Buttermilk Truck Review: Tasty, Cheap, Small Portions

Buttermilk Truck. The name reminds me of the days when milkmen brought freshly bottled, wholesome milk to the front door twice a week. Reminds me of black and white television days, homemakers straining to prepare hearty, large dinners of pot roast and pot pies.

Buttermilk Truck provides a niche service in the burgeoning market of gourmet lunch trucks in our City of Angels. The truck's menu consists of breakfast goodies like buttermilk pancakes, cinnamon french toast sticks, rosemary hash brown patties, coffee, tea, bottled orange juice and such. They offer a Friday and Saturday night "late-nite" munchies menu similar to its day time menu. Look out for the LA soul food special item of waffles and chicken!

REVIEW:
I ordered my favorite college breakfast menu item: the breakfast sandwich. Buttermilk upped the ante with a lightly greasy, dense-yet-fluffy biscuit which housed a fried egg, yummy apple chicken sausage and cheddar. I added a rosemary-hash brown patty and the total food tab came to $3.50. Not bad. Really not bad.

So the price and the food is tasty; just beware that as possibly filling as protein + biscuit + cheese is, for some, it may not be enough, which is okay, seeing as how Buttermilk Truck also offers up additional pancakes, pastries and french toast sticks for good prices as well.

Just beware: sodas, juices and especially water bottles can be expensive at $1.50, whereas other trucks will sell these beverage items for $1 or $1.25.

BOTTOM LINE: Korean-Mexican food truck fatigued? Go enjoy Buttermilk Truck for good, cheap, breakfast food.

Good Ol' Soul Food Cookin' at Larkins in Eagle Rock

I had heard many a thing about Larkins and knew that it had already been reviewed by Los Angeles Magazine (with whom I currently intern), and given great reviews. I'd driven past it's craftsman home location countless times as well, and even stopped once or twice only to find it closed on Monday AND Tuesday.



But this last Wednesday, November 4, I drove there with the intention of finally sitting down and eating the food I'd heard about. Why my haste? Even in the best economies, opening a restaurant and having it stick around is tricky; I couldn't be so sure this one would tough it out in these hard times.

Not to fear; I entered the restaurant and found two couples already sitting there, and while sitting with my eating companion, my mother, Karen, we saw at least six people come inside to eat. Apparently Larkins ain't doing so bad.

But how was the food you ask? Tasty, and a bit unexpected. To my delight there were more than a few bbq items smothered in bbq sauce. The menu featured the consummate corn-breaded catfish, meatloaf, gumbo and jambalaya. I was in the mood for fried chicken, and I ordered macaroni salad and potato salad as accompaniments.

The fried chicken plate consisted of three all-dark meat pieces (just the way I love it) and fried to a crispy finish. No complaints here.

The only thing I can complain about are the salad sides. Both were two sweet and pickel-y for my taste. The macaroni salad was cooked to an al dente finish, impressive, since most people cook pasta until it becomes flimsy and soft. The potatoes were cut chunky style, instead of mushy, but in the end tasted too much like vinegar and pickle.

Karen ordered an amazing hot links bbq po' boy that offered everything it claimed it would. The hot links were meaty, smoky and hot enough to leave a burn in the back of your throat. The bread was pillowy, and the bbq sauce was smokey, thick and sweet; the way good barbecue sauce should taste. Her sandwich came with a dainty salad side.

To finish everything off, Karen ordered unsweetened iced tea and I ordered bottomless house-made lemonade. She didn't liked her iced tea and thought it had a bit of a weird aftertaste. I tasted it and summed it up to being over-brewed (not altogether a bad thing, either, considering that under-brewed tea tastes like nothing). I couldn't ask for more with my lemonade--it was sweet, tart, refreshing, bottomless and served up in a mason jar.

Mama Larkins came out and served us our dessert: a triple layer red velvet cake with three layers of cream cheese frosting. Nothing too complicated or gourmet. But a tasty, moist, rich finish to an all together tasty meal.

Would I go to Larkins often? No. But if ever the mood strikes me for southern barbecue or soul food, Larkins is first on my mind.