Night & Day with the Kogi Korean BBQ Taco Truck - Video

Kogi Korean BBQ Truck is ground zero for L.A.'s nouveau taco truck renaissance. It all started last November, and now every month a new food- themed truck is popping up: including The Grilled Cheese Truck and Fishlips Sushi Truck. Hey, I love it -- the more the merrier for this cheap chef. And Kogi has added more trucks to total four, that roam L.A. streets past midnight.

A Kogi taco cost $2 plus tax, a great deal for such a unique taco. It is quite juicy from the meat marinade and slaw topping, so make sure to grab a couple of napkins. They serve tofu, chicken and spicy pork tacos along with fat burritos and even cheesy quesadillas with kimchi in the 5 dollar range.

The taco shredded veggie topping is not traditional kimchi (normally fermented cabbage with salt, garlic and fish sauce; smelly-pungent and kick-ass hot) but a mildly hot and tangy slaw sprinkled with sesame seeds -- a cool crunchy contrast. In Korean "Kogi" means "meat"and the short rib taco meat was tender and flavorful. I loved it! The "barbecue" is not like in the South -- it is grilled, but the sauce is a marinade more like a light and spicy teriyaki one.

If you want kimchi get a Korean Quesadilla. A unique mix of pickled cabbage and melted cheese folded into a grilled flour tortilla. An acquired taste for sure, but this Chef found them strangely tasty. It is a complex flavor profile, and very salty - perfect bar food, if only taco trucks sold beer!

Another hit are their huge burritos. I had the Short Rib Burrito. It is built the same as a taco, double in size though, in a flour tortilla, and with the addition of shredded cheese -- it appeared to be a yellow and white mix (chedder and jack?) These burritos are guaranteed to satisfy anyone's big appetite after a booze-fueled night of Karaoke.

For The 99 Cent Chef's Kogi BBQ Taco Truck Video, I mashed-up night and day footage to create a tasty and arty short film. Ride along with the Chef from Manhattan Beach to Koreatown, from Hollywood to The Brig on Abbot Kinney in Venice Beach, for a midnight sidewalk meal and a midday lunch break. I hope you like my out-there video as much as I liked the fusion of Mexican/Korean cuisines. Warning, you will be hungry after watching this!