East Side King @ The Grackle

Bomb food trailor. Im gonna eat the menu in one sitting. Watch.

Yummy, fresh and friendly. I wish I’d written this review earlier since it’s been a few months since we went.
What I do remember is one of the cooks coming over to check on us mid meal. Very attentive for a food truck.

Mmmm. Everything was ridiculously excellent. Age mochi, kale salad, blasted broccoli. Amazing. Months ago and I’m still dreaming about it!

Don’t pass up the opportunity to eat here at least once if you’re in the area. I’ve been here a couple of times and will probably be back here a couple more times in the near future. I might dock a half-​star for the pricey-​ness of the food, but the quality and taste is good enough, and the presentation of the food merits an additional quarter-​star :p The food tasted as good as it looked!
One might have high expectations from Paul Qui’s line of food trucks, and one would be fairly pleased with how the food turns out. Tonight I had the Pork Shoulder Steak and the Jambalaya Congee special. The jambalaya was solid but not spectacular. I still thought it was tasty – jambalaya is comfort food of sorts anyway, and I’d give it a B+ grade. The pork shoulder was excellent – tender and tasty with a very nicely poached egg over rice. This was probably the best pork I’ve had since Salty Sow…
With tip, two entrees came out to about $ 18-​$ 19. Just a bit on the pricey side, but you know, it’s convenient and really tasty. You won’t be hurting much. And you’ll be happy and full after the meal :)

The second time visiting ESK but the first time at the Grackle.
Chicken Wings — ³⁄₅ (disappointed)
I thought the wings were a little bit too salty
Yaki Tori w/​Rice — (⁴⁄₅)
You cant go wrong with fried chicken skin and the mayo for the chicken thigh was pretty damn tasty!
Pork Rib — ⁴⁄₅
Definitely get the these ribs if you go!

Phenomenal! This was my first experience at this ESK, and I must say, I enjoyed the food much more than I did at The Liberty Bar. They have totally different menus.
We were able to walk right up and order, and then go grab some beers inside at The Grackle (awesome bar, btw!!!). The wife and I shared the Age-​Mochi (rice cakes) which was awesome! I then had the pork belly lettuce wraps — which were INCREDIBLE. Definitely a very interesting flavor, and of course, very unique. I definitely recommend this one.

Ordered katsu sandwich and beef tongue sandwich. Wait was a bit longer than we expected… then again we are used to the LA hectic lifestyle. When the food came, we realized the wait is worth it.
Honest cooking with fresh ingredients. An ok portion but least the food is good.
The only discomfort is mosquitoes sucking our blood during our meal. Otherwise, a good find!

5 stars. No point and describing their food. Just go and freaking try their amazing food

If this place had ceilings, they could seriously upcharge the food and people would pay. Restaurant quality right out of a truck! I expect nothing less from Paul Qui. I got the Chicken Yakitori and my friend got the Pork Shoulder Steak. The Chicken Yakitori was the better of the two dishes, in my opinion, and recommended by the staff there.
The truck is located in the lot of the Grackle, so you can always grab a beer with your meal. There are other ESK trucks in different locations with different menus, so it’s worth perusing all of them. For vegetarians, choices at this location are limited to the sides, but it looks like there are more options at other locations.

This is how food trucks should be cooking.
While this wasn’t their brick and mortar location, we still decided to check it out. There’s high praise for Paul Qui’s East Side King so there was high expectations. The group and i ordered the katsu sandwich and the chicken wings. The katsu was very good. Nicely toasted bread with fried pork belly, it was extremely tasty. The chicken wings were charred and cooked perfectly. Juicy with great flavor, it was a nice combination with unique flavors.
Gotta check out the hole in the wall location to try more of this good food.

I am came here wanting to try Paul Qui’s cuisine (after reading about this Filipino chef who won Top Chef).
The truck is located outside of the Grackle where you can dine outside with your meal and get your craft beer from the bar at The Grackle.
I highly recommend stopping by. Their menu may change so I’d recommend asking them for their recommendation.
Parking may be difficult as on the Eastside, they have a pretty happening nightlife scene. I was lucky to score a parking spot right in front.

I had read some pretty great things about East Side King prior to moving here. I’m a sucker for anything related to Food Network or The Cooking Channel, so when I read this was the brainchild of Top Chef Winner Paul Qui, I knew it was going to be amazing.
I robbed the menu descriptions to do a better job of explaining (and photographed) what I had than I could’ve. I also take no shame in stealing from Yo Gabba Gabba in saying that there was a party in my tummy. This was an experience that bears repeating. I used to be picky when I was younger… it’s moments like this that I realize growing older and learning to take my parents’ advice and try things was a good decision.
What I had:
Pork Shoulder Steak (left): Grilled & glazed pork shoulder, rice, slow poached egg, sweet chili sauce, sunomono (pickled veggies), grilled green onion, rice.
Fried Curry Pig Ears with Mint Aioli & Spicy Coconut Sauce (right): Pig ears braised and fried, garnished with green curry powder, herbs, mint aioli & spicy coconut sauce.

I think people are confused here. I mean, this is a review for ESK, right? Good. I’m not particularly impressed with this location. I mean, I’m particularly impressed with ESK in general. And this one doesn’t compare to their locations at Shangri La or at The Liberty.
Mewants buns!

