Midtown Lunch

There are friends in New York who would kill me for saying this (we abandoned them for the West coast in the dead of winter) but the past few days have been soup weather here in L.A., don’t you think? (Uh, it was cloudy the other day. That’s as a bad as it gets, here right?)  I’m usually partial to the ramen (hello Daikokuya and Santouka!) but I’m always looking to branch out.  So when a good friend offered to take me to his favorite spot for Kal Guk Soo, Korean knife cut noodle soup with ground beef and dumplings, I was all over it.

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I still remember the very first time I had Korean food.  I was 18 years old, and visiting my dad at work. He suggested Korean, I said sure (?), and we headed down the street to what I’m assuming was the only Korean restaurant in Downtown Miami.  I remember them bringing out the little plates of what I now know are called banchan, and my dad telling me I had to try this stuff called kimchee. “It’s the worst tasting thing you’ll ever eat. And really spicy.” “Well, if it tastes so terrible why would I want to eat it?” “That’s the thing, son.  It’s so bad, that eventually you’ll start to like it.” I took one bite, and as promised it was pretty bad… but sure enough, 10 minutes later I was like “hmmm, maybe I’ll try another bite of that weird cabbage stuff”.  I was hooked.

The other thing I remember about that meal is what my Dad ate for lunch that day- and this is truly amazing because I have the worst memory of all time (although it’s not suprising that this is the shit I remember.)  It was a large bowl of noodles topped with this thick brown sauce, with onions and little cubes of meat.  It was delicious.  And for almost 10 years I never saw the dish again, and pretty much forgot about it entirely.

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Speakin of Asian Food Courts… Midtown Lunch is always open to new suggestions, tips, and reports from readers. This one was sent in earlier today by Lunch’er “Lee” (aka Flatrock).

I happened to be in LA last week and while driving through Koreatown decided to stop in to the Koreatown Plaza on S. Western and 9th Street in the hopes that I could find some mandoo. I walked into this Plaza and it was a full fledged mall, but all Korean! I wandered through the mall towards the aroma of food, and eventually walked into what I believe is “Zach’s Personal Nirvana,” a mall food court that serves nothing but Asian food!!! There were dumplings, a pho shop, a weird Korean sandwich stall, a curry spot, mostly it was Korean food with the Pho thrown in there for good measure. As I wandered around from stall to stall in a state of bewilderment and amazement, I discovered the pinnacle of this Nirvana like mall food court, a stall serving dol sat bibimbap (it was called Gamja Bawi). I’m thinking, mall food court, all asian food, real hot stone pot! How could this be bad.

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I’ve only been in L.A. a few weeks, so I never got a chance to try the now infamous Starry Kitchen.  But it sounds right up my alley!  An underground, take out, Asian food dinner spot being run by a couple out of their North Hollywood apartment? Amazing.  Sadly (but not surprisingly) it was closed down by the Department of Health after a 9 month run, but has resurfaced as a legal lunch’ing option Downtown in the “watercourt” at California Plaza (on Grand btw. 3+4th.)

Unlike the apartment “supper club”, which only served one dish a night, the new lunch spot offers a slightly larger menu of options.  Admittedly, the “Asian Fusion” menu will make some purists cringe- and eating at a generic looking lunch place in a Downtown food court is not exactly as exciting as eating out of somebody’s illegally run apartment restaurant.  But if you work near the watercourt, and the thought of choosing between Mixt Greens or Salads 2000 one…more…time  makes you want throw up in your own mouth, you should be super excited about the arrival of Starry Kitchen.

This week’s menu, and a look at the food is after the jump…

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Oh man, do I love Korean fried chicken.  I mean, how could I not?  (How could anybody not for that matter?)  I love fried chicken.  I love Korean food.  Dip one into the other, and voila.  Food magic!  And while there are plenty of versions to sample these days, there are still two major chains that can’t be ignored:  Bon Chon & Kyochon.  Midtown NYC got a Bon Chon a few weeks before I moved to L.A., but I never got to try Kyochon (their Midtown location is still under construction.)  Contrary to what some back East might think, I didn’t move to L.A. specifically so I could eat at Kyochon, but it sure is a nice bonus!

Hello Koreatown lunch…

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