Midtown Lunch

My love of all you can eat buffets knows no boundaries, but sadly there aren’t too many of them between Downtown and Santa Monica (my primary lunching boundaries.)  Thankfully there is all you can eat Korean BBQ to fill the void, and I’ve been doing my best to sample as many of the $10 versions as I possibly can.  It’s no surprise that most $10 ayce Korean BBQ lunch specials are limited.  You usually only get pork belly and brisket, and the quality is less than spectacular.  Then again, what do you expect for only $10.  So when I discovered Choi Ga Neh, back in November, I was pretty excited.  For just $11 you not only get brisket and pork belly, but also seasoned beef, beef belly, tripe, and chawan mushi. And for an extra $1 they’ll give you naeng myun (cold noodles) as well.  Once again, the quality is not the best.  But for $11, it was hard to imagine a better lunchtime all you can eat deal in Koreatown.

That is until now.

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Los Angeles Times’ The Find column has been on fire lately!  Two weeks ago it was falafel in West L.A., before that it was Cocina del Camaguey in Culver City, and Flavors of Belize on La Brea looks amazing.  But the one place that stood out to me the most in the past few months was their discovery of Jang Choong Dong Wong, a jokbal place in Koreatown.  Braised pig’s feet isn’t exactly on everybody’s must try list, but if you like pork you have to admit that looking at the L.A. Times photo must have stirred up something in your belly.  Having already fell in love with bo ssam (aka pork belly) courtesy of Kobawoo, jokbal seemed like the next logical step… so I was pretty excited to read in the Times’ article that even though the dinner order is over $20, they offer a $10 lunch special version.

How could I not?

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Being wary of jack-of-all-trade Asian restaurants is a rule as old as not eating the bread at an all you can eat buffet.  Red flags always fly when I see sushi paired with Thai food under one roof, or Vietnamese followed by the words “and Chinese Food”.  And living in L.A. has made me even more fanatical.  Now it’s not even good enough for a place to be just Korean, or just Thai, or just Japanese.  They should specialize in one particular region or dish or style of food- like boat noodles at Sapp, or ramen at Daikokuya, or the bosam at Kobawoo. But recently I discovered a place in Playa del Rey that turns all that on its head. Meet Destini Cafe.

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Exploring other cultures through their cuisine is one of the most fun things about eating, and one of the most exciting things about L.A. is how many restaurants you can find who are making food from other continents without dumbing it down for the American taste buds. But not all adapted dishes are bad… and hybrids can end up being just as delicious as something that is supposedly “authentic” (after all,  if you look back far enough every dish we call “authentic” today likely has roots outside of its country of origin.)  If the Chinese didn’t try to make Chinese food for Americans, there would be no orange chicken from Panda Express (it’s horrible to even think about it.)   Japanese?   Spicy mayo *is* delicious on everything!  And Mexico?  Well, if you haven’t tried the hard shell goodness of Tito’s Tacos you haven’t lived.  Oh, and don’t get me started on New York pizza.

The best part is, we’re not the only ones that do this.  In Korea they have their own version of Chinese food that is awesome (jjanjangmyeon anybody?)  And they have their own version of sushi (kimbap) and a bibimbapped version of the chirashi bowl (hwedupbap).  Kimbap is something I’ve been eating for awhile, but I’m kind of new to the whole hwedupbap thing- raw cubes of fish served salad style over rice with veggies and red pepper sauce.  Sadly- just like sushi, the best versions of hwedupbap are going to be over $10 (like the one at Guru approved A-Won).  So when I heard that Ssing Ssing (on Vermont & 7th in K-Town) made a good version for $9, I was pretty excited.

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When I visited Hungry Pocket for a falafel back in September, I remember staring lovingly at BBQ Garden- a cheap looking Asian fast food dive in the same strip mall across from Santa Monica College.  I love me some cheap and dirty Asian food, but this place looked like it could go either way.  The words “Oriental Cuisine” never inspire confidence, and to make things worse the menu had a strange mix of seemingly Korean and Japanese dishes (including sushi?)  But when a Korean friend told me that it was probably the best fast food Korean place on the west side, that was all I needed to hear to head back.

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The New York City me would punch the Los Angeles me in the face for saying this, but damn it has been cold lately, right?  It almost makes me want to stop wearing short sleeve t-shirts and flip flops.  Almost.  Yesterday morning seemed particularly chilly, although I don’t have any empirical evidence of this since I don’t really check the weather report that much (in contrast to when I lived in NYC, where checking the weather is a required morning ritual in the wintertime.) I also felt a bit of a sore throat coming on, so that could only mean one thing… soup day!

The last time I was sick, Ramenya proved to be an inspired choice. Pa Ord is where you want to go if you have a stuffy nose that needs clearing up. And I’ve always thought kal gook soo from Myung Dong Kyoja would be the perfect replacement for penicillin.  But now that I’ve been to Mountain Cafe (or San as it’s called in Korean) I think I have found a replacement for my Grandma’s matzoh ball soup.  (Sorry grandma!)

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After seeing this blog post back in August, Wako Donkasu immediately went on to my “list”.  I could say I’m a huge fan of katsu, but quite frankly who isn’t a huge fan of katsu?  It’s boneless meat cutlets, breaded and deep fried.  How can that be bad!?  And even though smart money would send you to Sawtelle or Little Tokyo for the best Japanese food between Downtown and Santa Monica, Wako Donkasu is actually in Koreatown.  Thankfully I learned pretty early that when deep fried meaty goodness is involved, it’s better not to ask too many questions.

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