Midtown Lunch

There is so much to hate about Fukuburger, the new “American hamburgers with a Japanese twist” joint that opened on Cahuenga in Hollywood last week.  There’s the yelling when you walk in.  The “hip” urban Asian (urbasian?) decor, which looks like a fancy design firm was told to Kogi-Truck-ify a bar for anime characters.  Then there is the giant flat screen displaying real time tweets that mention @fukuburger, and the waitresses forcing you to come up with a nickname for your table- “no real names, please!”   After a bit of prodding our waitress put as down as the Purple People Eater, a name she came up with for us based on my wife’s favorite color.  Are we having fun yet!?

It all seems a bit too gimmicky, which shouldn’t be a complete shock considering that Fukuburger started off as a food truck in Vegas, and was brought to L.A. by the same people who own Pink Taco (the ultimate in trendy gimmicks, in a city full of gimmicks, by people who specialize in gimmicks.)  So, it wasn’t entirely shocking when the whole staff broke out into a “When I say FUKU, you say BURGER” chant.  Seriously… are we having fun yet or what?!

And yet, I’m willing to forgive a lot when we’re talking about a burger topped with egg, onion strings, and teriyaki sauce. Fukuburger me!

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A few days ago the President visited Roscoe’s Chicken & Waffles on Pico, and as excited I was to see him getting his fried chicken and waffle on at one of L.A.’s food institutions, I was pretty disappointed in his order.  The Country Boy: 3 wings w/ your choice of a waffle, potato salad or fries (though one only assumes that waffle is chosen 100% of the time.)  I can be disappointed because this was actually my go-to order at Roscoe’s for my first I don’t know how many visits.  The appeal is obvious.  At $8.90 it’s one of the cheaper chicken and waffle combos available, and one cannot downplay the mental importance of getting 3 pieces of chicken instead of 1 or 2 (even though they are the smallest pieces you can get.)  There’s only one problem.  The chicken wings at Roscoe’s are terrible… and this is speaking as somebody who loves fried chicken wings.  If you have been to Roscoe’s and only had their chicken wings, you cannot judge Roscoe’s.  I don’t know if it’s the shorter cooking time, or what, but the wings at Roscoe’s just don’t taste as good as the other 3 pieces of chicken. And it’s not just the actual chicken itself.  It’s the crust too.  The crust on the wings isn’t as salty and peppery and just plain delicious as the other pieces of chicken.

Don’t believe me?  Do the side by side taste test, and you’ll be convinced.  I’ve wasted two meals on chicken wings just to prove my thesis, and I will not make that mistake again.  But if only my obsessive Roscoe’s menu dissection ended there…

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Back in March The Find discovered that Krua Siri, a completely non-descript Thai food restaurant on Hollywood Boulevard, had a secret Thai food menu available only for the most probing of customers (who could also read Thai.) Of course the L.A. Times article- which naturally is now proudly framed on the wall- changed all that, and I’m happy to report that the “secret” Thai menu has now been integrated into their regular menu, in English, under a “recommended dishes” section. Strangely enough, though, the coverage in the Times wasn’t enough to convince them to get rid of the ridiculous non-Thai dishes (like orange chicken!?) and they seem to have even upped the ante with a lunchtime all you can eat shabu shabu deal for $9.99.

But don’t let that discourage you…

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When I moved from Boston to Los Angeles in 2004 the change was predictably jarring.  The weather?  Amazing.  People smiling? That’s crazy pants.  And the movie theater in Los Feliz?  Packed on a Tuesday at 2pm.  I love this town.  But there was one negative thing that loomed large in my stomach’s subconscious.  The lack of all you can eat Chinese buffets.  It may surprise you to learn that Boston has a ton of all you can eat Chinese buffets. It’s probably less surprising for you to learn that I really loved those buffets.  And moving here left a giant hole in my all-you-can-eat loving heart.  (Moving here also led to an immediate loss of 10 pounds; a coincidence, this is not.)

So when I read last month on Eater that a new Chinese food buffet had opened up on Western just south of Sunset (around the corner from where I used to live!!!) I got pretty excited.  The early word on Yelp sounded pretty bad, but clearly I needed to check it out for myself.  You know… for science.

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Back in April, Savuer put together a 24 hour guide to eating Thai food in Los Angeles with dishes and restaurants for every conceivable time and mood.  For lunch they suggested a bowl of khao soi from Spicy BBQ (Noon), the steam table at LAX-C downtown (1pm) and the pad thai salad from Essan Thai (2pm).  But there was plenty more on the list that could be eaten for lunch, including Ruen Pair’s chicken prik king- which totally caught my eye.

Ruen Pair is known primarily as a late night place (Saveur suggested 10pm as the ideal time to eat there), but they are open for lunch.  And even though there is no lunch menu specifically, almost all of their dishes are under $10.

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At the end of last month NYC institution place that sells hot dogs in New York, Papaya King, opened  on Hollywood Blvd. Funny billboards appeared all over town, and people started emailing me to ask if I was excited. (“Short fat Jew from NYC must love hot dogs!”)  The Guru weighed in last week with a reverent but kind of lukewarm endorsement that still managed to make us all want to rush over to Hollywood & Wilcox- as only he can do.  So when I found myself in Hollywood yesterday I couldn’t help but swing by (short fat Jewish man does love hot dogs.)

But before I made it to the familiar yellow counter I was stopped in my tracks by another opening that really solidified Hollywood & Wilcox as the place to go whenever I need a little taste of New York City…

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I can’t tell you how many times I’ve driven through the intersection of Hollywood and La Brea, home to the gigantic Raffallo’s Pizza sign (you know it, even if you don’t know it.)  Never once did I think to myself, “gee, I wonder if there’s some good food tucked away behind that sign.”  I’m sure I’ve looked into the strip mall as I headed south on La Brea from my old apartment on Franklin (how could I not, right?)  But it clearly didn’t register… because even though I’ve probably driven by Roubo’s Place a trillion times, the first time my brain actually saw or heard about Roubo’s Place was in this Squid Ink food fight, which had their borscht beating out a tom yum soup from Yai in Thai town.

Cheap Russian food?  In Hollywood?  With an under $10 lunch special?  Yes please.

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