Recession Obsession: Mobile Japanese Burgers

Japanese Pork Burger
A Recession Obsession is, 1) a meal so great that it sticks in your mind long after digestion's end, and, 2) plays nice with your sensitive wallet. Is there a better place than Los Angeles to eat a wide variety of amazing food that so happens to be inexpensive? Probably not. We're as lucky as we are well fed. We last obsessed over A Great New Indian Spot, and Sky's Gourmet Tacos. Today, we obsess...

I’ve been following Marked5 (one of the children of the post-Kogi mobile foodscape boom) on Twitter for a few months. Doing so kept reminding me, in 140 character bursts, that their Japanese burgers were roaming the city, awaiting my taste buds.

Finally, myself and some friends (who wonderfully documented our journey,) checked out one of Marked5’s two trucks. It was parked outside of Myspace, in Beverly Hills, serving the area’s lunch crowd. (I wonder if they were denied at parking spot out front of Friendster.)

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My group delighted in Marked5’s Japanese burgers, each costing but $5 a piece. You guessed it (I hope,) the mobile Marked5 is LAist’s latest Recession Obsession.

Where’s The Beef?

Marked5’s menu is just what my high school teachers called me: simple. They offer one main product, in four combinations: Torraku Beef (100% Angus Beef,) Katsu Pork, Chicken Curry and Torakku V (tofu.)

Served on homemade ricebuns -- made from stuck-together rice -- these aren’t your average burgers. In sticking together, the teamwork these pieces of rice exhibit is admirable (the Dodgers could take note.) Of my lunchbunch’s three burgers, only one of our buns didn’t make it until meal’s end.

My Katsu Pork burger was as tasty as it was interesting. I had never had anything like it before, but my enjoyment wasn’t sheer novelty. This light-ish bite was pretty good. However, I wasn’t left without complaint because the burger didn’t seem to live up to its potential. The teriyaki sauce was a little too thick and this dish might’ve soared with a different cut of pork. It was a lightly breaded piece, which was a little lacking.

I didn’t try chicken curry but my friend seemed to like it. That’s the one I’d like to try next, because there will be another visit, only I probably won’t revisit them at Myspace. Having recently canceled my account I’m afraid they’ll chase me off the property.

• Link: Watch VendrTV Eat Marked5