TaKorea

Don’t close! This Austin trailer rocked.
Being Aussie we grow up with Asian food like americans grow up with Mexican — so this concept was perfect for us. Love the idea of Mexican food with Asian flavours.
The specials were fantastic. The vegetarian hot dog was delicious and hot. Too often vege dishes are bland and lack chilli. Not at TaKorea.
The cost was perfectly reasonable. I’d much prefer quality of produce over quantity.

I was already excited by the name itself — c’monnnn, cute and clever, no mattery how pun-​ny it may be. But much to my disappointment, the ONE thing I wanted was some bulgogi… and they had run out.
So my boyfriend and I had the Korean Hot Dog, which was fairly good. I liked the spiciness of it, though I wish that the dog itself was a little bigger.
Well, I’m kind of sad to see that they’re closing. I wanted to give it another try. I will say though that the guy that cooked everything was definitely a tropper for serving our large group and very nice. So props for that. :)

We decided to check out TaKorea on a Saturday for lunch. Craving bulgogi, we were pretty excited. Unfortunately, when our group arrived, we were disappointed to hear they ran out of beef… wheres the beef?!
We went with the pork and tofu tacos, and, for dessert, a spicy bacon infused brownie. The pork was a bit dry, but i was a fan of the slaw. I like the consistency and flavor of the tofu a lot and would recommend that over the pork. The brownie was a bit of a let down, with not a strong bacon flavor and too strong of the
Having not been able to try the beef and enjoying the tofu taco, i’ll give them the benefit of the doubt with 3 stars.

My friends spoke of a new Korean taco truck in town: TaKorea. I decided to try it out since I love tacos. When I saw it, I was pretty surprised by its appearance. It looked worn and dirty; nothing like I expected from a new taco stand. I later found out that the owner doesn’t actually own the truck, so that’s understandable, but a better outward appearance would definitely help a lot.
When we arrived at the front, the owner asked us questions such as if it was our first time and how we heard about them. He also made recommendations. I know that he was just doing a bit of research and a sales pitch, but everything seemed impersonal. We didn’t get a friendly vibe from him, and I don’t think I even saw him smile once. His clothes were also a bit dirty… but all of this was only a minor detraction from the food.
We decided to order the Korean hot dog with pork since it was unique to us. We were in a hurry, so we ordered it to go, which definitely messed up the presentation of the hot dog. I’ve been back before, and the hot dog looks MUCH better unwrapped since the sauce can be put on top. But looks aside, I really liked the flavors. The only thing that would be better is to have bigger hot dogs because the hot dog seemed overwhelmed by everything else.
I really think that this place has a lot of potential. It’s definitely a must-​try, anyway. Outward appearances could be fixed up (the menu was also written in scratchy handwriting, which added to the overall worn-​out look of the place), and everything could be brighter, friendlier, and cleaner, but I’d still come back again for the hot dogs and even try out their tacos.

If all tacos had cabbage instead of lettuce on them, I wouldn’t be sad. Iceberg is pointless; cabbage is crunchier, tangier and cooler. If all tacos came with an option for spicy tofu, I wouldn’t be sad, either. That stuff is tasty! If all tacos were cheeseless, I might be a little disappointed. Cheese is the glue that keeps the taco universe together, but it’s not vital for every single tacosaurus specimen — think of the freshest tacos you’ve had; they probably were cheese-​free, or had a bit of queso fresco on them, certainly not a bucketload.
So, I was definitely A-​OK with the cabbagey, tofu-​tastic, uncheesed «spicy tofu taco» at Takorea. The black sesame seeds didn’t exactly do anything amongst all the other, more powerful flavors, but the whole thing came together nicely. Corn tortilla maintained its integrity for the length of the taco, which says the tofu wasn’t soggy like some.
And this week’s special portobello katsu taco REALLY got my taste buds tingling (not from spiciness, which was mysteriously lacking, or from some weird tingling poison; it’s a figure of speech, people!), but I figure you’ll visit after the special is long gone, so dwelling on the crispy shrooms and funky sauce isn’t worth your reading time — unless they’re offered, in which case you should definitely get one, or two.
There was one guy working the hot trailer on the night we came, and he was friendly if a little scattered, which I totally get, as there’s a lot to remember in a one-​man restaurant operation. He assured us the food we were getting was far from authentic, but that didn’t matter to us.
Six bucks for a special and a regular taco wasn’t bad given the many ingredients and unusual flavors I was served. I’ll likely be back.

