Restaurant review: Pancake truck in Koreatown
Although it looks like a truck where you get cheap tacos, according to 16-year-old Lia, it’s the home of the best and most unusual pancakes she’s ever had.
After my family finishes our grocery shopping on weekends, we like to stop at the pancake truck outside the entrance of the California Supermarket on the corner of Western Avenue and Fifth Street. The truck, which looks like one of those white trucks that typically sell tacos and burritos, is located in front of the supermarket’s Oxford Street entrance and has a large sign written in Korean on top. On the side of the truck there is a green sign that says, “Pancakes $1.” Through the window of the truck, you can see a man and two women cooking at a griddle. Another man standing at the side window takes orders from people getting a snack after finishing their grocery shopping. Pancakes are the only thing the truck sells.
The first time I tried them, I was very excited because I always smelled the sugar and butter when we went grocery shopping and had always wanted to try them. I wasn’t too nervous about getting food from a truck because it had been there for such a long time, I figured someone would have complained if the pancakes were unsafe.
After I tried the pancakes, I loved them. They don’t taste anything like traditional buttermilk pancakes. They are made of rice flour and are more chewy than cake-like. The insides are gooey because they are filled with sweet peanut paste and maple syrup. They’re the perfect size, about four inches, so that you don’t feel guilty about eating them afterwards.
It’s best to eat the pancakes fresh. Otherwise, they get hard. Once, my mom picked up a few pancakes and brought them home, and we waited a few hours before we decided to eat them. When we took them out of the container, they were hard like rice that gets left in the refrigerator too long. We reheated them in the microwave. They got soft again but weren’t crispy anymore.
Sometimes, there are no people waiting in line and getting the pancakes is very fast. Other times, there are about 10 people in line so it can take 15 to 20 minutes because the people in the truck grill the pancakes fresh. There’s also a taco truck in front of the California Supermarket parking lot, so don’t mix them up.
I highly recommend the pancakes from the truck in front of the California Supermarket. They make a tasty treat.
California Supermarket
450 S. Western Ave.
Los Angeles, CA 90020
