Midtown Lunch

I ordered from Pastoral, a neighborhood Korean place, because I wanted jajungmien, a Korean brown noodle dish that is one of my favorites. Once on the phone with Pastoral, I was told they do not make it anymore. Wah! Then I asked about their lunch specials. Nope, not doing them until September (does that make any sense?) Finally, I decided on veggie jap chae, which was listed as $9 on Menupages. But apparently, you can’t trust everything on the internets these days.

Jap chae is made with clear noodles and vegetables and is seasoned with soy and sesame. For this they charged me $15!!! For noodles with vegetables thrown in? You got me good, Pastoral! So, at least the portion was gigantic and tasted authentic. I enjoyed the cabbage, onions, and peppers and the less traditional broccoli they threw in for good measure.

For my $15, I was rewarded with other things. The take out orders come with sides; 4 ban chan selections and an unnecessary container of rice that I later used for my dinner. I was given kimchee, of course. I liked the egg and tofu banchan. There were tofu skins that tasted like imitation crab. Cucumber kimchee was another banchan item, it was spicy and sweet.

So while you do end up getting a sizable amount of food, I was just not up for paying that much for noodles and vegetables.  Looking at the actual take out menu (not Menupages) there are not many items that fall under $10  and the few that do are mostly stews, which are more appropriate for cold weather. I would be more likely to return once Pastoral starts up its lunch special menu again.

THE + (What somebody who likes this place would say)

• I am in the mood for a huge platter of sesame-soy noodles
• With all the vegetables, this lunch is kinda healthy

THE – (What somebody who doesn’t like this place would say)

• There is no way I want to pay $15 for noodles.
• Update your online menus! If you don’t have certain items, take them off. If something costs $5 more than stated, change it
• What is the logic behind not serving any lunch specials for a few months?

Pastoral, 205 S 13th (@ St. James, btw Walnut and Locust), 215 545 8511