Some background… one night Hav and I were watching tv and we saw a feature on KoJa Kitchen on the Food Network (I think?) about this place… I remember them talking about the rice buns and how they had the molds custom made… and the special hot sauce had a ton of ingredients. The buns were what initially peaked my interest. So we decided to go to the Off the Grid at UN Plaza in SF to check it out. I was so excited… !!

We got there right before lunch time so we just missed the long lines (whew), and as we were looking at their very high tech food truck (they have tv displays with the menu, whoaaa), I saw it….

KAMIKAZE FRIES. OMFG. So I ordered the KoJa combo with the beef koja and the kamikaze fries.

Here it is!! The presentation was amazing (that’s the vegetarian koja on the right… holy crap I couldn’t find a place fast enough to sit down and dig in!!

The Koja sandwich was AWESOME!!! The garlic rice bun was toasty and kind of crispy on the outside but still sticky rice-like on the inside. It was really good and a super unique alternative to traditional buns. The beef was very tender and flavorful! It was so good I ate every last bit.

Now for a truly life changing moment… THE KAMIKAZE FRIES. Let me just say that it has been almost 2 months now since I’ve had these fries and they are still a) on my mind almost daily, and b) have saved me from awkward situations as the topic of many conversation starters. When I’m bored and thinking about what I’d like to be eating at any moment, the kamikaze fries are either 1st or 2nd on my mind.. I’m not kidding.

If you didn’t know, I freaking love french fries. They are my favorite food EVER and it’s been a real challenge out here on the west coast to find a) good fries and b) disco fries of any kind. So hail to the fry gods, lord fry is here!

Take a good look at the fry pic. I know it’s not that good. That’s because I was so eager to eat that I just took a few really fast pics after I received the food from the window (because a long line was forming around me)… When we finally sat down I was too impatient and started eating right away so I messed up my opportunity to take amazing photos… but that’s ok because I know I’ll be back.

Anyway, back to the fries. They are WAFFLE fries and are topped with – or should I say drenched in korean bbq beef (ground up), sour cream, hot sauce, green onion, and probably some other stuff that I can’t remember – but it doesn’t matter because it’s A-MAZING and you’ll be snarfing this little paper tray of fries faster than you can breathe. The waffle fries are perfectly fried and crispy. I don’t know what kind of oil they fry them in but whatever it is, don’t change it!

Basically KoJa Kitchen is the freaking BOMB… you need to go there asap. Holy shiitake! Since experiencing KoJa Kitchen for the first time in Oct, I’ve definitely found myself first in line at 10:50am waiting for fries… need I say more?

KoJa Kitchen travels around the Bay Area – they’re always somewhere different everyday… so follow them on Facebook and Twitter to find out where they will be next!

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We arrived right before it started to get really dark… it was only open for an hour and already the place was packed.

There weren’t as many food trucks there as I thought there would be… in fact there were about 6 or 7 and a drink tent.  The lines for all of the trucks were super long except this adorable truck on the end, El Sur empanadas artisenales. I was standing pretty close to it and the buttery smell wafting out of the window was making me kray… I HAD TO GET ONE.

I got a “champignones” (mushroom) for $4 and it came warm and piping hot!

OMFG. This thing was freaking AMAZING. For the love of freaking bejeezus if you like mushrooms and cheese, you need to find this truck asap and get your paws on one! It am kicking myself now for not trying more flavors.

When I bit into it, mushrooms and cheese oozed out from a flakey buttery awesome crust. There’s really nothing like cheesy goodness stuffed inside a flakey pocket… the mushrooms were sliced very thin so it was nice to not have to really chew too much and I really did appreciate that it was warm because then it felt more “meal-like”, if you know what I mean.

This $4 empanada really made my night. I also had an “artisenal” mini burrito (hot slop in an eggroll wrapper) from the truck next door which was NOT GOOD, but we won’t go there.

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Find out where El Sur will be on Twitter and here’s their website.

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