Midtown Lunch

As is customary on Midtown Lunch, every Tuesday we profile a random reader to get their recommendations for the best spots to lunch near their work. This week it’s Remil, an analyst who also wishes there was street meat in L.A.

Name: Remil

Age: 39

Occupation: Contract Administration Analyst

Where in L.A. do you Work?: 3rd Street & Beaudry Avenue in DTLA

Favorite Kind of Food: Wow! This is really a hard question. I’m Filipino so obviously Filipino food is my absolute favorite. But I also love a wide array of foods ranging from Chinese dim sum, to Korean BBQ, to Japanese ramen, to super spicy Thai, to Vietnamese pho and the occasional Texas BBQ. I often explore many different restaurants with my friends and my list of favorites just keeps getting longer and longer.

Least Favorite Kind of Food: I try not to discriminate and I don’t really have a least favorite. But if I had to list just one, it would have to be a particular Chinese vegetarian restaurant in SGV. It wasn’t pretty.

Favorite Place(s) to Eat Lunch: My favorite Filipino restaurant in L.A. is Salakot Sizzle and Grill (2122 Beverly Blvd). It’s not your typical steam table restaurant. Here you sit down, place your order and everything is cooked fresh. My “goto” selections are their Kare-Kare (oxtail stew), Crispy Pata (deep fried pork hock), Dinuguan (pork blood stew), Lechon Kawali (deep fried pork belly), Sizzling Sisig (chopped pork cheeks) and the Pork BBQ on a stick. Don’t forget to order the Halo-Halo (shaved ice) for dessert. For a quick Filipino lunch try Bahay Kubo Natin (2330 W Temple St), where they have a rotating daily menu. Just point to what you like on their steam table to match with either steamed rice or pancit (noodles) and you’re good to go. My favorites here are their Mung Bean stew, Pork BBQ, Fried Chicken Skins, Egg Plant Omelette and their Filipino-style Fried Chicken. In no particular order, here are just some of my other favorite places for lunch. Starry Kitchen on Grand for their green tofu balls, Eastside Market on Alpine for the D.A. special, Mien Nghia on Ord for their beef noodle soup, Mendocino Farms on Flower for any of their sandwiches, Langer’s Deli on Alvarado for an amazing pastrami sandwich, Daikokuya on First St. for their ramen, Yorkshire Grill on Sixth St. for their chopped liver, Fisherman’s Outlet on Central for their grilled sea bass and Jitlada on Sunset for their Southern Thai specialties.

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As is customary on Midtown Lunch, every Tuesday we profile a random reader to get their recommendations for the best spots to lunch near their work. This week it’s Doah, a law student who wants to brainstorm ways to get the Famous Halal Cart from NYC to come to Los Angeles.

Name: Doah

Age: 27

Occupation: Law student and recreational food-blogger

Where in L.A. do you Work?: Little Tokyo and Pasadena

Favorite Kind of Food: I hate this question mainly ’cause it’s impossible to give a straight and simple answer… but in a nutshell: Korean, Mexican (but not really Korean-Mexican), Japanese, Mediterranean, and Thai (in that order).

Least Favorite Kind of Food: Anything overly sweet, raw onions, and egg yolk w/ an exception for excellent Eggs Benedict.

Favorite Place(s) to Eat Lunch: Little Tokyo/ DTLA: Chirashi bowl from Sushi Gen (422 E 2nd St); ramen and shredded pork bowl from Daikokuya (327 E 1st St ); carne asada tacos from Tacos Tumbras a Tomas (in Grand Central Market). Pasadena: “The Sandwich” from Roma Italian Deli (918 N Lake Ave); beef & lamb kebabs from Mediterranean Cafe (273 Shoppers Ln); and the Angus Burger from Green Street Tavern (69 W Green St).

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As is customary on Midtown Lunch, every Tuesday we profile a random reader to get their recommendations for the best spots to lunch near their work. This week it’s Min, a retiree who wishes she lived in the south of France.

Name: Min

Age: 35

Occupation: Retired (seriously, yes)

Where in L.A. do you Work?: South Bay or Los Feliz

Favorite Kind of Food: I love food, but I am a natural born Korean.(gotta have my rice and banchan fixings)

Least Favorite Kind of Food: I don’t discriminate against any food (I really don’t)

Favorite Place(s) to Eat Lunch: It’s all depending on my mood. But lately I-bana for Japanese, and All Indian Sweets & Snacks in Torrance for Indian (conveniently, they are next to each other in the same strip mall.) I-bana has one of the best bowls of hot soba and tempura. (I could watch their tempura cook all day long.) All Indian has the best deal in town $3.99 and $4.99 with dal, samosa, gulab, rice, and chapati. For a couple more bucks you get 2 items with meat-even lamb or goat if you’re lucky.