Y.U.M.
I’ve seen this truck on the way to work but have never stopped. (Because I don’t have time. It’s 8:58 and I still have to go 7 blocks. The kind of people who have time to stop and get tacos on the way to work, who ARE those people?)
Tonight I went to twitter and found out that TaKorea would be @6^th and Waller (east side, what what!) AND we had cash. (Also, those people who always have cash, who are THOSE people?) There were 5 trucks serving food tonight (plus free beer due to #19’s grand opening party) so we ordered from a few.
But TaKorea was my fave. I had the veggie dog with cabbage and spicy tofu. It was all the way awesome. The dog was good, the cabbage was good, the tofu added a spiciness and there was some kind of sesame seed salsa over the whole thing. Halfway through eating it I noticed the bun. I think it was a potato bun? It was melting in my mouth. Perfection.
I took away a star because of their beverage choices but then I added a star because the name TaKorea is sheer brilliance.

Meh, I haven’t experienced better, but that’s because this was my first time experimenting with this Korean-​Mexican craze. I pass by this truck everyday on my way home and eventually tried it with some friends on a hot Saturday when it happened to be serving at that location. I ordered the pork belly taco — pork belly itself was nice and flavorful, but the tortilla was really dry, and I don’t know, it just didn’t satisfy. It’s only $ 3.50, but the size of the taco makes it more of a snack than a meal. Maybe I’m just not too crazy about this type of fusion. I would be willing to try their hot dogs, though.

Shady looking truck, in the middle of a plateau. I’m glad that there were umbrellas at the picnic tables since it was hot, and it was empty, but probably because we went in the middle of the afternoon. I thought the tacos would be bigger, but overall the beef BBQ taco was pretty good and I remember wishing there was more of it. Both guys were friendly though and checked up on us, but I remember wanting to eat real lunch afterward.

Last weekend my husband and I went to Austin for a vacation. Almost all of my college friends and former roommates met us there for a weekend of pure delights. We swam at Barton Springs, went boating on Lake Travis, and dined out for every meal. Everyone from Texas should take this vacation at least once a year, by the way. If you are from Dallas or Houston please leave the stilettos at home, as you might be accused of destroying the environment by stabbing a leaf or an insect on the ground. In fact, I wore my swim gear and flip-​flops straight from the pool to my new favorite restaurant in Austin, Takorea.
The food truck culture is an anomaly to tourists from Dallas. I saw dozens of them all over Austin. When I went to school at UT all we had were the Vietnamese stands on campus, which went out of business when it was discovered that they constituted one of the biggest mafia rings in Austin (I think they were selling drugs alongside the dumplings but maybe I just heard rumors… whatever, the food was disgusting but I ate it constantly because food trucks are so convenient).
Nowadays the food trucks in Austin are manned by fabulous gourmet chefs. Some of them are painted and adorned like buses in Latin America, and visiting them harks back to the days of summertime visits to the neighborhood ice-​cream truck, except there are no pedos in cut-​off jean shorts at the wheel.
My favorite is Takorea. The outside of the truck looks cleaner than most and the phrase «East meets Mex» was intriguing. I ordered the spicy tofu taco in a cabbage wrap and the Hawaiian Thai Taco. The spicy tofu taco would be my breakfast every morning if I lived in Austin. It was flavorful and robust and it feels really healthy. The Hawaiian Thai taco is outstanding. The sausage was cooked to perfection and the craisins added a layer of flavor complexity that I was not expecting.
The owner was very cool. He seemed passionate about his recipes and answered all of my questions about the menu in a friendly manner. This was a welcome change from the typical Austin server — reading Aristotle’s Politics in one hand and angrily flicking off the customer with the other.
I would have ordered any type of fish taco but none was offered the day we were there. I hope that they will expand their menu to include fish in the future. My only serious complaint is that Takorea was not open on Sunday or Monday.
People of Dallas: We need a refreshing aquifer that enriches the whole city with natural pools. We need rolling hills, more live music, apathetic and overqualified waitstaff at every restaurant, and please, we need gourmet food trucks!
Thank you, Takorea. Please fed-​ex me a spicy tofu taco on cabbage every day.

