Midtown Lunch

The recent trials and tribulations of Mariscos Chente, the westside Sinoloan seafood specialist, have been well documented on the interwebs.  At the beginning of 2009 the spot was elevated to prominence by Mexican food guru Bill Esparza, for serving the best Pescado Zarandeado (whole charcoal grilled fish) outside of Nayarit.  And at the beginning of 2010 a conga line of bloggers followed suit with their praise.  I was particularly excited, not just because I had just moved here from a city that has absolutely nothing even remotely like Sinoloan food, but also because I live in Culver City- a five minute drive away from this seafood heaven.

Then, disaster struck (for me anyway).  It was reported that the grill master responsible for the zarandeado, Sergio Panuelas, had moved to Mariscos Chentes (note the “s” at the end) on Inglewood Ave. near the airport, a branch of the restaurant owned by a different member of the family.  And the message was clear:  Mariscos Chente is dead.  Long live Mariscos Chentes!  But how could this be?  So much of grilling has to do with a well seasoned grill, and Mariscos Chente was still using the same grill, right?  And didn’t Sergio’s co-workers learn anything from watching the master?  There’s no way he could have been manning the grill every single day of the week.  Is it crazy to think that the zarandeado could still possibly be good?  Well, despite hearing some not so great things, I finally managed to take the plunge and return to Mariscos Chente.

And here is what I found…

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Ask for the best Chinese food in Los Angeles?  People will tell you that you have to drive East into San Gabriel Valley.  Vietnamese?  It’s south to Westminster you go.  Japanese?  Torrence.  Filipino? Artesia.  Fans of Thai and Korean food (aka Me) are lucky.  Those two can be found within the Midtown Lunch boundaries, just West of Downtown.  But what about Indian food?  Well, for that, I’m starting to think that Culver City is the place to be. Sure, many of the restaurants are vegetarian only.  But the food is so good, so flavorful, and so uniquely Indian (forget everything you know about chicken tikka masala) that it’s easy to forget there’s no meat.

This realization didn’t happen all at once.  When I first moved to Culver City I tried India Sweets and Spices, and was super surprised by how good it was (jackfruit is not very common in New York City.)  Things got even better at Samosa House and Samosa House East. Same basic concept, but with tastier food (fake chicken and paneer FTW!) Mayura is great if you want an all you can eat lunch buffet (and meat), and I’ve heard Annapurna is good for dosas and other south Indian delights- but Bawarchi might just be the best of them all.

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It’s a new year and naturally everybody is trying to find ways to be healthy… so how do I follow up my January 2nd list of “healthy” lunches? With lunch at an all you can eat buffet, of course! (I’m sorry, I just can’t help myself.) If you’re vegetarian, or love vegetarian Indian food, you are probably already aware of the wealth of riches in the Culver City area. Samosa House and Samosa House East make me forget how much I love meat (for an hour at least) and India Sweets and Spices does some good stuff too. There’s also the most excellent Bawarachi, which does these pretty great fake chicken wings that I’ll get around to posting some day. But if you want some meat with your Indian food, the best option in the area has got to be the $10 all you can eat lunch buffet at Mayura.

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When Bella Vista, the Brazilian rodizio (that’s Brazil-talk for all you can eat!), opened in Culver City back in April my mood could only be described as tempered elation.  All you can eat pizza sounds good to me.  Pizza topped with salted beef or potato sticks and beef stroganoff sounds even better.  For a limited time the all you can eat pizza deal cost $9.99, just inside the ML price boundaries, but that didn’t last too long.  And after a short amount of time the regular price settled in at $12.99.

Well, this past weekend they listed a special deal on Yelp… $16.98 for two diners to partake in Bella Vista’s all you can eat pizza smorgasbord. Dine in (naturally) and only for lunch.  That works for me!

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Which one of these do you think is in Culver City?

There’s no question that you lose a little bit of Compton magic going to the Culver City location of Honey’s Kettle Fried Chicken.  For one thing the ambiance is… well… very Culver City’ish.  (The new Culver City that is.) The original is sparse and kind of dirty looking, just what you would want from a good ole fried chicken shack. The CC location is… well… very Culver City’ish.  In Compton you can get two thighs, two biscuits, and two orders of pickles for $5 in a basket lined with red and white checkered picnic table cloth patterned paper.  No such luck in Culver City, where the picnic table cloth paper seems a bit more like a kitchy design decision.  On the other hand, Culver City has a fried chicken sandwich.  Compton does not.

But one thing is for sure, the chicken has the same super thick, super crunchy, super tasty crust at both locations. And the honey tastes just as sweet.  And the fact that the Culver City location is right around the corner from where I live (and work) kind of makes the “where to lunch?” decision an easy one.

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3 weeks ago I put the call out for the best plate lunch spot in Los Angeles, and got more than a few great recommendations. Based on your comments, the South Bay is clearly the place to be for Hawaiian food. But for a weekday lunch, that’s not realistic (for me anyway). The consensus seemed to center around Aloha Cafe Downtown and Rutt’s Cafe on the Westside, so when I found myself looking for lunch in Culver City this week Rutt’s seemed like the perfect option.

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Not that I know much about people who don’t eat meat, but it occurs to me that Culver City is a great place for vegetarians… especially vegetarians that love Indian food. Veggie Indian food is one meatless wonder I can get down with, mainly because South Asians don’t automatically assume that because somebody doesn’t want to eat meat they also don’t want their food to have flavor… and calories.  The fact that they get it so tasty without relying on the sweet deliciousness of meat fat is just bonus points.  I’m a big fan of India Sweets and Spices (9409 Venice Blvd), but most people will agree that the go-to vegetarian Indian steam table/grocery store combo has got to be Samosa House… and, I guess by transitive property, the glossier Samosa House East- which opened in December just to the (you guessed it) East.

The original Samosa House

But with only 1.3 miles separating these two incredibly similar locations, pure proximity shouldn’t necessarily decide which one you eat at (unless of course you work at Sony and can just walk across the street to S.H.E.)  Sure, those who prefer modern decor will go the East route, while those who prefer the old school feel of the original (plus all the Indian groceries) will go West.  But food-wise they are almost identical…  save for 2 pretty awesome ingredients.

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