When you think of food like chorizo and waffles, you obviously think about breakfast, but it's not often that you see them morphed together into a delicious creation that melts in your mouth.
Fellow Foodbeaster Peter Pham and I took a trip down to the NoHo Arts District in North Hollywood, Calif. to check out Bow & Truss' Chorizo and Cotija Waffle and the rest of the crazy eats they had to offer.
With a calculated effort to not only make every dish stand out, but actually taste legit, Bow & Truss holds its own as a chill, up-and-coming spot in California with an inventive menu.
When we sat down, we immediately read the menu, looked at each other and said, 'Where do we start?'
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We started with Chorizo and Cotija Waffles
Isai: I'm at a point in my life where I'm 94 percent sure I've tried everything with bacon, and I feel chorizo is fit to be my next addiction. Chorizo inside the waffle? Good lord. The cotija cheese was a nice touch that added to the Mexican-style flavor. It might sound weird to pour on a spice-filled sauce on a waffle, but the cayenne pepper sauce made it complete.
Peter: I've thrown practically everything into waffle batter. But I've never thought to include one of my favorite meats ever: chorizo. Orgasmically savory with chucks of chorizo in every other bite, this was worth the drive alone.
Note: They also have dulce de leche and strawberry banana stuffed waffles on the menu. Both sound insanely good.
Wild Boar Bacon
Isai: When the waitress warned us that it's not regular bacon, I got chills. This thing was like bacon disguised as a steak. Wild indeed.
Peter: I love bacon. So when the idea of eating bacon that looks like it was carved from the belly of the Incredible Hulk presented itself, we HAD to jump onboard.
Pork Tacos
Isai: I didn't know how to eat these massive tacos. I waited to see what Peter did and followed. The homemade tortillas made them look kind of like sopes, but if they tell me it's a taco, I'm not arguing.
Peter: The Pork Belly tacos were a mountain of meat onboard tiny pieces of tortillas. And I was OK with that. I had to trim it down with a fork before I could even fold it.
Note: We'd like to apologize for the lack of taco in the picture. There were actually four tacos on the plate, but we skipped breakfast that morning and. . . yeah.
Cheesy Jamon con Huevos
Peter: I'll let the picture I took speak for itself.
Isai: This plate had ham and over easy eggs on top of an open-faced baguette. It had slices of pickled jalapeno mixed in that gave it a bit of a kick. When we cut it in half and the egg oozed out, we just stopped and admired it for a second. It was like a ham sandwich for hipsters.
Cheesecake
Isai: Head pastry chef Stephanie Garcia had the nerve to tell us this was just a regular cheesecake. It was not just a regular cheesecake, it was the perfect ending to a glorious meal. The cake was topped with a caramel syrup that made it taste like some kind of flan cake. Peter did take a small bite of the cheesecake, however, and said something along the lines of, "Oh, wow... I hate my body."
Peter: Ugh. Lactose intolerant fail.
Chilaquiles
Isai: I did not have room for anything more. Peter did take a plate of these home and...
Peter: It's an awesome breakfast item I've grown to love over the last year. Definitely something I'd come back for. The flavors were on point.
All in all, we were thoroughly impressed with the menu here. We didn't even get to touch on the dinner menu, but it's obvious that every plate is intended to have its own personality. It's not often that you can order anything on a menu and know it's going to be tastefully different, but Bow and Truss does it successfully.
Photography by Peter Pham
11122 Magnolia Blvd.
North Hollywood, CA