I hate to do this, but I’m honestly very diassapointed with the new menu. This was my favorite ESK location, but it’s lost it’s charm. I only tried a few items off the menu, but that’s because there are several items that are ridiculously expensive for trailer food.
Katsu Sando– the pork belly resembled fish much moreso than the pork belly I’m used to getting from ESK. The «brioche» really tasted like some greasy buttery grilled cheese sandwich bread from my childhood… which isn’t necessarily a bad thing, but far from what I’d expect from this establishment.
Foie Don– very underwhelmed with this $ 17 dish. 1 small piece of foie gras, 3 pieces of unagi, and 3 slices of avocado. The foie gras and unagi were good, but for $ 17 I expect more of both. Honestly the dish was about 95% rice. I will not waste my money on this again.
Shira-​ae — this little concoction was the best dish we had. It wasnt like «OMG, I must have this again», but at least worth trying.
While the new menu looks good on paper, it was very poorly executed during my most recent visit. Paul Qui may have developed a menu too complex for his food truck staff to faithfully recreate.

Honestly, I don’t see why this place was so great…
Food:
— Beef Tongue Slider. I heard that these were originally served on a Chinese steam Bao (bread), but instead, I was given two very small sliders on toast. The beef tongue was well cooked and fried, but for $ 7, I don’t know if I can justify doing that again.
— Pork Belly. Again, served on toast (I think i’m just turned off by toast…) and well cooked. Also $ 7.
The only thing that I found good over here was the meat, which would have been easily bought, prepared, and cooked at home. This is a great Austin-​y food truck place that would be fun to try for the tourist, but I don’t think I can justify ever spending that much money for such little food of a mediocre quality.
Sorry. :\

This place has the most decadent finger sandwiches I’ve ever seen outside of a southern women’s tea party. My goodness. Wow.
Sure, they leave the crusts on here, but they’re stuffed full of exotic ingredients like lengua and foie gras. I’ve never had tongue outside of a Mexican restaurant until I came here, and this – this was fantastic. Super moist and tender. I usually hate breaded coating on anything, too, but this was light, crisp and spicy.
I say «finger sandwiches» only because of the compact size of the bread. In between those compact halves were a massive chunk of meat. It was just enough for a late snack.
They take cards, but their minimum is usually $ 10. The counter staff was super nice when they saw I’d forgotten cash and let me charge the $ 7 anyway, so that was awesome.
I also loved all the trippy artwork on the side of the trailer. More trailers like this, please!
My only complaint is that I wish they were open earlier and/​or for lunch!

I’ve come here multiple times with friends and tried out a couple new dishes.
1.) Nasu Rice (Grilled Japanese eggplant, sweet miso, sesame seed, green onion on rice) $ 5: Very simple presentation with 6 or so pieces of grilled eggplant. The flavor was very simple as well, with good char on the eggplant, and a great sweet, salty flavor. I don’t usually go for vegetarian dishes, but this was definitely a good dish.
2.) «Instant’ Ramen Noodle (Instant ramen noodle, pork belly, poached egg, green onion, and kimchee) $ 6: I was disappointed in the dish. I liked the presentation in the instant ramen bowl, but there wasn’t enough food. There was barely any pork belly and what little there was had been sliced way too thin. The flavor of the soup itself was only okay and everything ended on a salty note.
I still like The Grackle, but the instant ramen noodle just didn’t do it for me and fell short of what I had hoped.

I’m over the moon for the tender, moist, spicy, succulent Pork Ribs. Eat them naked in your hot tub with your favorite beverage while listening to Frank Sinatra.
Fly me to the moon, Frank.

Aww yeah, this place ROCKS I tell ya! Awesome option for late night munchies if you’re out and about. Forget carbing up on pizza dough and flour tortillas, I’m talking some of the best Chicken Yaki Tori and Pork Belly in town!
I’ve been here before, my review was pending, but went back last weekend w/​some friends as we were looking for something new. The guys who work here were really cool, they are very friendly and aim to please. They said top sellers were the Pork Belly and Chicken Yaki Tori dishes that come with rice and a little veggies — — alright, we’re game!
It’s so awesome when it’s so cold outside (45ish) and you’re at a trailer, but you don’t have to wait outside and freeze while they cook your food — — here you can go into The Grackle and they’ll bring your food to you. We were so impressed — — the chicken had so much flavor, the pork belly was excellent, and the Korean kim chee they put with it was awesome too.
When it comes to Pork Belly — for a trailer these guys are tops. My other go-​to Pork Belly place is The Carillion, but that’s sit down and dressy. Uchiko’s is a close 2^nd, but I’m all about these East Side Kings. Next up I’m going for their ribs — — which looks spectacular — — YEEE HAW!

I used to work with this hilarious Asian woman who would bring in shrimp ball soup and say «Look at these balls! Imagine how big the shrimp was!» and I was appropriately horrified and amused. This is not that time or person but anything that says «fish balls» or «shrimp balls» makes me think of ol’ Lucia. Its true — she lives in my memory forever.
The reason that this is pertinent is that these guys have fish balls on skewers and they’re super yumdiddlyumptious. Not fishy at all and with a really delicious flavor. In fact, they were one of the things I liked the most at this bastion of exotic flavors and meats. Liver and gizzards and tongue oh my! Everything tasted unique and hot and spicy and I looooved that it was a little bit of a tasting menu.
Pork belly, mushrooms, fish balls, rice and tongue won in the grand battle o’ flavor. But I really won… because I was able to order almost everything on the menu for $ 16. That, my friends, is a nice treat for my wallet… and for my palate.