Midtown Lunch

They’re baaaaaaaaaack. Starry Kitchen’s Famous Tofu Balls.

I can’t believe it has been a whole year since Starry Kitchen went legit, and moved their North Hollywood apartment super secret take out business into a real brick and mortar space in the Downtown water court. And yet… here we are! And all next week they will be celebrating by serving a “Best of” menu. Each day Starry Kitchen will feature a fan favorite from the past year, and here’s the schedule they’re CONTEMPLATING…

• Monday, Feb 14th- MALAYSIAN CHICKEN CURRY
• Tuesday, Feb 15th- SPICY “CRACK” KRAB CAKES
• Weds, Feb 16th (their ACTUAL anniversary)- BRAISED COCONUT PORK… BELLY!
• Thurs, Feb 17th- TAIWANESE FRIED PORK CHOP (lunch & dinner)
• Friday, Feb 18th – CRISPY TOFU BALLS (also lunch & dinner)

Looks good to us! Got an opinion? Sound off on their blog or via Twitter and we’ll make sure to update you on the final menu by Monday it’s confirmed.  The menu above is the final menu. And, of course, congrats to Nguyen and Thi and the whole SK team!

Related:
Starry Kitchen is a (Now Legal) Downtown Godsend. Just Make Sure You Go By Friday!

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 Brandon, a freelance FX artist on the westside looking for a Sham replacement.

Name: Brandon

Age: 38

Occupation: Freelance FX artist

Where in L.A. do you Work?: Santa Monica

Favorite Kind of Food: Indian, Middle Eastern, Japanese, Korean, Italian

Least Favorite Kind of Food: Thai, Chinese,(not that these are bad, just only occasionally), Franchise Food.

Favorite Place(s) to Eat Lunch: ZamZam Market (11028 Washington Blvd)- Tandoori, Kebabs and Biryani. BEST IN EXISTENCE for all 3. Mayura (10406 Venice Boulevard) Buffet Lunch. Friday is Chinese-Indian. All India Cafe (12113 Santa Monica Blvd) – good buffet. Pennsylvania Ave and Centinella/Olympic lunch trucks. Bay Cities Italian (1517 Lincoln Blvd.) Hot counter and Pre-made Godmothers.

Read more »

I will fully admit to having a love/hate relationship with food trucks.  I love street food, and it’s been a part of my lunch routine since I started this site almost 5 years ago.  When the first wave of gourmet trucks started hitting the streets in NYC it was fun, and new.  Unique and exciting.  Now it seems like everybody and their mother is opening a food truck, and some of them are pretty mediocre.  Little did I know that NYC was the minor leagues compared to what was going on in L.A.  Outfits like Road Stoves make it incredibly easy to open your own food truck, and when something is easy why bother doing basic things that opening a new business usually requires… like research.  Or menu testing.

When I first moved to L.A. a year ago this month I was completely overwhelmed by the food truck scene.  So many freakin’ trucks to try, so many different concepts.  Some of them were no brainers… Kogi, Dim Sum Truck, India Jones, Grill ‘Em All (what can I say, I’m a huge Four Horsemen fan.)  Others took a bit of convincing.  Buttermilk Truck?  What the hell is that?! Burgers sold by a Paris Hilton look-a-like?  No thanks.  But I quickly learned to not necessarily judge by name alone (Baby’s makes a good burger, and Buttermilk is possibly my favorite truck in all of L.A.)  Take Frysmith for example.  I like french fries just as much as the next guy, but fries isn’t a meal- even if you top that shit with meat and cheese and other fancy ingredients (which apparently they do.)

Then I found out that you can get those fries stuff into a tortilla… and that changed everything.

Read more »

Whoa. That looks way tastier than my photos. Photo by Eat to Blog.

• HWOOD A much prettier look at our Siam Sunset lunch [Eat to Blog]
• DTLA Ruth Reichl loves Clifton’s Cafeteria [Ruth Reichl]
• DTLA Two Bits Market is now open in the Alexandria [Grub Street]
• HWOOD NYC’s Papaya King is coming to L.A. [Eater;Squid Ink]
• KTOWN Kalbi Burger is building up its fan base [Squid Ink]
• KTOWN Sharing a lunch special at Kobawoo!? I don’t think I could do it [Actor’s Diet]
• MID CITY Not everybody likes Simplethings’ pie [Noms Not Bombs]
• MOBILE Sausages outnumber Korean tacos on food trucks now [Grub Street]

Back in April of last year, I had a dream.  A dream that one day the Animal/Cart For a Cause fried chicken sandwich would return as a regular item on the menu of Jon Shook and Vinny Dotolo’s new restaurant.  Well… it looks like dreams do come true!  Details about their new restaurant, Sun of a Gun, have been flooding out this week, including a sample menu which includes- wait for it… wait for it… “fried chicken inspired by Chick-fil-A and Bakesale Betty”. There is no mention of the word sandwich, and it doesn’t sound like they are going to be open for lunch on weekdays, but that’s ok. Beggars can’t be choosers.

Related:
Leftover Fried Chicken Sandwiches (From Animal!) Are An Embarrassment to Us All

What is there to really say about Papa Cristo’s that hasn’t already been said?  Situated across from St. Sophia’s (home of the gigantic annual L.A. Greek Fest), it’s pretty much the consensus best Greek lunch in L.A. Squid Ink called it the best gyro in town,  Jonathan Gold (aka The Guru) has mentioned their roast chicken a number of times over the years, and Los Angeles Magazine called their lamb sandwich one of the best in the city.  Hell, even the Food Network’s Meat & Potatoes has been there!  (But mostly those other three things.)   With everything I had heard, expectations were pretty high, and yet none of that prepared me for the excitement I felt when I saw this…

Read more »

I can’t tell you how many times I’ve driven through the intersection of Hollywood and La Brea, home to the gigantic Raffallo’s Pizza sign (you know it, even if you don’t know it.)  Never once did I think to myself, “gee, I wonder if there’s some good food tucked away behind that sign.”  I’m sure I’ve looked into the strip mall as I headed south on La Brea from my old apartment on Franklin (how could I not, right?)  But it clearly didn’t register… because even though I’ve probably driven by Roubo’s Place a trillion times, the first time my brain actually saw or heard about Roubo’s Place was in this Squid Ink food fight, which had their borscht beating out a tom yum soup from Yai in Thai town.

Cheap Russian food?  In Hollywood?  With an under $10 lunch special?  Yes please.

Read more »