Midtown Lunch

Posted to the Midtown Lunch Flickr Photo Pool by Pabo76:

Passed by Arang today and noticed their new Happy Hour specials, which include a delicious dish of “Chicken Asshole House + Soju,” for $25. Actually the Korean name of the dish “Dak Dhong Chip BokKum” literally translates to “Fried Chicken Shit House,” which is perhaps even worse. However, I’m sure they really meant to say “Fried Chicken Gizzards.”

Personally I’ve never been too big a fan of the dish myself, despite the fact that my mother and others have always told me that the “Dhong Chip” was the best the part of the chicken. It certainly won’t kill you, and after enough soju you’ll never know the difference anyway. Besides, it tastes just like chicken.

Arang, 9 W 32nd St. (btw. B’way+5th)

I headed to Koreatown for lunch yesterday hoping to get some of my favorite katsu in the neighborhood, only to find the door locked up at Arang (on 32nd btw. 5th+B’way). A quick phone call got no answer or voicemail. Judging by the Halloween decoration in the window, it doesn’t seem like they’ve been closed for very long. Has anyone heard about them closing up shop? Let us know in the comments.

Well before Haru Hana, Izakaya Moku and now Sake Bar Kirakuya started ‘Japanifying’ Koreatown, Arang was offering up a hybrid Japanese/Korean menu. It’s changed a lot since Zach first wrote about its buffet way back in 2006. For a while they closed up the buffet and went lunch-less, but as Zach reported after I wrote about it on my blog, they reopened with full table service and an interesting mix of Korean and Japanese dishes.

Some of my favorite dishes require a slight splurge out of the ML Price range, but there are plenty of great options under $10. Check them out after the jump.

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