Midtown Lunch

Singer/Songwriter Meiko is this week’s guest on Food is the New Rock the weekly podcast I do with Chuck P from KCRW, where we talk to musicians about food and chefs about music. You can download or stream the podcast for free from iTunes, but we also had her share her favorite places to eat lunch in Los Angeles…

Name: Meiko

Occupation: Singer/Songwriter

Favorite Kind of Food: Japanese

Least Favorite Kind of Food: Food that sucks

Favorite Place(s) to Eat Lunch: Hama Sushi and Daikokuya Ramen in Downtown LA.

The “goto” lunch place you eat at too often? Tomato Pie in Silverlake

Place You Heard of Thanks to Midtown Lunch: Hurry Curry of Tokyo

The farthest place you’ll drive for lunch on a normal day? The Boiling Crab in Alhambra, CA

Dream job location (anywhere in the world), purely for lunch purposes, and why? Japan for the amazing food and people, of course! If anybody knows the best places for sushi in Tokyo, let me know…

Got a rec for Meiko? Put it in the comments. Her album The Bright Side is out now, and she’ll be doing a tour of the west coast in September. And, as always, if you want to be next week’s Profiled: L.A. Lunch’er (or know somebody you’d want to nominate), email me- zach@midtownlunch.com.

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 Sunny, a Mid-Wilshire marketing person who loves Japanese food but hates Chinese!?

Name: Sunny

Age: 27

Occupation: Marketing

Where in L.A. do you Work?: Academy of Couture Art (Miracle Mile, CA)

Favorite Kind of Food: Japanese

Least Favorite Kind of Food: Chinese

Favorite Place(s) to Eat Lunch: Noshi Sushi for halibut, uni, scallop, and sweet shrimp, Umami Burger (850 S. La Brea) for their truffle burger, and Andre’s Italian Restaurant (6332 W. 3rd St) for small spaghetti w/ all three sauces and extra garlic bread.

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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 Lindsay, a bartender who doesn’t like Chinese food (what!?!?) but loves La Cevicheria (minor redemption!)

Name: Lindsay

Age: 27

Occupation: Bartender, Writer

Where in L.A. do you Work?: Pour Vous in Hollywood; thenader.com; Los Angeles Magazine “Hey Barkeep” column

Favorite Kind of Food: Veggies and Fish

Least Favorite Kind of Food: Chinese

Favorite Place(s) to Eat Lunch: Pho Cafe (aka hipster pho) in Silverlake. I always order the no.14, which is a vegetarian pho. I douse it heavily with fish sauce and sriracha.

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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 Diane, a paralegal who is about to move to Paris. Also we couldn’t decide between the two photos Diane sent, so if the corn dog photo isn’t enough you get a second bonus photo after the jump…

Name: Diane

Age: 25

Occupation: Paralegal

Where in L.A. do you Work?: At a law office in Downtown (7th & Fig area), though I am currently working remotely from Santa Monica, and will shortly be doing so from Paris!

Favorite Kind of Food: Carbs and fat. Hurrah!

Least Favorite Kind of Food: Raw onions.

Favorite Place(s) to Eat Lunch: Mendocino Farms is always fantastic, though the lines have been egregiously long lately. The pork belly bahn mi is absolutely the best sandwich in town. It’s a Wrap and Green Hut Cafe are also close, cheap, and dependable, and even faster if you call in your order. We have a food truck lot on 7Fig that has different trucks daily, but our favorites are Auntie’s Fry Bread (they’re like savory donuts filled with taco ingredients — amazing) and the Ludo Truck.

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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 we’re pretty excited to welcome Lunch’er “Bigmouth”, a lawyer who goes by the name of Andrew when he’s not commenting on Midtown Lunch.

Name: Andrew

Age: 38

Occupation: Attorney/Writer

Where in L.A. do you Work?: At home by the Santa Monica/WLA border.

Favorite Kind of Food: Mission-style burritos, Israeli-style falafel.

Least Favorite Kind of Food: Cucumbers or mayo.

Favorite Place(s) to Eat Lunch: Fundamental (1303 Westwood Blvd) for… everything; Milo & Olive (2723 Wilshire Blvd) for sausage pizza and quiche; Le Saigon (11611 Santa Monica Blvd) for bun and eggrolls; Nook (11628 Santa Monica Blvd) for the club sandwich; Chutney’s (2406 S Barrington Ave) for dahi chicken and beef samosas; Tacomiendo (11462 Gateway Blvd) for the soft taco plate; Habayit (11921 W Pico Blvd) for falafel; Angelica truck (10113 Venice Blvd) for cemitas; Umami Burger (500 Broadway) for the Greenbird.

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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 John, a media strategist in West L.A. who loves bacon, and delis hidden in gas stations.

Name: John

Age: 25

Occupation: Media Strategist

Where in L.A. do you Work?: MBMG, West LA

Favorite Kind of Food: Bacon (if that’s unacceptable, anything with bacon on it: bacon pizza, bacon wrapped hot dogs, bacon bacon)

Least Favorite Kind of Food: Soup (what’s the point? If I wanted to drink a meal, I’d have a Guinness)

Favorite Place(s) to Eat Lunch: Corner Deli (1660 South Sepulveda Boulevard) which is a deli inside a gas station. Weird I know, but fantastic. I love the classic chicken breast sandwich and the ultimate breakfast burrito is great in the morning , but the truly great thing about Corner Deli is that the food is consistent. I think that’s an important factor for any restaurant. Don’t be a Michelin 3 star on Monday but then KFC on Tuesday. Also, Chutney’s (2406 South Barrington Avenue) for their great chicken tikka masala lunch special, 800 Degrees (10889 Lindbrook Drive, Westwood), and Eduardo’s (1830 Westwood Boulevard), which has the best nachos.

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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 Rob, a TV exec looking for some good ethnic food in Burbank.

Name: Rob

Age: 29

Occupation: Television Executive for Disney XD

Where in L.A. do you Work?: I work for Disney in the Burbank Center Building on Alameda

Favorite Kind of Food: Hard to pick one but love good Chinese food, Mediterranean, great sandwiches.

Least Favorite Kind of Food: Hate canned tuna fish (although I like raw/seared tuna), pineapple, kiwis

Favorite Place(s) to Eat Lunch: Olive & Thyme (4013 Riverside Dr) has great sandwiches and salads – I recommended the Middle East Chicken Sandwich or the chopped salad. The best sushi by far is at Yuzu on Riverside. All the fish is fresh, innovative cuisine but the asparagus and corn soup is the must get every time. My favorite cheap eat is wraps at Honeydew (171 N. Maple). Very small place but everything there is really fresh and lots of different combinations for sandwiches.

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