Thrillist Best of the Best Food Truck Rally

Thrillist has been good to me the last few weeks. When I saw they were hosting a food truck rally to pick the best of the best at Siren Studios, I was in. What was even better was the suggested donation was $5 which included a taste of the five featured trucks; Dim Sum Truck, Dante Fried Chicken, Komodo, Frysmith and one of LA’s newest trucks, Lardon. I am a big fan of Dim Sum Truck and have never tried Frysmith. Plus the day included entertainment and booze in the form of Dos Equis beer and Barcardi Limon drinks mixed with either Coke, Sprite or Sweet Tea. For all those who joke about needing some gastro attention at such events, Pepto Bismo was also a sponsor. I still can’t understand how all this was only $5 which actually benefited a charity, Meals on Wheels.

Lines were long but moved fairly quickly. I managed to eat at four of the five trucks with a little help from friends. But the fifth truck, Dante Fried Chicken which turned out to be the overall winner and favorite of the crowd, did not seem to grasp the fact there were a lot of hungry people waiting for a bite. Their line never moved. At some point, they even brought out trays of food to pass out while people waited for their winning morsels. Since I’ve tried Dante Fried Chicken before I decided to skip it. Now I (only slightly) regret not tasting it that day. I would have liked to tried their tofu.

** Apparently my dear friend F for Food was kind enough to grab me the Dante Fried Chicken. See below.

It was a hot day so it was much welcome to step inside for a bit of entertainment. Ladies bedecked in sequins contorted and hula-hooped their way around the stage as the DJ continued to spin tunes. Occasionally I have those two-ingredient drinks and decided I liked the Barcadi Limon best with Sweet Tea but the icy coldness of the sodas eventually won me over. I thought it was a hoot they even “paired” with the trucks.

Dim Sum Truck brought out their har gow and shu mai for the taste. Their full menu was also available. I also sampled the fries from Frysmith. I’ll have to seek this truck out again. I expected something a bit more amazing that chopped beef on fries. Hey, I like carne asada fries as much as the next person but probably more so with guac and salsa. As crazy as it was, the line for Lardon hid Komodo and I managed to score these chicken tacos relatively easily. I’m not sure how I feel about the rice though. Nice presentation but unnecessary carbo loading?

Lo and behold, bacon! Or actually they called it a baco (bacon taco). As I was standing there waiting for this bacon wrapped mashed potatoes goodness, the owner talked about how much he loved bacon. And pancetta. And pork belly. But mostly he talked about how much he loved bacon. It was served with a sour cream that hinted at horseradish.

UPDATE:

Apparently this morsel which I previously thought was from Dim Sum Truck was actually from Dante Fried Chicken! Woah, so I actually did have all five trucks that day. You’ll have to ignore the stray piece of meat and fry in the picture.

Thrillist LA