Midtown Lunch

Living and/or working on the Westside has its obvious positives. You’re close to the beach. Santa Monica’s Farmers Market. Sang Yoon and Roy Choi have set up shop here. There’s great Indian food in Culver City. Japanese food fans have Sawtelle. Even Mexican food fans have Mariscos Chente, Monte Alban and Juquila. But Chinese food? Where the hell can you get some good Chinese food on the Westside? Can you even name one place?

The news that 101 Noodle Express has opened in the Westfield Culver City Mall is huge for San Gabriel Valley fans, no doubt. But that’s just noodle dishes and beef rolls. What about some straight up “Chinese” food? Enter Hop Woo BBQ & Seafood.

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Back in April, Savuer put together a 24 hour guide to eating Thai food in Los Angeles with dishes and restaurants for every conceivable time and mood.  For lunch they suggested a bowl of khao soi from Spicy BBQ (Noon), the steam table at LAX-C downtown (1pm) and the pad thai salad from Essan Thai (2pm).  But there was plenty more on the list that could be eaten for lunch, including Ruen Pair’s chicken prik king- which totally caught my eye.

Ruen Pair is known primarily as a late night place (Saveur suggested 10pm as the ideal time to eat there), but they are open for lunch.  And even though there is no lunch menu specifically, almost all of their dishes are under $10.

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As is customary on Midtown Lunch, every Tuesday we profile a random reader to get their recommendations for the best spots to lunch near their work. This week it’s Monique, a noodle loving Santa Monica sales rep at Williams Sonoma.

Name: Monique

Age: 25

Occupation: Sales

Where in L.A. do you Work?: Williams Sonoma Santa Monica

Favorite Kind of Food: I adore noodles. I usually do not turn down anything in the noodle family. Overall its noodles and grilled foods.

Least Favorite Kind of Food: Food made without any love or purpose.

Favorite Place(s) to Eat Lunch: R & D kitchen (1323 Montana Avenue Santa Monica, CA 90403) I get the burger, its classic, clean and cooked to perfection. Blue Plate (1415 Montana Ave Santa Monica CA 90403) My go to spot for a nice BLT and sweet potato fries. Mongols (1064 Gayley Ave Los Angeles CA 90024) Lots of noodles and all under $10 built any way you want it, what more can a noodle lover ask for?

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Last week Tasting Table did a feature on the newly opened sandwich shop Fundamental L.A. (1303 Westwood Blvd.) and it looks pretty freaking awesome. A porchetta sandwich with sauerkraut for $9. A BLT made with a fried egg pulled fresh from a circulator ($8). A trotters sandwich!?! And apparently the menu is constantly changing (although I hope it doesn’t change so quick I miss out on the porchetta…)

Fundamental L.A., 1303 Westwood Blvd., 310-444-7581

A slice from LaRocco’s. Photo courtesy of Slice/Kelly Bone

• CULVER CITY LaRocco’s suffers from tip sag, but is otherwise good [Slice]
• DTLA The barg at Downtown Kebab is really flavorful [The Minty]
• DTLA Hooters is opening Monday near the LACC [Blogdowntown]
• WESTWOOD Jean Georges’ wife loves Bibigo [Popsugar]
• VARIOUS LOCATIONS The Veggie Grill has a secret menu! [LAist]
• MOBILE The Glowfish Truck makes a mean okonomyaki [Squid Ink]

Finding decent raw seafood for under $10 is one of my favorite pastimes, whether it be a great chirashi bowl, hwedupbap in Koreatown, or ceviche from a food truck. The line between good and bad seafood is not something you want to be crossing on a regular basis, so finding that perfect balance between quality and price is pretty exhilarating. So when I read about Poke Poke, a newish Hawaiian tuna bowl stand on Venice Beach, I was pretty excited. Cubes of raw tuna, tossed in shoyu and sesame oil, and served over rice for under $10 at one of the (arguably) worst lunch strips in all of Los Angeles? Yes please.

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