Midtown Lunch

A few weeks back L.A. Weekly released its annual “Best of” issue, a terrific resource for discovering not just food but all sorts of great stuff in and around Los Angeles.  But it got me thinking of all the places I love that never seem to get mentioned on these lists.  Not local favorites that you wouldn’t drive across town for, but places serving the honest to goodness best in show versions of what they do… and rarely, if ever, getting recognized for it.

Here are 5 of my favorite lunches, that aren’t quite household names here in L.A. (but should be.)

1. Zam Zam Market – Ok, so this is kind of the place that inspired this list.  I was excited to read about Bangla Bazaar and Restaurant when it was named Best Biryani in the city by L.A. Weekly last week, but it doesn’t hold a candle to this Culver City gem hidden in the shadow of the King Fahad Mosque.  Despite the minefield of bones and spices, their biryani is the best I’ve ever had. And their tandoori chicken, with its caked-on spice paste, isn’t far behind.  And if that doesn’t sell you, go on Friday and the meat pies and lamb pulao will.  Sure, the hours are weird and there’s no menu.  And you may or may not feel like you’re eating on a Walking Dead set.  But every time I go back I am surprised all over again that it’s never gotten its proper place in the pantheon of Los Angeles south Asian food.  (I’m looking at you Mr. Gold.) 11028 W Washington Blvd, Culver City. 310-841-2504

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Growing up in Miami has made my love for Cuban food strong, a love that I will often blindly defend.  If you grew up here in Southern California on salsas and chiles and corn masa and mole, with as many regional variations as there are taco trucks in Boyle Heights, than Cuban food might seem boring to you.  But to me oxtails with rice and beans and maduros is as comforting as my Grandma’s matzoh bowl soup. Pollo Tropical?  My own personal Del Taco.

When I worked in Midtown Manhattan the Dominicans had me covered.  There may have been rice and peas instead of morros, and they put salami in their “cubano”, but there was grilled onions on top of grilled meats, and the fried plantains were plenty fried and plenty sweet.  And that was good enough for me.  Here in L.A., though, Cuban food is like tacos in NYC.  Even the half way decent stuff gets put up on a pedestal by the locals.  I guess what I’m saying is, I like Versailles’ garlic chicken just as much as the next guy but there’s something about that place that has never made me feel 100% right. Like an Angeleno eating a taco in Hell’s Kitchen.

So imagine how excited I was when I read about La Caridad on L.A. Magazine’s food blog.  Oxtails?  Pork shank? Morros?  I’m in.

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