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As is customary on Midtown Lunch, every Tuesday we profile a random reader to get their recommendations for the best spots to lunch near their work. This week its Corianda, a social media analyst who loves being challenged to cook weird stuff.

Name: Corianda

Age: 20

Occupation: Social Media Analyst, moonlighting as a graphic designer and wanna-be food blogger

Where in L.A. do you Work?: Smarter Social Media, a boutique PR/Marketing firm specializing in online and, duh, social media. We’re in the office with the halfpipe at the Santa Monica Airport.

Favorite Kind of Food: Depends entirely on my mood, but can’t pass up a big bowl of noodles, nor german comfort food, nor good cheese and meats platter-style at my family “Cheese Nights.” I recently discovered foie gras- is duck fat a “kind” of food?

Least Favorite Kind of Food: Anything overcooked and un-inventive. Or overly pretentious, though I won’t say so.

Favorite Place(s) to Eat Lunch: It’s unoriginal, but slurping down ramen at Santouka in Mitsuwa (3760 South Centinela Ave) is the automatic go-to, especially when I need a break. Following up with a snack labelled entirely in Japanese is like playing Russian Roulette with your dessert. If I feel like eating with my hands and some greasy good samosas, India Sweets and Spices (9409 Venice Boulevard) is worth the trek. Other than that, it’s the food trucks parked on Ocean Park or dragging the co-workers to Westside Food Truck Central.

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As is customary on Midtown Lunch, every Tuesday we profile a random reader to get their recommendations for the best spots to lunch near their work. This week its Crystal, an IT person whose goto lunch is Panda Express. (I think we’re going to get along just fine.)

Name: Crystal

Age: 33

Occupation: IT

Where in L.A. do you Work?: Time Inc in Brentwood

Favorite Kind of Food: Mexican and sushi

Least Favorite Kind of Food: No particular cuisine, just bland food

Favorite Place(s) to Eat Lunch: For Chinese – Soybean (11966 Wilshire Boulevard) love the kung pow chicken. They also let you make up dishes. Lazy Daisy (11913 Wilshire Blvd.) for juices. Baja Buds (11819 Wilshire Blvd) for the anti Chipotle chicken burrito. Shamshira (1712 Westwood blvd) for Persian, great kabobs and kubideh. Hole in the Wall Burger (11058 Santa Monica Blvd) so good and homemade ketchup!

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As is customary on Midtown Lunch, every Tuesday we profile a random reader to get their recommendations for the best spots to lunch near their work. This week its Fred, a car-less (!?) animator who spends most of his time Downtown.

Name: Fred

Age: 30

Occupation: Freelance computer animator and Metro transit blogger for The Source

Where in L.A. do you Work?: Downtown L.A. (mostly South Park but sometimes Union Station adjacent)

Favorite Kind of Food: Burgers and fries

Least Favorite Kind of Food: Sushi and anything with chunks, slices and/or little tiny bits of tomato

Favorite Place(s) to Eat Lunch: Sandwich Shop (531 W 6th St). The Pho French dip is probably the best sandwich I’ve ever had, but it only appears on the menu once in a blue moon. The Gogi Hoagie is my standard order and it’s fantastic. At Cabbage Patch (520 W 6th St) the Jidori chicken bowl is one of the rare overtly healthy dishes that I actually love. It’s vegetables, brown rice and grilled chicken but somehow it’s amazing. When it comes to Mediterranean food I’m split between my old fave Lula Kabob (952 S Broadway) and my new fave Flames (which offers tasty homemade potato chip things). I simply can’t forget Uncle John’s Cafe, I love getting their orange chicken or teriyaki/chasu combo to go for lunching at my desk. Also, Gills lunch buffet is hard to beat for a chicken tika fix.

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As is customary on Midtown Lunch, every Tuesday we profile a random reader to get their recommendations for the best spots to lunch near their work. This week its Jen, the director of PRISM Gallery in West Hollywood. Tonight they’re having a benefit cocktail gathering in conjunction with the blog Umamimart at 6pm to raise money for Second Harvest Japan. The event will feature highballs provided by Yamazaki Whiskey, hors d’oeuvres by Eveleigh and desserts by Fruit & Flour. And the entire ticket price goes to Second Harvest Japan.

Name: Jen

Age: 34

Occupation: Gallery Director

Where in L.A. do you Work?: PRISM, near Sunset Plaza

Favorite Kind of Food: A well made salad and a good steak

Least Favorite Kind of Food: Anything drowning in oil

Favorite Place(s) to Eat Lunch: The homemade daily menu at Dialog Cafe (8766 Holloway Dr), The Lemon Chicken Soup at Mirabelle (8768 W Sunset Blvd) that comes with a side of fresh olive tapenade and bread.

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