Midtown Lunch

According to the L.A. Times tomorrow is the big day for Miyata Menji, the new ramen/tsukemen spot opening on Sawtelle in the old Gr/eats space.  Being a tsukemen addict (and lover of all things ramen) I’ve been cautiously excited about this opening, but the more and more I read and see the more wacky this place sounds.

From the LAT:

Japanese comedian Tetsuji Miyata brings his Miyata Menji concept to L.A. from Osaka, where noodles dubbed TG2-D and KK100 are served in ramen and tsukemen. On the menu are just two items: tonkotsu ramen with pork broth, teriyaki beef, shallots and fried tomatoes, and tsukemen with steamed noodles, anchovy cabbage, grated cheese (optional), minced pork, vegetable potage, tomato and croutons.

Teriyaki beef!? Tomatoes? Grated cheese and croutons? Well that explains the menu photos I spotted last week…

Read more »

There is something happening on Sawtelle these days. Empty spaces are being filled, tons of coming soon signs are going up, and for the first time in awhile Little Osaka doesn’t feel like a tired, second rate alternative to the South Bay (third rate if you include Little Tokyo.)  There’s still a long way to go, but signs are pointing in the right direction. With the opening of Tusjita, West L.A. can legitimately lay claim to serving the best ramen and tsukemen in L.A., and Ramen Jinya is also on the way (presumably to capitalize on the lunchtime overflow and give people a dinner time ramen option?) Plan Check is opening Feb. 22nd. Blockheads Shavery is now open on Mississippi, for all those people looking to try the hot-right-now Taiwanese shaved snow phenomenom. And coffee snobs now have Balconi and Cafe Tomo.  Gr/eats, which closed on Monday, is supposedly going to become another tsukemen place.  And the empty space next to Tsujita is going to be a new Vietnamese cafe called Nong L.A.  Even food trucks are getting in on the action.  Signage recently went up for a brick and mortar location of the Slice Truck.  (Huzzah?)

And if you like Japanese pasta we were excited to find last week courtesy of Lunch’er Dylan that Orris, the French/Japanese restaurant owned by Chef Shiro (of Restaurant Shiro in Pasadena), has become Spaghetti House.

Read more »

Even though it will likely never compete with the South Bay for Japanese food supremacy, Sawtelle has managed to compile a decent enough collection of lunch options to make those of us who live and work on the Westside less likely to make the drive down the 405. If you want a decent katsu curry, there’s Hurry Curry of Tokyo or Curry House.  Japanese fried chicken?  Furaibo has great lunch specials. Cheap hot bento boxes to go?  Tempura House it is. Sushi?  Kiriko if you’ve got money, Hide Sushi if you don’t.  And now that Tsujita is open, West L.A. could reasonably lay claim to serving the best ramen and tsukemen in all of Southern California.

But as much as I enjoy lunching on Sawtelle one place has never enticed me: Sawtelle Kitchen.  I don’t know if it’s the valet parking, the disproportionate number of white people who eat there (yes, I’m a self hating gaijin), or the fact that you could plop the place down on Doheny, and it would fit right in.  Thanks, but no thanks.  That is, until a trusted (read: Japanese) friend told me they have a decent hamburger/meatloaf and their salad dressing is amazing.  Amazing, as in they closely guard the recipe and won’t you give you any extra in a to-go cup, amazing.  No salad dressing could be that good… but I’m down with Japanese hamburger!

Read more »

I wanted to go to Short Order. I really did. How could I not?  First off, it’s a burger joint party conceived by the queen of Mozza.  Secondly, I have always wanted to find a decent lunch in the “Original Farmer’s Market” and this seems to be the best shot.  And thirdly… did I mention it’s burgers made by Nancy Silverton? Who wouldn’t be excited for this? Answer: nobody. And then I saw the prices.  Burgers $11-14. $4 fries. $6 shakes.  Not outrageous by any stretch, but not a Midtown Lunch.  I’m sure eventually I’ll cave, just like I did for Mozza To Go (I do love a good patty melt), but not this week.  So, with burgers on the brain (thanks for that blogosphere!) I decided to burger it up in West L.A. at a place I’ve been meaning to try for almost a year now: Hole in the Wall Burger Joint.

Read more »

Thanksgiving is just days away, so food blog readers should probably prepare themselves for a bunch of “Here are my favorite turkey sandwiches in L.A.” posts. (Lord knows I’ve been guilty of this in the past.)   But that’s just food blog filler.  After all, who wants to eat turkey before eating turkey?  Oh… you do?  Well, not me.  I try to limit my turkey intake to once a year, followed by a day or two of leftovers. Of course everyone has a different way of preparing for Thanksgiving.  Since we’re in Los Angeles, I’m guessing starvation is a go-to strategy for many.  Then again, for those people not eating is probably a default setting so the lead up to Thanksgiving is really just an excuse to make their eating disorder acceptable.

But don’t those people know that eating less is probably the worst thing you can do the prepare yourself for the carnage of a properly eaten Thanksgiving meal!  Stomach shrinkage?  No thanks.  We need stomach expansion.  That’s why I like to all-you-can-eat-buffet it up in the week leading up to turkey day.  And what do you know?  A new one has just opened up in West L.A.!

Read more »

I’ve been waiting 7 months (!!!) for the branch of Hokkaido Seafood Buffet to open in the Westside Pavillion, so to say I was super excited when this showed up in the mail a few days ago would be a pretty big understatement. Mind you, this wasn’t some press notice or blogger preview or even a postcard addressed directly to me.  This was a “Current Resident”, bulk mail piece of 4″ x 6″ magic that left me wondering “How did they know!?”

A call to the location revealed that they will finally be opening tomorrow (Saturday, 11/12).  I know where I’m having lunch on Monday!

I want to stop eating ramen.  I really do.  But the city won’t let me. First, popular Torrance transplant Yamadaya opened around the corner from my house.  Then Shin Sen Gumi did the same Downtown.  Surely after my Tsukemen round up, I would take a slurp break, but no.  After months of teasing, Tsujita L.A., a Tokyo mini-chain popular for its tonkotsu ramen and citrus spritzed tsukemen, decided to finally start serving lunch last week.  How could I not?

Just when I thought I was out, they pull me back in.

Read more »