Food Trucks for Haiti Relief at TLofts

This past Saturday an army of food trucks gathered near the TLofts community complex in West LA in an organized event to help raise proceeds for Haiti relief efforts. With over 20 food trucks attending--including the very popular Buttermilk truck and the Grilled Cheese truck--you just knew this would draw the hordes of foodies and food truck stalkers. Luckily this event took place within walking distance to our West LA residence, so Fonda and I strapped on our sneakers, leashed our JRT, and made the 1-mile walk over to the TLofts area.

Some pictures of the event:






As we approached the pit lane of trucks, I noticed crowds already dozens deep at several of the more popular trucks. We made a dash toward the Flying Pig truck--which wasn't too busy--as I read rave reviews about their sliders--and how can you wrong with a name like "Flying Pig?"


I step up to order a pair of beef and pork sliders and a tamarind duck taco:


The sliders (2 for $5) were very good with a thick, juicy patty of pork and beef that was nicely seasoned and wrapped in a soft mini-bun. I could eat a dozen of these--but I obviously didn't as we had many more mobile eateries to raid. I wasn't too impressed by the bun and it appeared to be of the packaged variety as it tasted very similar to a Hawaiian mini-roll. The duck taco at $2.50 was a little dry and lacked seasoning, and the corn tortilla needed a little time on the hot griddle. I'd pass on this for next time.

Next to the Flying Pig truck as the Dosa truck; Fonda wanted to try this one so as I was waiting for my sliders and taco, she stepped over to the truck's window and ordered a dosa with sweet potato and massala ($6) and a mango lassi drink ($3).



I don't have a picture of the mango lassi but it was very refreshing and delicious, with just the right amount of sweetness. Our dosa (pictured above) was incredibly good with a lightly fried crepe and perfectly cooked sweet potatoes. The sweet and savory combination of the sweet potatoes and the masala just worked so well, and I loved how the crepe wasn't too crisp, but rather soft and just thick enough to hold it all together. This dosa my second favorite food item from this event (number one coming later).

With our dosa, sliders, and taco consumed, it's time to hit another truck. I see a mob surrounding the Grilled Cheese truck, so I decide to skip it for the time being and head over to the Buttermilk Truck. The line at this truck was daunting but I figured it would move fast. I couldn't have been any more wrong as it took us about 45-mins to place our orders. While waiting in line, I stepped across the street to try the FishLips Sushi truck as Fonda and Pebbles held our spot in the crawling Buttermilk Truck line.

A reporter working it at the FishLips Sushi truck. Note the DSLR "video" camera!

There was hardly a line at this one so I put in an order for small combo plate which came with a 1/2 California roll and five pieces of nigiri:


These trays are not pre-packed, but are freshly assembled with pieces of sushi that are made to order. I couldn't have been happier with my combo plate; the California roll was delicious with a nice fish to rice ratio, and the nigiri were all excellent, especially the shrimp and the eel. The taste and quality are far beyond any packaged sushi you can get at a supermarket or Trader Joe's. Eating this while standing (keep in mind there were no chairs or tables anywhere at this event) was a bit challenging, but I somehow managed to consume this while waiting with Fonda in the Buttermilk Truck line (which hadn't moved but a few feet).

We finally arrive at the front and place our order for red velvet pancake bites ($3), a biscuit sandwich with tocino ($3.50) and rosemary-garlic hash brown patty ($.50), and Hawaiian French toast sticks ($2.50).

Biscuit sandwich with tocino, and rosemary garlic hash brown patty.

Red velvet pancake bites

Hawaiian French toast sticks

I already told you that the dosa was my #2 favorite item, well now I can say that the biscuit sandwich with tocino was my #1. It was served with a freshly baked biscuit, a soft cooked egg, and a juicy tocino (cured pork belly) patty. One bite and the runny yolks smothered the inside of the sandwich--yeah I made a total mess of myself eating this. The garlic-rosemary hash brown was nicely seasoned and perfectly cooked with soft inside and a crispy outside. Fonda ate most of the red velvet pancakes and I had a few bites myself; they were sweeter than you'd might expect, but good nonetheless. We both, however, weren't too impressed with the French toast sticks. A little dry and overcooked, the sticks could have been much better with a lesser cooking time.


While in line for the Buttermilk Truck, Abby from pleasurepalate.com was right behind us and she gave us a tip to try the honey feta fries from Louks To Go truck. So after downing our Buttermilk goodies in short order, we sprinted over to the Louks To Go truck where I promptly placed my order for the aforementioned honey feta fries ($3).




It took a while for these to finally arrive, but they were well worth the wait. Big chunks of feta and a pouring of a honey sauce (not pure honey as that would have made this too sticky) paired nicely with a very generous portion of fries. Salty, sweet, and savory. Harmonious indeed. They're served in a plastic container with a beefy plastic fork, and you're going to need that fork to scrape up bits of feta and honey with each French fry scoop.



At this point we're getting stuffed but we just couldn't leave without grabbing some dessert. My first pick was to try a red velvet cupcake cookie from the Sweets Truck, but sadly they were out of them =(. Oh the heartbreak--I don't think Fonda has recovered yet. We try to salvage our dessert fix with a GIANT ice cream sandwich from King Kone:





They were so nice as to cut this in half for us, and I'm glad they did because I can only imagine the spillage that would have ensued had we tried to take turns eating bites from this super thick ice cream sammie. As for the taste, it was wonderful and infinitely better than that packaged ice cream cookie sandwich you can get from the freezer case at 7-11. The cookie was soft, chewy and loaded with chunks of chocolate, and the vanilla ice cream was just firm enough to hold its shape between the cookies.

We left at around 2:30 pm and some trucks were beginning to pack up, with others still serving their goods to the mobs of people lining the streets. The event had an excellent turnout and it was great knowing some of the proceeds were going to the Red Cross for Haiti relief efforts. Despite not being able to check out Grilled Cheese truck and Sweets truck, I still left totally stuffed and very satisfied with all the new foods I got to try.

For more insight on this event, check out Pleasure Palate's review here, and Pandalicious' review right this way. If an event like this ever returns to my 'hood, I will definitely be there.

More details about the trucks we tried:

Flying Pig Truck
Dosa Truck
FishLips Sushi
ButterMilk Truck
Louks To Go
King Kone