Midtown Lunch

Samosa House & Samosa House East are cheap, vegetarian *and* good

• NEWS Here’s a great map to cheap vegetarian options in L.A. [LAist]
• CULVER CITY A fond farewell to Tokyo 7-7 [Eat Drink & Be Merry]
• DTLA Suehiro Cafe is the Guru’s favorite Little Tokyo lunch [Squid Ink]
• H’WOOD Roubo’s Place looks like it could be a winner [Squid Ink]
• MID CITY Red Medicine is open for lunch. Too bad everything is $10+ [Eater]
• WEHO Vito’s makes a better calzone than Damiano’s [Squid Ink]
• NEWS Umami Burger is devloping a cheaper fast casual concept! [NRN]

This is quite possibly the greatest food truck story I’ve seen in the 4+ years I’ve been doing Midtown Lunch:  On Tuesday Eater broke the story that the Flying Pig truck (one of our favorites in L.A.) was going to be starring in a porno with Ron Jeremy called “The Flying Pink Pig”.  Amazing right?  Not so much says the Owner of the Flying Pig, who is afraid this might be bad publicity for the brick and mortar he’s about to open in Little Tokyo.  He told Squid Ink that he had no idea they were going to be using the truck in a porno film, apparently thinking the film was a “romantic comedy”.  Although that story becomes hard to believe once you see the trailer.  (If the cheesy construction workers weren’t a dead giveaway, than the half naked women making out in your truck should have been!) Regardless of what the owner of the Flying pig might think this is a clear victory for those of us who have been saying for years that food trucks should make love not war.  And the best news is, two sequels are already in the can.  [photo via Eater]

The opening of a new shawarma place in L.A. isn’t exactly huge news (there’s plenty to go around), but when Food GPS called relative newcomer Shawarma Palace (on Pico just west of Robertson) the best he’s had in all of Los Angeles I couldn’t help but rush over to check it out. If you couldn’t figure it out from the address, the place is Israeli (and Kosher) and according to the post on Food GPS it was started a few months ago by a guy who used to own a shawarma spot near Tel Aviv. Sounds like the real deal to me…

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It’s a new year and naturally everybody is trying to find ways to be healthy… so how do I follow up my January 2nd list of “healthy” lunches? With lunch at an all you can eat buffet, of course! (I’m sorry, I just can’t help myself.) If you’re vegetarian, or love vegetarian Indian food, you are probably already aware of the wealth of riches in the Culver City area. Samosa House and Samosa House East make me forget how much I love meat (for an hour at least) and India Sweets and Spices does some good stuff too. There’s also the most excellent Bawarachi, which does these pretty great fake chicken wings that I’ll get around to posting some day. But if you want some meat with your Indian food, the best option in the area has got to be the $10 all you can eat lunch buffet at Mayura.

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A bunch of lunch news for the people who work Downtown… first off, the bad.  The Original Texas Barbecue King (on 7th btw. Grand & Olive) has closed down.  It wasn’t the greatest BBQ of all time, but it was all we had in the area!  They are trying to find another location to relocate to in the Downtown Area.

And that’s not all the area lost over the holidays.  Because of construction on the new Target opening Downtown next year, the entire food court in the 7th & Fig complex has been closed down. But don’t get too upset, there’s a silver lining to this part of the story…

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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 James, a DVD peddler with a soft spot for cheap food court teriyaki!

Name: James

Age: 42

Occupation: I work for a DVD distribution company.

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

Favorite Kind of Food: Al Pastor tacos with pineapple, KBBQ, Belgian fries, Saltado de Pollo, loco moco, Japanese curry, broccoli raab.

Least Favorite Kind of Food: Anything overpriced and mediocre like stadium hot dogs and nachos, airport terminal grub, and chain restaurants that pipe in Auto-tune music!

Favorite Place(s) to Eat Lunch: Our office, being a stone’s throw away from Bay Cities Italian Deli, makes it my go-to spot–Sausage and pepper hoagie Wednesdays! Baja Buds on the 3rd St. Promenade (1315 3rd Street Promenade) makes a decent $7 burrito as does Wahoo’s Fish Tacos (6258 Wilshire Blvd) on Wilshire. I’m not too impressed with the food court offerings at the new Santa Monica Place, but I’ve become a discount card-carrying Sarku Japan fan when I need an (un)healthy dose of teriyaki chicken. For the occasional splurge or client lunch, there’s always Border Grill (1445 4th Street).

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