Ajumama

Got to try this on the Columbus food adventure and got to try two items. Both were delicious!
This truck has a clear point of view, and that comes through. Even though they do Korean food, you want see tacos or burritos. You’ll see what they call, a mix of Korean with Midwest.
One of the items I had was their version of arancini, a deep fried ball of rice and veggies. Then we had their version of a falafel. Delicious. Came with some to die for sauces as well. Hope to try it again soon!

So good and loved bulgoggi sandwich! It was flavorful and the quality was amazing. One of my favorite food trucks. Plus today 10% went to Children’s Hospital so AWESOME when small business owners care!

one of my favorites by far, they came to my job today and i had the best hot dog ever. spicy and grilled just right. the owner is a sweetie pie and gave me lots of good advice for a upcoming endevor. worth a try guys

I had tried Ajumama a couple years ago to see all the commotion about the Bulgogi Cheesesteak sandwich they’ve been known where, especially since I saw it on Eat St. My buddy and I tried it that day, and although it was one of the greasiest and messy sandwiches I’d ever tried, it was pretty damn tasty.
Fast forward to now, and I’ve been trying to get my friend, who’s a huge cheesesteak fanatic, to try this place, and we finally get the chance. We roll up to the truck and lo and behold, no cheese steak on the menu. What a bummer.
Oh well, I was honestly curious to try some of the other options at some point, so I went with the Spicy Chicken Hoagie and the Kimchi Hot Dog. Both meals are pretty massive on their own, so I really didn’t need to go with both, but I had to try them.
The spicy chicken hoagie wasn’t all that spicy to me, and we both didn’t think it had a whole lot of flavor. The raw veggies on top added some crunch to it, but overall I thought it was pretty bland and had to add some Sriracha (which I don’t really like doing) to give it some zing. The Kimchi hot dog was a little better, but one again I really thought it could have used some stronger flavors. I like that you get to taste the beef dog, but it’s such a massive dog that it all but covers up the rest of the flavors.
I’ll try to get back to try the cheese steak again, but I’m not sure if I’ll be able to get my friend too, so I’m a little bummed out it wasn’t on the menu at the time. I’m sure after some convincing we’ll try it again, but the rest of the sandwiches we tried left a lot to be desired.

I love Ajumama, especially the rice bowl with a fried egg on top. The vegetables are well-​seasoned, and there’s a nice balance of rice and toppings. The owner is sunny and friendly, too. My coworkers and I always look forward to the days that Ajumama comes to our work!

I finally caught up with this truck at Tacocat. We happened to head there for a gallery showing, and whatda know?! Ajumama’s truck, right outside the main door **the crowd cheers in anticipation!** I’ve been trying to catch this roaming restaurant for years, so I couldn’t possibly pass trying something.
First, the lady working in the truck? Polite, engaging gal! Topped my night. I chose #7
The Nelson. Grilled pork belly? Hallaaaa! Juicy. Full of flavor. Definitely was the reason for the season ;p The black sesame ciabatta bun was a great touch. Soft. Easy to bite into and tear.
I find it hard to track down food trucks. During the day, I’m teaching, so going far for lunch is not an option. I’m elated I finally found, and tried, Ajumama!

After a long winter break, Ajumama is back! Have been branching out from my normal Bulgoggii Cheezesteak to other menu options as they are available and my favorite is not. The Bulgoggi Hodduk was quite good. Bibim Balls were an interesting take on bibimbap, but needed a bit more chili pepper sauce for my tastes.
Overall, a continued unique food truck in the city that leaves my Korean friends wanting to try!

My favorite Columbus food truck! The pajeon (savory pancake) and sweet hoddeuk (sweet pancake filled with brown sugar syrup) take me back to my childhood in Seoul. Tastes authentic, and I’ve enjoyed both the pork and kimchi versions. Wash it down with a refreshing Chilsung Cider (the Korean version of Sprite/​7-​UP).
I still need to try the Bulgogi Cheezesteak, but the timing hasn’t quite worked out whenever I’ve visited the truck. It’s good to have goals, so maybe this spring.
UPDATE: Tried the Bulgogi Cheezesteak and ZOMG. I’m covered in cheese, and couldn’t care less. The juicy, flavorful beef paired with the squidgie bun are the perfect foil to the melted cheese. Messy, but oh so delicious.

This place, for reals. I’m a huge fan of korean food yet I feel like I never get to try anything new. Ajumama’s gives you everything and more!
My favorite item here was when Ajumama did an event and served breakfast. Laura, the chef, made a bulgolgi hash that was to die for. All the flavors blended perfectly and had a good amount of «kimchee» style spicing to it. I’ve also had the bulgolgi cheesesteak at an event, which let me tell you, not only tasted good but cured a hangover real quick! Plus, she added shishito (small green peppers) which is an amazing veggie that I hardly ever see.
Do yourself all the favors and grab a bite. Not only is the food awesome but the chef and staff are fantastic!

We had Ajumama while enjoying a few beers and a rousing game of Cards Against Humanity inside Four String. My wife and I split a Korean Cheesesteak as a mid day hold-​over. Wow was this thing good! The meat and onions were juicy and the cheese was just like authentic Philly cheese wiz! It soaked into the soft crusty roll quite nicely. The addition of okra and Asian spices put this sandwich on a whole other level.

Figured I’d try something new. The Spicy Pork Pajeon with kimchi is $ 7. It was really flavorful but I think the price is too high. $ 5 would be a much more fair price. It was mostly pancake, very little pork. Also could have been a lot spicier. Worth getting just to try it but eh.

