Midtown Lunch

My love of food trucks is an odd obsession that has managed to endure many years despite numerous contradictions.  For one thing, even though I love to track the comings and goings of new food trucks it is always with a slightly disapproving eye.  “Did you seriously put money into this idea?” “Didn’t anybody warn you that food trucks are a losing proposition?”  “Didn’t you bother to ask!?”   Most new trucks are either too cute for their own good, more expensive than they should be, or (the worst offense) just downright awful.  As if dressing up shitty food in a painted truck is going to somehow turn it into the next Kogi.  And yet on indecisive lunch days I can’t resist heading to Miracle Mile, or Pennsylvania and 26th, or the newly re-opened food truck lot on Overland and Washington to see what’s going on.

Last week I was rewarded with “Cod Save the Queen”, a new fish and chips truck that launched at Coachella this year.  And as somebody who runs a website/podcast called Food is the New Rock, how could I not?

If you’ve ever been to a proper chip shop in the UK, you might be slightly disappointed with Cod Save the Queen. The fish and chips don’t come wrapped in paper, there’s no choice of fish (just cod, naturally), and no mushy peas.  It’s also a bit expensive for what you get, and they serve everything with lemon (!?)  But there is enough there to make anglophiles and expats smile, from the Chelsea stickers covering the truck to the bottle of HP sauce that sits next to the malt vinegar, ketchup, and salt.  Actually, forget about what I said about the Chelsea stickers.  That will only make Chelsea fans smile.

Even though cod is the only type of fish they have, there is also shrimp or salmon cakes (only in L.A.!) and chips each for $10, as well as bangers and chips for $9.  The best part is, they’ll let you mix and match any two into a combo for no extra charge.  I don’t know why I thought shrimp would be a better idea than bangers, but before I could think about it too much I had already combo’d up the fish and shrimp with chips.

The cod comes cut into hunks, and completely unseasoned so make sure you get some salt and vinegar on your food before walking away from the truck.   The fries were properly thick, although if I had to bet I’d say they came frozen in a package instead of being fresh cut.  Nothing mind blowing, but perfectly satisfying if you’re craving fish and chips (although next time I’ll get the bangers instead of the shrimp.)

They also have a menu of pies, including steak & ale, chicken and leek, and vegetable curry available ala carte for $7 or with chips for $11.  The steak and ale pie was a nice surprise, with big chunks of super tender stewed beef… although I should warn you that I don’t mind my pie crust a bit chewy along the outside.  If you’re looking for something super flaky and crusty you might be disappointed.

You can follow them on twitter for parking locations, although with Chelsea winning the FA Cup on Saturday I wouldn’t be surprised if they take today off…