi mahi. The spicy chicken dish, served on corn tortillas, was also very good. The shredded chicken had a great flavor profile in itself and went wonderfully with the topped lettuce, avocado relish, and little bits of cheese. I would say this round was a tie between both dishes. This course was paired with City of Gold – milagro reposado, cardmaro, St Germain, lemon.
Spicy chicken taco with avocado and relish
For our fourth course we selected the:
- Alahambres – hangar steak, chimichurri
- Mole Negro – pork ribs, sesame seeds
In comparing which dish was better in this round, the pork ribs definitely won. The tender meat slid off the bone with ease and tasted absolutely delicious with the sesame seeds and sauce. The hangar steak portions were extremely generous but perhaps this was the downfall of the dish. The hangar steak was served in a manner that almost made it look like three pieces of sushi/tuna sashimi on the plate with Chef Mike’s famous pizza sauce drizzled around it. The hangar steak was well cooked – I’d estimate they made it to be medium rare as it had a good dark sear on the outside with a reddish center. However, it just seemed the meat cubes were just a tad too large so it did take a little bit of chewing effort to polish off each piece of meat, even when cut into smaller manageable pieces.
Mole Negro - pork ribs, sesame seeds
The accompanying drink for the fourth course, Malverde, was comprised of sombra mezcal, cucumber, cilantro, agave, hellfire bitters. The drink definitely tasted cucumber-ry. Not being people that typically have such drinks, the drinks just tasted different. Perhaps it was due to the bitters in the drink that made it seem odd to the taste buds? The drink also seemed like an odd combination with the dishes in this course.
For our fifth course, aka dessert, we got to have both the Flan and Mexican Chocolate Pudding. The flan had canella and orange and was served with pickled mangoes, while the Mexican Chocolate Pudding was served with mezcal crema. Both desserts were good. The flan had a unique flavor profile, probably due to the canella. As such, the chocolate pudding edged out the flan in this round for me. Dessert was paired with a Sparkling Cocktail – el jimador blanco, prickly pear, and sparkling wine – a nice finish to a great meal.
Flan with canella and orange
At the end of the our evening, we didn’t see Chef Mike Isabella in the dining area chatting with folks like we had seen earlier in the evening so we asked somebody about it and instead we got to head down to the kitchen on the third floor to chit chat with Chef Mike Isabella for a bit.
Meet and greet with Chef Mike Isabella
What was our damage at the end of the night? Well, the tab came out and our sum was $0! Technically, that’s not quite true as I had been paid $119 apiece when I had purchased our tickets from LivingSocial. Was it worth it? Definitely! We ate and drank extremely well and we got to meet Chef Mike Isabella. Not only that but during dinner my wife and I both felt like we were on Top Chef during restaurant wars. The only thing missing from our popup restaurant experience was a feedback card! Thanks LivingSocial for a wonderful experience and I look forward to enjoying more such evenings in the future!
Overall, we had a wonderful dinner experience. If our preview is indicative of the dining experience at Bandolero, Bandolero will no doubt be a big hit. I don’t know what the final prices for the various courses will be, but the portion sizes were generous and if that carries over, I don’t see anybody complaining about Bandolero not being a good bang for the buck, or leaving hungry/thirsty! I must admit that I’m typically not the biggest fan of tequila but all of the drinks were good. I particularly enjoyed the Michelada and would definitely recommend that to start off your Bandolero experience. If I do make it to Bandolero after it opens, I’ll probably be trying the other dishes that I didn’t get to try but if I were going to have some of the dishes again, I would go for the sopes, mahi mahi, spicy chicken, mole negro, finishing it off with the Mexican chocolate pudding.
Below is a more comprehensive photo documentary of our experience:
Coming soon . . . Tacos and Tequila, Top Chef style – Bandolero Pop-Up Restaurant
Received an email from LivingSocial on January 30, 2012 from their gourmet division so I decided to click and read more about it. The deal was from their Washington DC gourmet section and there were a couple of things that drew my attention – tacos, tequila, and Top Chef 🙂 Basically, for tickets at $119 apiece, this included:
- Five Courses of Modern Mexican Small Plates
- Tequila-Cocktail Pairings
- Chef Meet and Greet
- Gratuity and Other Fees
At first, the deal seemed a little pricey, but after further contemplation and reading the fine print, I decided to go for it. After all, it did include a preview of a new restaurant’s food at a pop-up restaurant, the food and drinks, including gratuities and other fees, and a chef meet and greet with former Top Chef contestant (twice!) Mike Isabella.
This event is specifically related to Chef Mike Isabella’s newest venture, Bandolero, which will be opening soon in Georgetown. I’ve always been curious about pop-up restaurants and wondered why more new places didn’t take advantage of the marketing opportunity. I’m sure it’s a lot more additional work along with already having to open a new place, but it looks like Chef Mike’s marketing team is on the ball by having this preview event for his new place to get the buzz going (not that there isn’t a lot already since Chef Mike has garnered some definitely foodie celebrity status).
My dinner tasting event isn’t until February 18, 2012, but I’m definitely looking forward to it and look forward to posting my experience to this blog. After checking back on the deal, I’m glad I got my tickets when I did as it looks like it’s all sold out! FYI, Chef Mike Isabella’s other Washington, DC establishment is Graffiato which is a great place to go if you haven’t already gone yourself, or you can just wait until Bandolero is actually open . . .
Screenshot of Living Social Bandolero Pop-Up deal
Foodie Forays 