Midtown Lunch

Even though it will likely never compete with the South Bay for Japanese food supremacy, Sawtelle has managed to compile a decent enough collection of lunch options to make those of us who live and work on the Westside less likely to make the drive down the 405. If you want a decent katsu curry, there’s Hurry Curry of Tokyo or Curry House.  Japanese fried chicken?  Furaibo has great lunch specials. Cheap hot bento boxes to go?  Tempura House it is. Sushi?  Kiriko if you’ve got money, Hide Sushi if you don’t.  And now that Tsujita is open, West L.A. could reasonably lay claim to serving the best ramen and tsukemen in all of Southern California.

But as much as I enjoy lunching on Sawtelle one place has never enticed me: Sawtelle Kitchen.  I don’t know if it’s the valet parking, the disproportionate number of white people who eat there (yes, I’m a self hating gaijin), or the fact that you could plop the place down on Doheny, and it would fit right in.  Thanks, but no thanks.  That is, until a trusted (read: Japanese) friend told me they have a decent hamburger/meatloaf and their salad dressing is amazing.  Amazing, as in they closely guard the recipe and won’t you give you any extra in a to-go cup, amazing.  No salad dressing could be that good… but I’m down with Japanese hamburger!

Read more »

Say what you want about Yamashiro, the crazy almost 100 year old Japanese palace turned restaurant perched on a “Mountain” just above Franklin Ave. in Hollywood, but their chef makes some freakin’ delicious tacos. Previously only available at the Yamashiro Farmers Market and various special events around town, it’s Japanese inspired finger food featuring fillings like miso cod and hoisin duck confit served alongside their now famous wasabi guacamole. Think Kogi, if Kogi tacos were Japanese, more refined, smaller and more expensive. Ok, so maybe not like Kogi at all.

I’ve always been a big fan. So when they announced that they were going to be spinning the tacos off into their own brick and mortar location called Komida I was pretty damn excited. Yamashiro tacos, available everyday for lunch? Awesome! As long as they don’t do something stupid like put it in some shitty mall in the most touristy part of the city, we’re golden.

What’s that you say?  Hollywood and Whaaaaa?  Fuck.

Read more »

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 Garrett, a freelance writer who pities the fool that doesn’t like Vietnamese food.

Name: Garrett

Age: 23

Occupation: Freelance Writer, Server

Where in L.A. do you Work?: Culver City / Miracle Mile

Favorite Kind of Food: Vietnamese

Least Favorite Kind of Food: Russian

Favorite Place(s) to Eat Lunch: Probably Pioneer Fried Chicken (5970 W Olympic Blvd): home to both fried pickles, fried okra and fried mushrooms. Cemita Poblanas Truck on Pico and Fairfax: beef milanesa cemita, extra chipotle. Escuela Tacqueria (308 N Stanley Ave): pork belly taco and homemade agua frescas. Slow Fish (5406 Wilshire Blvd): Decent sushi, which can be made with black rice, as well as cheap lunch bowls. +1 for the Curry Udon. Hollywood Pies (333 S Boylston St): Excellent Chicago deep-dish pie (for LA at least), but they only do to-go or delivery after 4 p.m.

Read more »

As much I love Huckleberry and consider it hands down the best brunch and baked goods on the westside, I can’t in good conscience call it a Midtown Lunch.  Even the few things that clock in at under $10 (like their excellent $9.50 egg sandwich) aren’t exactly a stellar value.  But when I heard that the owners of Huckleberry and Rustic Canyon were opening Milo & Olive, a new bakery/restaurant specializing in pizza and small plates, I got kind of excited.  Especially when I heard that it had very few seats and planned on doing a ton of take out business.

A lot of take out?  That sounds like it could be right up my alley.  Could this be the cheapskate, lunchtime version of Huckleberry I’ve always dreamed about?  Only one way to find out…

Read more »

Village Pizza. Photo courtesy of the Unemployed Eater.

• DTLA Flanders Frites and Local Express take over Chimu space [Eater]
• DTLA Pattern Bar is nice lunchtime splurge [The Minty]
• HWOOD Komida will do holiday taco specials in the 12 days before Xmas [Grub Street]
• HWOOD Ganda’s crispy catfish finds a new fan [Squid Ink]
• HWOOD The only L.A. pizza better than Village Pizza is Mozza [Unemployed Eater]
• HWOOD Ikemen’s has stuff for ramen fans who don’t eat pork [Savory Hunter]
• KTOWN A comprehensive look at the soups and stews of O Jang Dong [Food GPS]
• MAR VISTA Tamara’s serves the best tamales west of the 405 [Dig Lounge]
• SAMO Z Garden is open and serving a decent kebab [Grub Street]
• SAMO Milo & Olive is now open for lunch! [Squid Ink]
• WEST LA The Guru solidifies Tsujita as one of the best places to lunch in L.A. [LAW]
• WESTWOOD The new Yamadaya will probably open in December [Eater]
• MOBILE Ludo Truck adds two new items to the menu [Eater]

And a big congrats to Midtown Lunch LA’s unofficial post lunch HQ, Scoops Westside.  They are celebrating their one year anniversary this week.

I’m slightly embarrassed to admit this, but I’ve never been to Wurstkuche in Downtown L.A.  It’s strange because I eat lunch Downtown all the time, I like sausage, and I want to be one of the cool kids.  But there’s always been a burger, banh mi, buffet or baco to pull me from the super popular sausage and beer garden. But once a second branch opened in Venice, I reacted like most people who live or work on the Westside. I headed over right away.

Read more »