Midtown Lunch

When I launched the L.A. branch of Midtown Lunch back in February one of my very first lunch trips was to the area of Fairfax known as Little Ethiopia.  The lunch I had at Rosalind’s was great, and I especially liked how even though everything was under $10 and ordered as individual lunch specials, the food still came out family style.  But as we left I couldn’t help but think we might have chosen wrong when I noticed the $9.99 all you can eat Ethiopian buffet sign across the street at Rahel’s.  “100% Vegan” is never something I enjoy seeing, but if there is one thing that will overrule the words vegan, or healthy, or salad bar, or pork-less,  it’s my four favorite words in the English language (when strung together): “All You Can Eat”.

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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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There’s been a lot of falafel talk on the site lately. Yesterdays Profiled Lunch’er, Rachael, asked for falafel recs in the comments, and last week’s Profiled Lunch’er, Julie, mentioned Pita Bar & Grill on Fairfax as her go-to falafel joint.  A fried chick pea ball craving was bound to follow.  My old stomping grounds was chock full of falafel (both Israeli and Lebanese mostly), but my exposure here in L.A. has been limited to a pretty bad version at Zankou.  (Stick to the chicken was the main takeaway from that lunch!)

Clearly it was time for a decent falafel lunch, so yesterday I took Lunch’er Julie’s advice and headed over to Pita Bar & Grill to check it out.

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I’m starting to think that tacos in Los Angeles are like pizza in New York. They’re cheap. They’re everywhere. They can be a meal, or a snack, a lunch, or a super late night stomach filler. Quality varies wildly, but it’s hard to find a truly horrendous version of either. You’ll see some people order one, most lunch specials include 2, but 3 is the number most pros go for. And nobody is ever going to agree on who makes the best version. You can get satisfying $1 versions of both, and seeing either cost more than $2.50 kind of makes my blood boil. And yet, occasionally, we find it in our hearts to accept a version of each that costs more than it should. Whether it’s because of expensive ingredients, or expert craftsmanship, the lowly taco or lowly slice can occasionally be elevated to a level that is worthy of spending $3+.

I don’t know enough about regional Mexican food to really pass judgment on most places (I leave that to this guy), but I do know this: the newly open Tinga (on La Brea just north of 3rd) is one of those “worth it” places. And I can say that because it isn’t trying to be an “authentic” (whatever that means) divey taqueria, or a hipster fast casual place trying to make Mexican food palatable to white people. They’re just making food that tastes awesome.

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File this under “Things People Who Work and Live Around Melrose Already Know”…  Tere’s Mexican Grill is kind of totally awesome.  I first heard about this fast food Mexican spot on Melrose when I wrote about Inti Peruvian, a decent saltado slinger in the same strip mall (on Melrose btw Cahuenga+Vine).  A week later, two other lunchers suggested it in the comments again when I wrote about 3 taco spots in Culver City.  And once Lunch’er “Patricia” said it was worth the drive from West Hollywood the deal was sealed.

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To truly understand Midtown Lunch (and me, for that matter) it might be helpful to go back and read my Guide to Beating the All You Can Eat Chinese Buffet.  It was written a few years ago, inspired by the only all you can eat Chinese buffet near my work (the only one in all of Manhattan, as far as I know).  To say I’m a huge fan of all you can eat buffets (especially those that serve Asian food) doesn’t really do justice to how I feel about the buffet.  Maybe the word “student” is more appropriate.  I have studied, and thought about, buffets for all my life.  And one day I hope to fulfill my dream of eating at a Chinese food buffet in every single state in the country.

Sadly, there aren’t many under $10 all you can eat buffets between Downtown L.A. and Santa Monica… unless you include Koreatown- but  those aren’t really buffets.  They’re just all you can eat- so you lose out on one my favorite parts of the buffet experience:  the variety.  Back in 2005, when I lived in L.A. the first time, there was only one all you can eat lunch buffet option near where I worked (on Miracle Mile).  On Fairfax, across from CBS, Chao Krung was my one buffet outlet- and while I remember it being just ok, I was excited to find out that it’s still there.  And still buffeting it up during lunch, for $9.99.

So yesterday, I headed over to put it to the test… and surprisingly, unlike most things I’ve tried again after 5 years of eating in NYC, it was far better than I remembered.

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Man, this city loves their chicken.  It seems as if every go-to, fallback lunch spot in town has some kind of white meat boneless chicken breast option, as a sandwich or salad, and more often then not topped with avocado. Don’t get me wrong… in the right hands, a boneless chicken breast can be made into a drool inducing Midtown Lunch that still haunts my dreams a week later.  But not everybody cooks like Jon & Vinny.

Of course the boneless white meat chicken breast is only one side of the massive L.A. chicken loving food scene.  On the other end of the spectrum you’ve got the Midtown Lunch’ish chicken spots.  The on-the-bone, skin wrapped whole chicken spots whose economics defy all logic.  Your Zankous, your Pollo ala Brasas (on Western), and of course Dino’s Burgers- the Pico institution where most people ignore the namesake item for their real signature dish:  a pile of french fries, topped with a red spice marinated greasy half chicken.

Check out the delicious red mess, after the jump.

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