East Coast and West Coast Korean Tacos

With days to spare, I finally checked something off my 2010 foodie to do list: I tried the local Korean taco truck here in Washington, DC. I had fallen madly in love with über chef Roy Choi’s paradigm-shifting creations at Los Angeles’ Kogi. A testament to Choi’s status as a modern food revolutionary, Food & Wine magazine named him one of the best new chefs of 2010.

Let me just come right out and say it: I am an elitist food snob. I dine out a lot. Most meals are adequately flavorful and basically acceptable, but it takes a lot to genuinely impress me. Choi’s tacos leave me speechless – literally. I can’t explain why I adore them. I have only a superficial understanding of Asian cooking and just a bit more knowledge of Mexican, so I don’t know what combination of ingredients is yielding the magical flavor. Whatev. Just bring ’em on.

With this backdrop, I was curious to try Washington, DC-based TaKorean. Alas, my verdict is rather extreme. There is no comparison to Kogi. TaKorean was adequate but fundamentally unremarkable. So there it is – curiosity satisfied, item checked off the to do list.

Pictured below are TaKorean’s three tacos: Bulgogi steak, tangy chicken and carmelized tofu.