Midtown Lunch

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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As is customary on Midtown Lunch, every Tuesday we’ll profile a random reader to get their recommendations for the best spots to lunch near their work. This week it’s Kat, the food writer who introduced us to the craziness of Syrian pizza at Sham, in Santa Monica.

Name: Kat

Age: Turned 27 last month!

Occupation: Food Editor AND Cook!

Where in L.A. do you Work?: Eater LA and Good Bite…..Santa Monica

Favorite Kind of Food: Dumplings, fresh pasta, anything pickled, cheese (especially in melted form)…in general a big fan of Asian eats, Italian, and market-driven edibles. Sorry, that wasn’t very specific.

Least Favorite Kind of Food: Fishy fish, mayonnaise, tuna in a can.

Favorite Place(s) to Eat Lunch: I am a huge fan of random hole-in-the-wall spots so I really love Sham (716 Santa Monica Blvd.) I usually get the cheese fattayer, tabbouleh, falafel, and one of the grilled meat options which comes with fantastic pickled turnips and this zingy garlic sauce. Their pomegranate pizza is pretty serious as well. Umami also just opened near me (500 Broadway) and I happen to be addicted to their Truffle Burger and Umami Burger so sometimes I land there for lunch. Oh, also, sometimes I pop by Rockenwagner (311 Arizona Avenue) and just grab two of their mini sandwiches: salumi on pretzel bread, those are pretty good. Oh, I LOVE Earth Bar (8365 Santa Monica Blvd.) Great fresh juices (I go for the liver cleanse, ughh my liver needs cleansing) and fresh soups and such. Also, really great chocolate froyo which is made from just cocoa, dates, coconut water, and almonds as I recall. One more top pick, definitely Huckleberry (1014 Wilshire Blvd). Zoe makes some of the best baguettes I’ve had outside of France. Every time I walk in there I want to eat everything I see. Oh, and Cora’s Coffee Shop! (1802 Ocean Ave.) That’s another great spot owned by Capo next door. The rigatoni….

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Dukk nachos from the Ahn Joo Truck. Photo by Gastronomy Blog

• MOBILE Check out the Korean goodness of Ahn Joo [Gastronomy]
• DOWNTOWN A round-up of food news for DTLA [Blogdowntown]
• ECHO PARK Xoia brings more modern Vietnamese to the east side [LAist; Eating L.A.;Squid Ink]
• HOLLYWOOD Juicy Burger is now open [Eater]
• MAR VISTA Venician Pizza is coming to Venice the west side [Grub Street]
• SANTA MONICA Bite Bar & Bakery has some amazing looking lunch stuff [Exile Kiss]
• VENICE Your first look at Benny’s Tacos [Grub Street]
• VENICE Lidia’s Pupusas are cheap and satisfying [Eater]
• MOBILE Hello potato stick covered hot dog! [Street Gourmet L.A.]

I’m embarrassed to admit it, but before last week I had never been to Langer’s.  As a Miami jew (lower case, because I’m a bad jew who loves pork way too much), whose parents were born in New York, who spent his his childhood eating at Wolfie’s (and the lesser known, kind of terrible, Pumpernickel’s), and the past 4 1/2 years living in NYC, you’d think I would have gone sooner.  Like maybe the first week I moved here.  Like, maybe right from the airport.  Despite the pedigree, I’m no deli expert.  But I am a fat man, and as such have nothing but love for pastrami and corned beef and tongue, on good rye bread, with a bit of mustard.  How could I not?

Sadly, none of those things are under $10 at Langer’s.  In fact, getting out of that place for $10 is practically impossible, especially if you Dr. Brown’s a requirement (it is.)  But that didn’t stop me from trying.

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If given the choice between “authenticity” (whatever the hell that means) and “fusion” I will choose the former every time.  Ethnic food that’s been watered down, or muddled, by the inclusion of some other cuisine is not my idea of a good time, and yet every once in awhile something “fusion-y” comes along that is too perfect to be mad at (and for some reason it seems to often involve Korean food.)  Korean fried chicken is possibly the greatest invention of all time, Kogi started a food truck revolution, and now there is this: the newly opened Kalbi Burger, in Koreatown (which I first read about on LA Taco.)

Korean burgers are not exactly a new idea.  Kogi serves Korean sliders on their truck, there’s a Bulgogi Whopper available overseas, and hell- even this fat white guy thought to throw some bulgogi marinade into his burgers for a Superbowl Party in 2001 (a no-brainer combo that was probably tried long before, and has been tried many times since.)  But there’s something about Kalbi Burger that got me all excited.  Maybe it was the Umami Burger looking orange and black sign.  Or the fact that it’s not from a truck (there is something to be said about the permanence of a brick and mortar restaurant.)  But either way, I was intrigued enough to head over there yesterday and eat my through most of the menu.

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