Midtown Lunch

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 Doah, a law student who wants to brainstorm ways to get the Famous Halal Cart from NYC to come to Los Angeles.

Name: Doah

Age: 27

Occupation: Law student and recreational food-blogger

Where in L.A. do you Work?: Little Tokyo and Pasadena

Favorite Kind of Food: I hate this question mainly ’cause it’s impossible to give a straight and simple answer… but in a nutshell: Korean, Mexican (but not really Korean-Mexican), Japanese, Mediterranean, and Thai (in that order).

Least Favorite Kind of Food: Anything overly sweet, raw onions, and egg yolk w/ an exception for excellent Eggs Benedict.

Favorite Place(s) to Eat Lunch: Little Tokyo/ DTLA: Chirashi bowl from Sushi Gen (422 E 2nd St); ramen and shredded pork bowl from Daikokuya (327 E 1st St ); carne asada tacos from Tacos Tumbras a Tomas (in Grand Central Market). Pasadena: “The Sandwich” from Roma Italian Deli (918 N Lake Ave); beef & lamb kebabs from Mediterranean Cafe (273 Shoppers Ln); and the Angus Burger from Green Street Tavern (69 W Green St).

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Five Guys Burger. Photo by Dig Lounge.

• CULVER CITY What Five Guys lacks in presentation, it makes up for in taste [Dig Lounge]
• DTLA A bunch of new places have opened Downtown recently [Blog Downtown]
• DTLA Pret a Manger is coming soon to Downtown [Eater]
• DTLA Coly’s Stromboil sounds pretty awesome… [Squid Ink]
• HWOOD Get free fries at Papaya King through June 30th [Eater]
• KTOWN Get 50% off at Kalbi Burger [Groupon]
• WEST L.A. Tacos Por Favor is opening a second location [Eater]

Ever since my visit to the newly opened Brooklyn Water Bagel Co. in Beverly Hills, I’ve been kind of in the mood for bagels.  And, while their bagels were definitely good, and I liked their ice coffee ice cubes, the rest of the nonsense will probably keep me from being a regular customer (I’m looking at you pizza melts).  So, where does one go for bagels in this town? Noah’s is terrible (real bagels are not completely flat on one side), and most people who have moved here from New York will say don’t bother looking. And yet Bagel Broker, near The Grove, seems to come up in conversation a ton- kind of like Joe’s and Vito’s on the similarly maligned L.A. pizza front.

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As I mentioned on Monday, L.A. Times’ “The Find” column has been a goldmine of great lunches lately.  And jokbal isn’t the only thing they’ve introduced to me over the past few months.  I also have to credit them with introducing me to the food of Belize. I do most of my weekday lunching between Downtown L.A. and Santa Monica, so it’s always exciting to find something super unique that doesn’t require driving to the South Bay, San Gabriel Valley or East L.A.  A casual new Belizean place, on La Brea?  Sounds perfect.

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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 Min, a retiree who wishes she lived in the south of France.

Name: Min

Age: 35

Occupation: Retired (seriously, yes)

Where in L.A. do you Work?: South Bay or Los Feliz

Favorite Kind of Food: I love food, but I am a natural born Korean.(gotta have my rice and banchan fixings)

Least Favorite Kind of Food: I don’t discriminate against any food (I really don’t)

Favorite Place(s) to Eat Lunch: It’s all depending on my mood. But lately I-bana for Japanese, and All Indian Sweets & Snacks in Torrance for Indian (conveniently, they are next to each other in the same strip mall.) I-bana has one of the best bowls of hot soba and tempura. (I could watch their tempura cook all day long.) All Indian has the best deal in town $3.99 and $4.99 with dal, samosa, gulab, rice, and chapati. For a couple more bucks you get 2 items with meat-even lamb or goat if you’re lucky.

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Los Angeles Times’ The Find column has been on fire lately!  Two weeks ago it was falafel in West L.A., before that it was Cocina del Camaguey in Culver City, and Flavors of Belize on La Brea looks amazing.  But the one place that stood out to me the most in the past few months was their discovery of Jang Choong Dong Wong, a jokbal place in Koreatown.  Braised pig’s feet isn’t exactly on everybody’s must try list, but if you like pork you have to admit that looking at the L.A. Times photo must have stirred up something in your belly.  Having already fell in love with bo ssam (aka pork belly) courtesy of Kobawoo, jokbal seemed like the next logical step… so I was pretty excited to read in the Times’ article that even though the dinner order is over $20, they offer a $10 lunch special version.

How could I not?

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