Midtown Lunch

If you want the best barbecue in all of Los Angeles, go to Bludso’s in Compton.  Sure, it’s out of the way and doesn’t really have any seating- save for a few bar stools across from the ordering window. But it all becomes worth it when you pull into that parking lot and see the gigantic smokers doing their thing.  It’s the kind of sight that makes you instantly realize you made the correct decision, even before having a single bite of food.  But how many of us can realistically hit up Bludso’s for a weekday lunch?  30 minutes from Downtown L.A. or the Westside isn’t going to happen on even the most loosely enforced one hour lunch breaks… so where does one go when the craving for ‘cue hits?

For me, it’s now JR’s Barbecue on La Cienega just south of Washington.

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Ever since Kogi exploded onto the scene 4 years ago wannabe entrepreneurs have flocked into food trucks of their own, spurred on by the media’s overblown coverage, many of them with no real understanding of what made Kogi a success in the first place.  In other words, there have been a lot of dumb food truck ideas in this city. But there have also been a lot of genius food trucks (I’m looking at you sushi burritos!), and my love of street food keeps me rushing out every time a new one hits the streets.  The latest concept to catch my stomach’s eye (that’s the bellybutton, right?) is The Garbage Truck, a new truck serving up Rochester, New York style garbage plates/trash plates.

What are garbage plates you ask?  Well, imagine going to a Fourth of July picnic, eating as much as you possibly could, throwing it all up onto a plate, and having that throw up taste delicious.  That’s a Rochester garbage plate. Want to see what it looks like?  Of course you do!

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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 Michelle, a TV exec who wishes she lived in Hong Kong but can’t stand durian.

Name: Michelle

Age: 30

Occupation: Television Executive

Where in L.A. do you Work?: Kurtzman/Orci Productions (located on the 20th Century Fox Lot)

Favorite Kind of Food: Sushi

Least Favorite Kind of Food: Durian fruit. Tried this on a trip to Taiwan and actually felt embarrassed to be Asian.

Favorite Place(s) to Eat Lunch: Sotto (9575 W Pico Blvd) when I have a light afternoon at work (because the food is anything but light). Love their margherita pizza, lamb ragu pasta and pork meatballs. Mizu 212 (2000 Sawtelle Blvd) for Japanese shabu shabu, especially on cold, rainy days. The meat and veggies are super fresh and I’m addicted to their dipping sauces. I love the burger and the catfish burrito at Nook (11628 Santa Monica Blvd) on Santa Monica Blvd. And everything at the Tacos Por Favor location on Olympic!

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If you’re reading this blog you must love reading about gluttony… but if you want to hear what fatness sounds like, you should listen to KCRW’s Good Food this Saturday at 11am!  I’ll be on with Evan Kleinman talking about… wait for it… wait for it… lunch!  Ironically enough I’m on after Peter Meehan, who will be talking about Lucky Peach- the magazine that inspired my tsukemen frenzy back in November.  If you miss the show, you’ll be able to hear a podcast of it on the KCRW website after the show airs.  And if you want to read more about the lunches I talk about, here they are:

• DTLA’s The Escondite
• Hollywood’s Fukuburger
• West LA’s Javan
• Culver City’s Libra

I do love the Kogi Truck’s burrito. Photo courtesy of Javier Cabral.

• BEV HILLS The bagels at Brooklyn Water Bagel Co are not terrible [Unemployed Eater]
• BURRITOS Why aren’t more of these burritos available at lunch!!! [Squid Ink]
• CULVER CITY The food court that we called the best in the city back in August, gets the official JGold treatment [LAW]
• DTLA The crispy catfish banh mi at Spice Table is “a winner” [Amateur Gourmet]
• KTOWN Must try jokbal bokkeum at Jang Choong Dong [LAT]
• MID CITY Simplethings is now serving a vegan po-boy [Squid Ink]
• MOBILE Mac & Cheesa to become a food truck? [Squid Ink]

I try to be positive here on Midtown Lunch… and I freakin’ love this city.  The food is amazing, and there’s no better place to be a “Midtown Lunch’er”.    But as much as I love most of the food in L.A. (and will defend it to the death against any outsiders, or natives with an inferiority complex) there are some things about lunching in this town that really annoy me.  Here are 7 of them, LAist style, for your enjoyment…

1. Delicious $12 Peruvian masterpieces are too expensive for this location.  But $12 sandwiches? A-ok.

2.  On a related note, Flanders Frites!  Poor poor Flanders Frites. It’s bad enough Chimu got replaced by Local Express.  But the addition of Flanders Frites is just that extra kick in the nuts, right after you just told me my Grandmother died. I could probably do a whole 7 things just on Flanders Frites… but I guess I can just settle for 2. First: if you are going to open a window dedicated exclusively to 3 things, you might want to make sure those three things actually taste good.  Serving ordinary shoestring fries and trying to pass them off as cutesy Belgian “patat” is one thing, but deep frying bland dog food and selling it for $4.50 as a kroket is shameful. I wouldn’t have eaten these things if they were free at my cousin’s Bar Mitzvah (and I’ll normally eat *anything* fried at a cousin’s Bar Mitzvah.)  The fries make a decent side dish to a Local Express sandwich, but who on earth is giving this place 4 stars on Yelp?

But wait… there’s more. Ludo, babies, and bacos feel my wrath after the jump.

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