Although the Grilled Cheese Truck is the newest member of LA’s fleet of food trucks, Don Chow has already been roaming the streets in search of hungry night life for months.
The truck isn’t nearly as shiny as Kogi or Nom Nom, but I’ve never felt the need to be served from a shiny establishment. In fact, when I did catch up with the Don Chow truck in Venice, the cheap sign had fallen off and it looked like any other generic taco truck. Good thing my girlfriend noticed a small sign on the front of the truck ensuring us it was Don Chow.
Don Chow is a fusion of Mexican and Chinese, which means they have have Kung Pao Chicken, Chinese BBQ Pork, Soy-Ginger Tofu and Soy-Ginger Shrimp to throw into their tacos and burritos in addition to regular Mexican meats. They were out of regular chicken, but I wasn’t there to get anything basic. I had heard the Kung Pao Chicken was a great way to go, and since Kung Pao is already one of my favorite Chinese foods, I decided to order it in burrito form. The Don Chow man asked me if I wanted mild, medium or hot, and I chose to go the hot way since Kung Pao is meant to be spicy. I also asked about what came in the burrito to ensure there wouldn’t be any vegetables. The only offensive food inside would be onions, so I ordered without.
In a few minutes, my burrito was ready. I dug in and was pretty happy with what I tasted. The chicken was nice and spicy, but with an Asian flare more than a typical Mexican spice. I was a little disappointed that there weren’t any peanuts involved in the burrito, though. Peanuts are key to regular Kung Pao chicken and they do a good job of making a lot of things taste better. Without peanuts, I felt as though the burrito was missing something small that could have easily launched Don Chow into the upper echelon of taco trucks.
Even without said peanuts, Don Chow made a pretty good burrito. The food didn’t blow my mind (please add peanuts!), but was certainly worthy of further visitations from a hungry unvegan.