Midtown Lunch

There are sandwiches, and then there are SANDWICHES. Sandwiches are those things your boring co-worker eats or brings from home. Turkey and swiss, grilled chicken and avocado, deli counter roast beef with lettuce and tomato… the list goes on and on. Do they taste bad? Of course not. Who doesn’t like a good sandwich? But they’re not Midtown Lunches. I’m looking to get something more out of my lunch hour… and by more, I mean can you dip that roast beef sandwich in some gravy?’ Deep fry that chicken? Do something that shows you care just a little bit (beyond buying your bread from a good bakery, or not pre-slicing your boar’s head.)

When I first heard about Mendocino Farms, the ultra popular sandwich shop with two locations Downtown, I was pretty skeptical. This is L.A. after all, and there are no shortage of recommended lunch options that clearly put “healthy” in front of “tasty”. I like farm fresh. I like quality ingredients. But I also like things that taste delicious (ideally, with no attention paid to calories), and nobody brings all that together in sandwich form better than Mendocino Farms.

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Over the weekend I had these words thrown at me by a good friend: “You’re a foodie a you haven’t been to Bay Cities yet!” First of all, don’t ever call me the F word. And if you ever hear me using the F word to describe myself, feel free to tell me to shut up.  (Unless I’m calling myself fat.  Because that is true.)  Second of all… uh… no.  I haven’t been to Bay Cities yes.  Is that bad? Is this is a challenge?  Do I need to fix this right away by scarfing a giant Italian sub with the works while sitting on a sidewalk in Santa Monica?  Yes, yes I do.

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As you’ve probably figured out by now I’m a fat and cheap bastard. The perfect “Midtown Lunch” has to be under $10, and it should be fast, tasty (of course), and oftentimes it’s dirty (I’m looking at you Chu’s Chinese Kitchen.) Buffets are always good; being waited on, not so much (who wants to tip?!) But I do appreciate a good deal, especially when its a normally expensive restaurant offering something for under $10.

So when I heard (via Blackboard Eats) that Ciudad does an under $10 “quick lunch” special, I was all over it.

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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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Longtime readers of this site are all too familiar with my quirky rules for determining what places qualify as bonafide “Midtown Lunches”.  (All you can eat buffet = good.  The *best* salad and turkey sandwiches = meh.)  But the one that looms largest is price.  There are actually multiple reasons for this rule.  #1.  I’m a cheap bastard and of the opinion that it is our god given right to a delicious and filling lunch, for under $10.  But it’s also a matter of self preservation as well.  I’m already overwhelmed with the number of must try under $10 lunches in Los Angeles.  Open the site up to every $12 lunch menu, avocado topped, boar’s head serving, salad/sandwich spot in L.A. and my head would probably explode. Plus I’m not interested in those kind of lunches.

But I’ll tell you what I am interested in.  An oyster po’boy with french fries from the Lazy Ox Canteen!  Profiled Lunch’ers “Shawna & Sonja” recommended the place, KevinEats was impressed,  “The Guru” found some things to like about it, and the L.A. Times just gave them 3 stars (and called their burger the best in town.)  How could I not?

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