Midtown Lunch

If you live or work on the westside, and are on the hunt for great ramen, most people will point you to Santouka in the Mitsuwa Marketplace on Venice. And it’s hard to argue with that recommendation. It’s a porktastic bowl of ramen, with great flavor, solid noodles, and tons of sheen (aka greasy greasy fat). But what about for those days when you feel like complete crap (i.e. how I feel as I’m typing this.) Yes, while this might be hard for most of you to believe, the last thing I feel like dumping on a fever, stuffed up nose, and sore throat is a hot liquid made up of 50% pork fat- and that’s a conservative estimate for Santouka’s ramen

So… what’s a sick guy, craving a lighter bowl of ramen on the westside to do? Ramenya of course!

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Daikokuya in Mr. Ramen’s Shadow? We’re pretty sure it’s the other way around.

Finding ramen in Downtown L.A. is not a difficult task. Orochon has become famous for their burn your face off bowls of soup, and Chin Ma Ya is a great spot for those looking to top their ramen with fried chicken and Sichuan style ground pork; but for straight up pork ramen Daikokuya is the consensus best ramenya in DTLA (and all of Los Angeles, according to some.) The only problem with the last option is it’s a complete madhouse during lunch, and if you don’t have more than an hour you might be SOL. So, what do most people do on those days when the wait at Daikokuya isn’t worth it? Head over to Mr. Ramen!

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When the brand new Santa Monica Place opened up back in August everybody seemed pretty focused on all the new restaurants.  Not me, though.  I’m strictly a food court man.  Sure, I’d sneak a dinner in at Pizza Antica, and I guess I’m mildly intrigued by the dim sum at Xino.  But for lunch, if I’m anywhere near a mall I find it hard to avoid the food court.  In fact, food courts are kind of the perfect group lunch- a fact I discovered as a child when my brother, father and I used to spend Tuesday nights at the Dadeland Mall Court in Miami.  No arguing over where we were going to eat dinner when the food court was the destination.  I could have my lo mein (made to order in a wok behind the counter!) from the random Chinese restaurant whose name I can’t remember, my brother could get his matzoh ball soup from Bain’s Deli, and my dad could get whatever he wanted (I can’t really remember what was in his rotation.)

I’m all growns up now, but the same theory still applies. Food court with co-workers is the perfect compromise.  Sally from accounting can enjoy her boring salad or sandwich, while you decide between crappy Chinese food, crappy Japanese stir fry, or Hot Dog on a Stick.  (Fresh squeezed lemonade and a corn dog FTW!) So last week, when I decided to meet a chicken loving friend in Santa Monica for lunch, there was one perfect option that stood out from the rest:  the Santa Monica Place Food Court.  And even though I usually go straight for the cheap Chinese food (old habits die hard), we managed to discover a few hidden secrets that aren’t obvious from an intial walk-around.

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If you were to create a ramen compass of Los Angeles it would be fairly simple… any of the places in Torrance to the South, Santouka to the West, Daikokuya to the East (in Downtown), and the new’ish Ramen Jinya to the North (Studio City). For most people the decision over where to ramen is one of proximity, but what about those who are smack dab in the middle? That problem seemed to be solved thanks to the news that Ramen Jinya would be opening a new spot, Robata Jinya, on 3rd Ave. and Crescent Heights. And when I read yesterday that they were now open for lunch and serving up ramen, I rushed right over to check it out.

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A few weeks ago Bibigo opened in Westwood Village to much fanfare, and while I mostly liked the food it didn’t make me as excited as it would have had it been… how to put this… dirtier. So when I saw Gushi (“the long standing beloved Korean shack on Gayley”) casually mentioned in this review of Bibigo I knew it had to be my next Westwood lunch.

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If you have ever been into a Japanese grocery store, or a semi-authentic take-out sushi/bento spot, than you have probably seen omusubi (or onigiri) before. They are those triangular shaped things, covered in seaweed, and wrapped in plastic (some of which require an instructional video for opening.) Traditionally, the standard pre-packaged versions usually come stuffed with cooked salmon, cod roe, or pickled plums, but just as popular are the less traditional fillings like shrimp tempura, spicy tuna, and spam (by way of Hawaii.) They are perfect for a snack on the go, but for rice obsessed lunch’ers they act as a perfect add on to any Japanese lunch. The best is when you find a omusubi specialist… and that’s when things can get fun. In NYC there was a place called Oms/b, that I loved, where you could get a lunch made up entirely of rice balls topped and filled with all sorts of fun stuff (think shrimp tempura with green sea salt, and bbq eel.)

So, when I heard that Sunny Blue had opened on Main Street in Santa Monica specializing in omusubi (exciting!) and froyo (less exciting) I had to go check it out.

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Westwood has no shortage of teriyaki.  Whether it’s for the office workers on Wilshire, or the students of UCLA, if you want some cheap chicken covered in a sweet and goopy Japanese(ish) sauce, you are totally in luck in this part of town.  San Sai and California Teriyaki Bowl are the most visible in the heart of Westwood Village, but for the old school anti-chain hole in the wall Midtown Lunch seekers there is only one option: Sak’s Teriyaki!  I first heard of this place back in April, when Lunch’er Steve recommended it as not great, but “a great Midtown Lunch”.

I finally made it to Sak’s yesterday, and I don’t know if it was the low expectations or what- but great is precisely the word I would choose to describe it!

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