Midtown Lunch

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 Thomas, a cook who seems to know a ton of spots in Koreatown.

Name: Thomas

Age: 31!?

Occupation: Cook

Where in L.A. do you Work?: Los Angeles, Beverly Hills, Pasadena

Favorite Kind of Food: Comfort food, done simple and done right.

Least Favorite Kind of Food: Anything that’s a “trend” just for trends’ sake. Offals (not that I don’t enjoy a crispy pig’s ear, buche or chicken gizzards now and again). Trendy burgers that cost 15 dollars. Portions that I can fit inside a matchbook.

Favorite Place(s) to Eat Lunch: Koreatown – Um Ma Jeep (that’s about as phonetic as I can get) 3126 W. 8th in a small strip. They have killer soups, particularly Sul Lung Tang which is many a Koreans’ remedy after a hard night of looking at the bottom of bottles. The soup is a restorative, made from a rich broth made from long simmered beef and bones, buckwheat noodles, slices of beef and tripe with a fistful of green onions. When I first started coming here back 10+ years ago the price for a bowl was $1.99! With the economy being what it is, the price is now $3.99 but still a great deal. Not to mention you can show up anytime since they don’t seem to have locks on the door. 24-7 real deal. Another spot is Mandarin House (3074 W. 8th), a Korean version of Chinese food. Noodles in Black Bean Sauce (jah – jang meun) is cheap and good. I walked out of there with a large order of Jah Jang Meun and Orange Chicken with all the accoutrement (rice, kimchi, soup, etc.) for a steal at $10 bucks and change. Chin Go Gae (3063 W. 8th St.) was a little hole in the wall for Koreans looking to score some Black Goat. It’s becoming more open to eaters looking to be more adventurous. Their black goat stew is another soup that does a body well after waking up a bit hangin’. The stew comes with all of the extra dishes normal of Korean joints. Kimchi and such. The stew is chock full of chile, garlic and perilla seeds. Strong flavored and filling. Although its 15 dollars a pop its enough for 2, so spilt the bowl and the bill and you can walk out of there less $7 bucks and change.

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With all the talk of the Go Go Curry eating championships in NYC, I found myself craving some Japanese curry recently.  It doesn’t help that Hideki Matsui is a California Angel now either.  My favorite cheap curry spot in Midtown was a shrine to #55 (Go Go in Japanese) and every time he hit a home run you would get a free topping coupon.  Sadly Go Go Curry hasn’t followed Matsui out to L.A. (yet!) but thankfully there are plenty of spots to find Japanese curry out here, and the other day I ventured to Little Osaka (the section of Sawtelle btw. Olympic+Santa Monica) to try two of them in a head to head curry battle the death!

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Usually we leave the tawdry business of critic stalking to Eater, but couldn’t resist posting this! Went to try the new special today at the Dim Sum Truck (ham su gok, and it was delicious by the way), and on the way back to the car spotted Jeffrey Steingarten! We geekily said hi, and he kindly told us how much he liked the Nom Nom Truck and the Dim Sum Truck (both were parked at the lot on Ocean and 31st today.)

Can’t help but wonder if he would have been as nice if they were competing on Iron Chef.

Photo courtesy of Noms Not Bombs

• MOBILE New Shrimp Guys truck recreates a Hawaiian favorite [NomsNotBombs]
• DOWNTOWN Newly open Arashi Sushi has a $10 lunch special! [BlogDowntown]
• DOWNTOWN Uncle John’s is opening a second location [Dig Lounge]
• MARINA DEL REY Westside Mendocino Farms coming soon! [Grub Street]
• FAIRFAX Golden State wins Gourmet Burger Battle [Exile Kiss]
• MOBILE The new Vizzi Truck’s chimichurri chicken looks pretty good [Eating L.A.]
• MISC It’s not lunch, but everybody should support the Share Our Strength bake sale at the Grove on Saturday! [What’s Gaby Cooking]

Growing pains and early mistakes aside, when a new restaurant opens it’s pretty easy to tell if the owners know what they’re doing.  From the fanciest of the expensive restaurants, to the independently owned spot, to a new franchise of a giant chain, there are little things that let you know- ok, problems aside, these guys have their shit together.  They’ve done this before.  It’s going to work out.  It is pretty clear that the duo who started Ratata, a brand new French Cafe in Westwood, have absolutely no idea what they are doing.  You know how I know?  Because their authentically Parisian menu of sandwiches, salads, pates and pastries is way too amazing to be so cheap.

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There are friends in New York who would kill me for saying this (we abandoned them for the West coast in the dead of winter) but the past few days have been soup weather here in L.A., don’t you think? (Uh, it was cloudy the other day. That’s as a bad as it gets, here right?)  I’m usually partial to the ramen (hello Daikokuya and Santouka!) but I’m always looking to branch out.  So when a good friend offered to take me to his favorite spot for Kal Guk Soo, Korean knife cut noodle soup with ground beef and dumplings, I was all over it.

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