Finally caught the elusive Ajumama at Grandview Ave Farmers Market! Okay, so elusive may not be the right word. They do a fantastic job of advertising their whereabouts on Twitter, Facebook… Unilocal!
It was as I expected Korean street food to taste like… Awesomeness! There is a little wait after you order (it’s fresh and cooked to order) but gave us an opportunity to talk to the friendly ‘Cart People’ and picked up on some Ajumama history. They take cash or cards… 7 bucks will get you a decent meal.
And the food… Apparently there is a set menu of delicious pancakes (Korean style of course) but they add specials too. Today’s special: Spam bibimbop. Ordered it, ate it, loved it. Anyone who can make Spam into a non-​heavy or sauce ladened meal is a genius. Fresh vegetables, fried egg, rice, peppers, Spam and hot sauce. Nice.

After a few weeks of not being in the right part of town, I finally caught up with them today and it wasn’t quite worth the effort. I ordered the bulogi chesesteak and it was sort of dry (without the cheese it would have been REALLY dry). And it wasn’t spicy enough. This was sort of rectified by getting some kimchi from the owner. All in all, not bad but not great either.
And they were advertising a free hoddunk and I forgot to ask for mine and the woman running the truck never offered. Boo!
Onr thing in their favor, is that they have a virtual dining room set up, with tables and chairs and it’s covered by a fairly large tent. Makes for good dining.

New favorite truck! The food from Ajumama is amazing and it doesn’t hurt that everyone working is super nice and funny too. All the awards they recently won are totally deserved. Fresh and interesting flavors — I am going to seek out Korean food more often after being reminded how delicious it is.

Cheese steak pretty tasty
The first Columbus Commons Food Truck round up weekly on thursdays was today and Ajumama was in attendance. Since I had tried all the other places decided to give them a shot. I overheard someone say the cheese steak was good so ordered it up. It was quite tasty. the meat was well seasoned and the toppings went well. I even ate the big peppers and I’m not much for peppers. The bread was a nice compliment. Not quite a go-​to item but well worth the try.

I liked the pancake-​wrap thingies, especially the pork one. They’re substantial and flavorful — one order might be enough for two people if you get a side. I didn’t care for the acorn-​jelly salad, but only because of the texture of the jelly. The salad itself was very tasty, with a great variety of veg.
The owner is one of the more gregarious truckers in town — she was very friendly when I stopped. (some of these owners can be a bit surly… maybe it’s the stress?).

Ajumama has been like the unicorn of food trucks for my dinin’ mate and I. We’ve been making semi-​attempts to find and consume Ajumama for weeks. We finally got our fix on a Monday at Dinin’ Hall.
We ordered the Dak (sesame chicken), Twe (pork and kimchi), and Acorn Jelly salad. We shared everything. Portions are huge (especially for an ethnic food truck– *ahem* Sophie’s), so we probably could’ve gotten away with ordering just one pancake dish and the salad, and still had a hearty lunch.
I liked the Twe best of the two, the Dak was a tad too salty. I would have liked a slightly crisper pancake, though I’m not sure what the most traditional serving texture is. The acorn jelly salad was definitely worth ordering. There’s a shaved root vegetable in there with a flavor I’m unfamiliar with… so good! Lots of greens and veggies, huge portion. The acorn jelly itself was interesting at first, but we found ourselves avoiding it as we ate the salad. It didn’t taste bad, but the flavor was pretty minimal and the texture, while fun at first, became out of balance with the dish.
I would definitely enjoy encountering Ajumama again, but for now I’ve checked it off my list and won’t feel the need to chase it down.
I had this review as a 3-​stars at first, but I’m going to round up for uniqueness points. There’s definitely flavor combinations in here you won’t get anywhere else!

When I first heard of Ajumama, «A Korean food truck? Here in Columbus? Hmmm… we’ll see how this goes.»
Keep in mind that I get asked on a regular basis «Are you NORTH Korean or SOUTH Korean?» AKA «Do I HATE you or do I LIKE you?» Seriously people. I’m American. Born and raised in the Midwest. I’m proud of my Korean heritage, but seriously, are you going to start judging that quickly? On that note, I wonder if anyone has asked the food truck people if they’re North or South.
So I wasn’t sure how how well the Ajumama truck would be received — or if the food would be good. But I was curious anyway. I love pajeon. Off to Dinin’ Hall I went to go check it out. There was no «ajuma» at the truck that day, but that’s ok — I wasn’t expecting one anyway. A very nice guy took my order (twe pajeon) and it came out very speedily. As pajeon goes, this stuff was very good! Crispy and yummy and oily. Just the way it’s supposed to be. I’m interested to see if they are going to have other specials in the future… maybe kimchi jeon??? I’ll be back for more!

Finally got to try the Hodduk dessert cakes… YUM.
The «standard» version is filled with brown sugar, cinnamon, and nuts. Basically, it’s like a Korean version of a cinnamon roll. They also offered an «OH-​dduk» that used Krema peanut butter and chocolate for the filling. Not bad, but I think I liked the standard better.

Finally caught up with this truck at the Ohioana Book Festival on the Fort Hayes campus. The wonderful smells caught me at once from this truck in the line-​up and after missing a couple chances I am so happy I finally was able to score some Korean street food here.
As I perused the menu I noticed the Unilocal sticker proudly posted by their order window, coolish. Ordered The Dak for Doc and a Pepsi on the side and since they weren’t too busy I got a chance to talk with the friendly folks running this rolling operation.
In a few minutes my freshly made pajeon was presented to me smelling and looking ever so wonderful. Found a seat at one of the many umbrellaed tables set up at this event to dig in. Ahhh this is truly comfort food, sort of like the bastard child of a pankcake and egg foo young, chickeny, sesame, veggie goodness. A lil rice noodle on the side and a soy-​garlicky dipping sauce to make this one big tasty meal for the Docster.
Happy Mothers Day Ajumama, you sure made mine a happy one! Be seeing you around Cbus!