So you love tacos, but hate how fat they make you.
What if I told you that you could have everything you love about delicious, tasty tacos but none of that chubbiness that comes after?
Shutup, fatty, I’m not done talking.
That’s right, at TaKorea you can have your taco and eat it too. You want it on the corn tortilla? DONE. You wanna cut some more cals and carbs outta the mix? OK, here’s the cabbage wrap. See how easy that was?
What’s that, you say? Where’s the cheese? Well, you’re in Austin so if you want some cheese on a taco I’m sure you can somehow find a place that will make one for you, you cheesy taco eatin’ motha–
BUT DON’T YOU SEE? That’s the beauty of it! Take a look under the hood of one of these babies — like the spicy beef taco. Nothing but healthy cabbage, Korean style sauteed meet and spicy sauce — but the flavor explosion that occurs in your mouth would make Kim Jong Il jealous.
This is no government propaganda my friends, no sir.
It’s all about the freshness of the ingredients and an ingenious concept that is executed extremely well.
Let me paint you a little picture because I heard your’e a visual learner:
The Mexicans achieved a near-​perfect flavor delivery mechanism — the taco. Piggybacking off of that advanced tortilla technology, the Korean Deliciousness Lab (KDL) scrapped the internal design of the Mexican taco — almost completely — and instead used their own hardware.
This means everything you love about Korean culture — the sauteed meats, the healthy vegetables and spicy sauces — and nothing you don’t — DPRK, lying about torpedos sinking boats, nuke testing — is ALL RIGHT THERE IN THE TACO!
EAST. MEETS. MEX.
It says it right there on the truck.
What’s that you say? Are there downsides to this ingenious, cross-​cultural culinary copulation?
(Didn’t I tell you to stop talking?)
OK well, I guess so – just a couple. It was blazingly hot outside and the guy that runs it (A BONAFIDE KOREAN DUDE) could do with an awning and maybe some chairs with umbrellas around his truck. They also don’t take credit cards, which means I had to hobble my twisted ankle ass down the street to the nearest Chase bank (long story about the ankle, let’s just say it involved alcohol and is probably on youtube right now), which made me feel like I was back in the 1970’s which is impossible because I’m a Christian and Jesus hates time travel.
I see some people have been complaining about things taking long. Can we make a distinction here, please? Just because you are eating tacos — out of a truck — does NOT mean you are eating fast food.
Nah dog that shit is GOURMET.
I’m not kidding! The flavors are extremely sophisticated. That Korean Deliciousness Lab is definitely NOT fake and the guy that owns the truck, Paul, is most likely the head scientist at that lab. How else could these flavors be achieved?
I even got my hands on his special of the day, the Thai Hawaiian taco with sausage. It was a little sweet and sour and get this. Shit had craisins in it.
I AINT PLAYIN!
It was so unexpected and it pretty much blew me away. I don’t live in Austin and believe me, I don’t want to. BUT if I could steal TaKorea and take it with me back to Dallas, which is possible because the whole restaurant is on wheels, I would.
Get you some Takos!

Bring a fork! The meat is so juicy that the little corn tortilla has not shot at keeping together-​I like this. I may request two corn tortillas next time. Spicy Pork Taco and Pork Belly Taco are personal choices.
The guys are really nice and even come out to check on you-​good service for a food cart-​as food carts forget about you the moment you leave the window.
Go support the Longhorn food Court if you’re in West Campus!

Just FYI, I love street food as a general rule. There is something very artistic about stripping kitchen food down to its bare essentials and rebuilding it from the ground up with the goal of being able to serve it while mingling with the masses. I think I would love Thailand, with all the street vendors riding around with kitchens attached to their bikes and whipping up a thai tea or pad thai on the fly. But I digress.
I’ve had the hot dogs and sampled all of the tacos and love the flavors. In general, I avoid tofu (i just prefer the consistency of the pork and chicken). The lack of seating may be off-​putting to some folks. Maybe as more trailers set-​up they will pool a little cash for some picnic tables?
From reading other reviews, it seems like when these are served right, they are amazing… and when rushed maybe less so. I was fortunate enough to have my pick of freshly prepared ingredients and found them to be excellent.
I’m a sriracha sauce addict, so having this sauce gets them an extra star in my book. I can’t help adding a few drops of this to just about everything. I recommend trying a bite of the tacos first, and then adding a drop or two of sriracha afterwards. My guess is that most of your will find a new favorite topping (great on pizza or eggs, and in guacamole).
In general, a great little lunch spot worth visiting with friends who are in the mood for a fast, tasty, modern take on tacos.

This is my new favorite place! Takorea just opened up on MLK and every time i drive by, I end up swinging a quick right into their lot. My favorites are spicy chicken and Beef BBQ… but owner told me about this portabella mushroom special that i really want to try!
My veggie friend loved the veggie dog, and i tried it and it was tasty :)

This is the best food ive tasted since moving to Austin (6 months now) period!
Ive had everything on the menu multiple times. Most people seem to love the bbq hot dogs, and they are indeed tasty, but my favorite is definitely the tacos. The pork, chicken, and beef are all equally tasty which is why i usually order all 3 when i go there. The cabbage wrap option are delicious and healthy as well, definitely worth a try. The service is relatively quick and the owner is very friendly/​social. Its only gotten better each time ive gone!

