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Gourmet on the go

By Andrew Froug

March 2, 2010 9:09 p.m.

Maybe in the year 2510, the sit-down restaurant is extinct and only food trucks remain. The way Los Angeles has taken to mobile eateries, you’d think it was a real possibility. Twitter blows up every time Kogi announces a new location, friends telling friends who tell other friends. Lines stretch out 40-people deep for other trucks that didn’t exist a month beforehand.

Ever since UCLA temporarily closed the Bombshelter, students have been enjoying this tasty trend at the Court of Sciences, where two food trucks come every weekday from 10:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. While some menu items are mundane, a few are extraordinary.

Here are four of the best dishes you can find on campus.

““ Compiled by Andrew Froug

South Philly Experience

Cheesesteak with onions, American cheese ($8.50 + tax)

In a city filled with the new and trendy, this no-frills truck lives true to its name. The South Philly Experience is a testament to its blue-collar roots, where hot meat, cheese and bread are all the frills you need. Even the cooks inside the truck walk at their own pace, none of the hustle and bustle that mark many of the other trucks.

When I asked which cheese to try, the woman taking my order showed plenty of sisterly love, enthusiastically recommending the American. She was right. If the bahn mi is complexity at its finest, the cheesesteak is simple comfort food at its best. On an intensely rainy day, my sandwich was like a tiny piece of shelter. My clothes were still wet, but my beefy, cheesy handheld meal wasn’t. And that was enough.

Nom Nom

12-inch grilled pork banh mi sandwich with pate and jalapenos, 1 taco, 1 drink ($8)

As one of the first trucks to follow in a certain Korean-Mexican phenomenon’s Twitter-happy footsteps, it’s easy to doubt Nom Nom’s intentions. My first bite, underseasoned lemongrass chicken on a dry tortilla, only supported my apprehension. Swapping Vietnamese ingredients for Korean ones wasn’t particularly creative or pleasant.

As forgettable as the appetizer is, the grilled pork bahn mi proved that sometimes all you need are the classics. Ask for pate. Ask for jalapenos. Combined with the meat, Vietnamese pickles, cilantro and bread roll, my senses tumbled through sweet, spicy, meaty, sour, crunchy and soft, all yielding a lunchtime euphoria that lasted until the end of the day. I’ve already forgotten about that other truck. All I’m thinking is bahn mi.

Border Grill

Potato Rajas Taco ““ roasted potatoes, chiles, Mexican cheeses, pickled onion ($2)

Before the Rachel Rays and Sandra Lees began their reign of pre-cut vegetable terror, the Food Network allowed honest-to-god chefs to do what they do best. For chefs Susan Feniger and Mary Sue Milliken, stars of the late 1990s Mexican cooking show “Too Hot Tamales,” what they do best is braised achiote pork and potatoes rajas, crispy baja fish tacos and Peruvian ceviche. With their restaurant Border Grill in Santa Monica and Las Vegas and another possible location at LAX in the future, it only makes sense for high-quality Mexican to go mobile.

When ordering, it’s hard to go wrong. I apprehensively ordered the potato rajas taco because of a friend’s recommendation. “Potatoes on tacos?” I thought. “Really?” It turned out to be my favorite four bites of the week. With a couple of superstar chefs at the top of their game, I’ll soon be back for more.

Let’s Be Frank

Frank Dog ($4.58 + tax)

Let’s Be Frank serves hot dogs with principles. I bite into a 100 percent pasture-raised, hormone and antibiotic-free beef dog, and I imagine myself at Fenway Park. Not in the present, where a Fenway Frank is still as good as ever if for no other reason than I’m watching the Sox, but back at the stadium’s opening, when sausages might have been created like this.

Maybe hot dogs in 1912 were just as chemical-laden as most of them are now, but Let’s Be Frank speaks to a hot dog ideal, where simple, clean flavors are enough. This American classic isn’t about eye-popping, head-shaking, burst-out-of-your-skin excitement. It’s about the kind of warm satisfaction that spreads to your extremities after chomping down on a sausage or two. Let’s Be Frank provides that as well as anyone, chemicals not included.

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