Midtown Lunch

Is there a better area of Downtown to work near (or eat lunch in) than Little Tokyo?  It almost makes me want to get a job at City Hall just so I could work near all the great Japanese food that lines the streets between Main St. and Alameda.  I’ve already tried the porky bowl of goodness that is Daikokuya’s ramen, and the Little Tokyo Marketplace (on 3rd & Alameda) is on my radar.  But when Profiled Lunch’er “Nguyen” (who also happens to own Starry Kitchen in the Downtown Water Court) called Chin Ma Ya’s ramen one of his favorite dishes to eat Downtown, the Weller Court (nr. 2nd and Los Angeles) leaped to the top of my list.

Chin Ma Ya isn’t known for their typical Japanese ramen.  You can order a shoyu or shio ramen, but their specialty is something called “tan tan men” a Japanese ramen with a Sichuan twist (imagine a bowl of soup with dan dan noodles dumped into it, and that’s the dish.)  I love ramen.  And I love Sichuan cuisine.  So there was pretty much no way this was going to be bad…

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If you work Downtown, and are looking for a new lunch option, this could be good.  Last week Susan Feniger and Mary Sue Milliken expanded the Border Grill brand once again (there are restaurants in Vegas and Santa Monica, and a truck of course) opening a kiosk on the NW corner of Wilshire and Figeroa.  According to NRN the kiosk is meant to make use of the truck’s “limited menu”, offering take out food to people who work and live in the area. Lunch’er “Adam” checked it out on Tuesday and was nice enough to send photos, and his opinion:

“Yuppies from the Westside, like me, will like it a lot.  My Mexican-American friends were skeptical of the prices but ultimately satisfied with the food.”

Check out the seating area, his carne asada taco platter, and the entire Border Grill Stop menu, after the jump…

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Uncle John’s Ham & Eggs, the 35+ year old diner on 8th btw. Olive & Hill, is not exactly a hidden Downtown gem.  But it isn’t Philippe’s either. It lives somewhere in between, and for those who work or live or breakfast downtown, it’s borderline legendary.  For me, it’s a no-brainer Midtown Lunch.  The idea is so simple in its genius, that some might be confused at first by its brilliance.  On one hand its unfamiliar, on the other it’s so familiar you can’t understand how this place isn’t a nationwide franchise.  Breakfast diner + Chinese food.   That’s it.  Think Chinese roast pork with eggs, hash browns and toast.  Or corned beef hash and eggs over fried rice.

I first heard of Uncle John’s last month, when Dig Lounge (run by yesterday’s profiled lunch’er Matt) reported that Uncle John’s would be opening a second location on Grand btw. 8+9th, in the Stillwater Hotel.  I couldn’t wait that long, and immediately rushed to their original location… only to find it closed! For good (so sad).  Thankfully their new location on Grand opened last week, so on Monday I headed over for some over easy egg topped salt and pepper pork chops.

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I was pretty excited to read about the downtown Chinese-food-over-eggs breakfast/lunch staple Uncle John’s Ham & Eggs (and the soon to open Uncle John’s Cafe) on Dig Lounge last week.  Sadly, when I headed over yesterday to try their infamous Chinese roast pork over eggs I was greeted by a shuttered gate and this incredibly disappointing sign.  (Cue overhead shot with me yelling “Nooooooooooooooo!”)  I guess the saving grace is that Uncle John’s Cafe will (supposedly) be opening a week from Monday on S. Grand btw. 8+9th.

In the meantime you can head around the corner to the terrible (but oh so loveable) Chu’s Chinese Kitchen, or do what we did… get in your car and drive to Starry Kitchen in the water court (validated parking in the lot on Olive btw. 3+4th).  Today is the last day for their crunchy egg roll wrapper stuffed nom nom pork wrap.  (Yes, you read that right.)

There are sandwiches, and then there are SANDWICHES. Sandwiches are those things your boring co-worker eats or brings from home. Turkey and swiss, grilled chicken and avocado, deli counter roast beef with lettuce and tomato… the list goes on and on. Do they taste bad? Of course not. Who doesn’t like a good sandwich? But they’re not Midtown Lunches. I’m looking to get something more out of my lunch hour… and by more, I mean can you dip that roast beef sandwich in some gravy?’ Deep fry that chicken? Do something that shows you care just a little bit (beyond buying your bread from a good bakery, or not pre-slicing your boar’s head.)

When I first heard about Mendocino Farms, the ultra popular sandwich shop with two locations Downtown, I was pretty skeptical. This is L.A. after all, and there are no shortage of recommended lunch options that clearly put “healthy” in front of “tasty”. I like farm fresh. I like quality ingredients. But I also like things that taste delicious (ideally, with no attention paid to calories), and nobody brings all that together in sandwich form better than Mendocino Farms.

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One of the things I missed most about L.A. during my 4 year excursion was Peruvian food, so much so that within a week of moving back I didn’t bother trying to find the best Peruvian spot in L.A. (or the most Midtown Lunch’ish).  I just returned to my old standby… Mario’s (on Melrose). And when I discovered it was too expensive to qualify for a Midtown Lunch I hit up Inti a few doors down. Once my craving was satiated, I asked for some better (preferably under $10) Peruvian recs from you guys- and Lunch’er “luckyme23” pointed me to Mo Chica, the modern Peruvian food court joint that opened last year in the Mercado La Paloma- just south of downtown.

Mo Chica is no hidden gem.  “The Guru” is  all about their ceviche, LA Taco praised their market driven menu, and Profiled Lunch’er Pat wrote that the place takes Peruvian ingredients “about as far they can go.” Only one problem… practically all of the menu is over $10!  So when I made my first trip to the Mercado La Paloma last week, I felt inexplicably drawn to Chichen Itza.

Come to think of it, it’s not inexplicable.  It’s because I’m a cheap bastard.

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I am quite possibly the worst Jew of all time. Yesterday I ate a Cuban sandwich in Pasadena… which is wrong on so many different levels. (Spoiler: It has nothing to do with it being in Pasadena.)

1. It’s Passover. Sandwiches tend to be frowned upon (sorry, but pb&j placed between two pieces of matzoh is not a sandwich in my book. I don’t care what your mom says.)
2. A Cuban Sandwich has two kinds of pork. Not one. But two.
3. It also has cheese (what was that one about milk and meat?)

But to add insult to injury I am actually considering using another religion’s rules as an excuse to eat fried fish for lunch. (Yay lent!) The only question is where? I could go the fancy fish and chips route, but I prefer things a little dirty. Hello Fisherman’s Outlet and Catch 21! Now I just need to decide which one. Fisherman’s Outlet always has the longest lines (good thing or a bad thing depending on your perspective), but Catch 21 is cheaper (a good thing or a bad thing depending on your perspective.) Or maybe I just need to eat at both.

You know who would know what to do in this situation. God. Sadly, I don’t think he’s talking to me right now (for so many different reasons.) So I have to rely on you guys. Thoughts?

Fisherman’s Outlet, 529 South Central Ave., 213-627-7231
Catch 21, 441 S. Central Ave., 213-485-1614