I’ve had pretty much every type of fusion food except the Korean Taco trend that has been spreading to the likes of NY and TX from the good ol’ LA. But, I have to say, I wasn’t too pleased here.
I got the pork on corn tortillas and the beef on a cabbage roll. The flavors were there, but everything else was pretty much a miss. Oh, and they ran out of the Pork-​Belly taco at 1PM. That was my main impetus for going…
The meats had the right Korean BBQ texture: small and tender. They were a bit dried out, and there wasn’t much that separated beef from pork. The meat was not even close to being warm. The cabbage roll was extremely greasy and cold, and it was dripping its juices through my eating container. The corn tortillas were cold and dry. That’s not how a taco should be.
At $ 2.50 a pop for the normal tacos, the gimmick factor of having a Korean Taco truck close to the UT campus is a good idea, but I was not very pleased with the food as a whole. Maybe I’ll give them a second shot.

This is stop #15 on my 2010 Austin trailer quest.
Time: 7:30 p.m.
Day: Friday, March 19, 2010*
*SXSW
Order: Beef BBQ Taco and Pork Belly Taco
Total: $ 5
I had high hopes and I was hungry. I could cut them a little slack because it was SXSW and they were perched right in the middle of it. But, I won’t, because a festival is no excuse for poorly made food. I can handle a longer wait, or no place to sit, but the food should be made to the same standard as a normal day, and this food looked and tasted «meh».
Where’s the firey kick? Where’s the Korean flair? All I tasted were limp cucumbers and bland meat.

Not just one, but two Korea tacos trucks in Austin to compete with the likes of Kogi in LA? Who wins? All local foodies, of course! I went with TaKorea this weekend, but hopefully I will get to try ChiLantro soon.
I was greedy and tried all four tacos, the hot dog with pork, and the brownie. They were all delicious, although the pork and beef tasted pretty much the same. I agree with Jason P. that the tacos were more runny, particularly the tofu one, than greasy, but the plastic tray keep droppings off me. My favorite was definitely the hot dog. Their brownies look and taste homemade = easy to claim as your own creation.
The service was quick and friendly, but seating was limited to a few chairs and the curb as other Unilocalers have mentioned.
When we were leaving, they were like drug dealers and tried to tempt us with a new taco they were testing: pork belly, my fav! Way too stuffed, but I’ll definitely be back.

Saw a note in the Austin American Spaceman last week that this place was open and was immediately intrigued.
Tried the Spicy Pork Taco and, for good measure, the Hebrew National Hot Dog with the beef topping since I already had pork on the taco. Since I like my food spicy he also recommended that I try the sriracha sauce. Both the taco and the dog were outstanding. In a town with 1000 Taco trucks this stands out.
The hot dog bun was perfect and didn’t get soggy, even after the 15 minute drive back to the office. The beef topping and cabbage gave the dog a satisfying texture and complimented the taste. I ate half before adding the sriracha. It added another layer of flavor without overwhelming the taste.
The pork taco was served on two perfect corn tortillas. Two is a nice touch — the taco didn’t disintegrate in my hand. The pork was juicy and tasty. The sriracha again added a bit more fire.
The bonus of the meal was scrawled at the bottom of the menu — the $ 1 brownie. Mammoth (4 – 5 inches square) and chocolaty, though it could use a little more spice.
Service was quick and the owner was appreciative of the fact that I’d made the trip north to find him. Total bill for hot dog, taco and huge brownie was only $ 7.
Negatives:
The location stinks, but hopefully that will be rectified.
Not one table.
This is a nice tasty place to eat. I plan to go back with my friends.

Pretty tasty stuff! I highly recommend the Hot Dog w/​Korean meat fixins!
I tried the Tofu taco; it was very good as well. Location doesn’t help these guys but once they find a good spot they will be good to go!
Friendly service as well. I wouldn’t say it was greasy like some of the other folks have said; not sure what is greasy… there seems to be a marinade of some sort; so it’s runny… but not greasy!

Cropped up in a truck on the corner of I-​35 and 2222 there it is. East meets Mex (love that tag line) Korean tacos are served. We went today on the first day they were open.
They have a limited menu (which I liked): Beef, Pork, Chicken and Tofu tacos (eat them with a cabbage leaf for a low carb choice!) and a Korean hot dog. The tacos on the corn tortillas were a great size and tasted delicious and spicy. The hot dog came topped with beef bbq and I could tell by the look on my boyfriend’s face that he was in love. I was jealous.
I think once this place gets over their newbie snafus, it’s going to have 5-​star potential! The owner, Paul, is a great guy and the food is quite delicious. I mean, how many Korean tacos have YOU eaten? Exactly. Get over there and try it out for yourself.
Props for starting something new and interesting in town!