Midtown Lunch

It’s overwhelming to think of how much amazing ethnic food there is in Los Angeles.  And while there are plenty of great modern day resources for exploring Koreatown or Thai Town or the SGV or South Bay or East L.A., there is something irresistible about asking somebody who lives in or grew up eating in one those neighborhoods for their favorites.  I know I do it.  “Oh, you’re Korean?  What’s your favorite place to eat on Vermont?”  “Oooh… your parents live in Monterrey Park?  Where’s the best place for Dim Sum?”  And most of the time people are more than happy to spout off lists of their favorite places to eat.  (Hell, musician Bill Esparza has practically made a second career for himself recommending Mexican places in the city and beyond.)

But ask somebody Filipino where to get the best Filipino food in Los Angeles and they always say the same thing:  “At my house.”  L.A. sports the largest Filipino population in the U.S. and there are plenty of places to eat Filipino food in the city, from Echo Park to K-Town to Arcadia (where I had some of the best fried pork I’ve ever had in my life.)  But ask a Filipino person which one is the best, and they’ll likely tell you the same thing…  “none of those places are as good as the food my mom makes.”  Sadly, my mom is not Filipino.  So if I want lumpia (fried egg rolls) or longanisa (sausage) or adobo or sisig (fried pig face) or kare kare (in all its peanut-y goodness) it’s off to a restaurant for me. Echo Park is the obvious choice, but there are actually plenty of places in the far more centralized Koreatown.

Filipino food isn’t as well known as much of the other cuisine in L.A., but if you like Chinese food and Hispanic food and vinegar you should be all set. My experience is limited to two places in New York, and a few places in L.A, so I cajoled my friend Nastassia Johnson, the heart and soul of the super amazing (but sadly, now defunct) Manila Machine Filipino food truck, to accompany me on a food crawl of all the cheap Filipino lunch spots in K-Town. (She is still available to do catering!) Stop 1… Aristocrat.

Formerly a branch of Manila Good Ha (which still has a location on 6th), “Aristocrat” took over the space earlier this year.  The name makes less sense than “Good Ha!”  but the food in the steam tables actually looked pretty damn good, and reasonably fresh.

For around $6 you get your choice of two meats and a rice, but for an extra 50 cents they’ll give you pancit- a Filipino noodle dish.  Variations on the dish can be completely different from region to region, family to family (and can also depend heavily on what kind of leftover veggies or meats you have on hand) but their version was pretty standard- and actually decent for a steam table. Totally worth the 50 cent upgrade if you think white rice is boring.

For meats we went with two standards… pork adobo and kare kare.  It’s a ton of food for $6.50. The pork might be overcooked for some, but I liked the caramelized exterior, all covered in sweet soy sauce.  The vinegar taste was there, but not super prominent (so if that’s not your thing, you’ll probably like this version.)   The kare kare was even better… oxtails (which Nastassia informed me was the typical meat for this dish) swimming in a lake of peanut sauce.   Like most fast food Filipino it suffered from being way too greasy, but if you like peanut sauce and you like oxtails you will love this.  White rice might have been a better choice to help sop up the greasy sauce.

They also have a number of grilled items, including this super smokey fish and BBQ skewers on a stick (beef, pork or chicken).  Both are available as a meat choice in a combo, or ala carte, and both were very tasty- although Nastassia thought that the sweet and sticky skewers should have been a bit smokier.

Highly recommended by our resident Filipino expert?  Not quite.  But for a cheap Filipino steam table Aristocrat is definitely a notch above average (and way better than Little Ongpin in Hollywood.)  And they’ve set the bar higher than we expected for the rest of the places in K-Town.  If you’re a fan of Filipino, and work near Koreatown, you could do a lot worse than this.  At least we’re guessing you can do a lot worse. On the list to try after this?  Kowloon in the same shopping center (which is not Chinese or dim sum), The Manila Good Ha location on 6th, Manila Sunset, and Point Point Joint. Got a favorite you think we should add to the list?  Put it in the comments…

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

• For a Filipino steam table, the food actually looked pretty good and fresh
• I love me some cheap steam table action, and I work near Koreatown
• Grease doesn’t bother me
• Oxtails FTW!
• They’ll give you pancit instead of rice for an extra 50 cents
• The place smells like shrimp paste.  So good!

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

• Not as good as my mom can make!
• I don’t really like steam tables… I prefer to pay a little more and have the food made fresh
• Way too greasy! No thanks.
• Grilled meats could have been a bit smokier.
• The place smells like shrimp paste. Disgusting!

Aristocrat, 231 S Vermont Ave, 213-387-2492