Momogoose

Where to Lunch: For Fast Asian Fusion

A colleague at my old office turned me onto the Momogoose food truck and we caught this mobile Asian Cafe down by South Station. If you've picked up on my love of Asian soups, you'll know this was a great lunch choice. I ordered a beef ramen that came in a plastic to-go bowl with chopsticks and a soup spoon. Very flavorful broth-- my first bite in, I hit a jalapeno! This soup cut through any congestion or case of the blues I had and filled me up quickly with a mix of veggies and beef.

Beef Ramen

The next time I ran into the red Momogoose truck, I ordered the same entree. I was surprised to find the soup totally different (but just as delicious.) Instead of jalapenos, there were crunchy carrot cubes, potato, zucchini, and broccoli. This nutrient-packed version of their ramen bowl was more akin to beef stew (not what I expected from ramen), but I happen to love a beef stew. The flavor was much headier and I only missed the spark of the peppers for the first sip or so.

Besides ramen, they also offer pho as well as create your own baquette or bowl entrees. Sides include crispy or fresh rolls, and check their twitter (@momogoose) for daily specials.

Momogoose 
Rotating Locations
Ate: Beef Ramen Soup
Total: $6

B.

Italian Cafe

Where to Lunch: If You're Mildly Hungover

or, Where to Breakfast: On a Severe Budget

Financial District

I can't even begin to describe how absolutely essential an egg-and-cheese on an english can be on a morning with a touch of the sea legs and a moderate-to-stabbing headache. It’s even more essential to someone who might not have done their grocery shopping, or who, while grocery shopping, overestimated their ability to wake up in the morning and, as such, only purchased items that require preparation (8-minute oatmeal, scrambled eggs, smoothies.)

For someone who barely has time to put on underwear before getting on the train to work, there’s always the Italian Cafe. One dollar these breakfast sandwiches are, from 7-10 every morning. They come out gooey and messy, cheese and egg overhanging the sandwich, and sometimes the edges of the sausage are burnt and the white of the egg gets a little crunchy but it all melds together into a beautiful, satisfying, fatty, delicious mess. FOR ONE DOLLAR!

Between the hours of 9 and 10 AM (I can’t speak for the hours of 7 and 8), there’s at least 5-7 people waiting for these gorgeous saviors between the long ordering counter that spans the back wall and the short counter at the front window. It’s a small establishment and 5-7 people feels crowded, especially with the blanket of heat coming off the griddle. People step to the side near the soda cooler and mill near the window, waiting for their order. Almost no one orders just one sandwich and the chef throws down 18 english muffin halves on the grill at a time.

 One dollar!

My experience is limited to the breakfast sandwiches, though I can imagine the rest of their offerings to be both cheap and delicious, if not totally health-conscious. The menu does bear an eerie resemblance to that of Al's Cafe, a mere .1 miles down the road on State Street, but Italian Cafe has slightly cheaper prices. The cheapest item by far is the egg-and-cheese, so cheap that splurging for meat (75 cents) is no splurge at all.

My favorite combination is the egg-and-cheese with tomato and sausage. The cheese is standard American and melts into the crevices of the english muffin. The tomato gets piping hot (be careful) but is a good compliment to the heavy flavor of the sausage. Of course, there's the egg with a yolk that ranges from runny to hard, based on how many orders were before yours. Most importantly, it's one dollar; and, some mornings, that's all that counts.

Italian Cafe
65 Broad Street
Ate: Egg-and-cheese on an english muffin with sausage and tomato
Total: $1.75

B.

Where to Lunch: If You're in Boston's Back Bay

via google maps

That's right, reader(s). With the change of seasons comes a change of employment-- for me, at least. I have relocated uptown from Boston's Financial District to the Back Bay. In terms of T stops, that means the area bordered by the Orange line at Mass Ave station and Hynes Convention Center, and the Green line Symphony and Arlington stops. Smack dab in the middle you will find Copley station and a jump away, the Prudential (both Green line). 

My new offices are located inside the Prudential Center. For those not familiar with Boston (are you just visiting for lunch?), here's a brief overview of the Pru. 

The Prudential Center, via cityprofile.com

We call it the Pru, but Prudential Center is actually a complex of buildings, the most easily recognizable of which is the boxy, 52-floor Prudential Tower. (Second highest building in Boston, behind the John Hancock Tower-- a history lesson for another day.) Perched on the 52nd floor like a haughty bird is the swanky restaurant Top of the Hub, the Hub being a nickname for Boston dating back to 1858 and not used favorably the first time around. 

The Pru houses a variety of shops, restaurants, and offices, one of which is mine. I have a 21st floor view of the city in every direction and I can't complain...

...about the view. I can complain about a few other things. For those loyal reader(s) who have already pieced it together, this means that the Where to Lunch team has been separated. No more lunch dates and espresso trips and hangover cures shared with a friend. And, or at least it seems so now, no more lunch!

From my still naive point of view, my new office is in a veritable lunch wasteland. The Pru itself has a large mall food court and a few choice other sit-down venues. Anything else is a 10-plus minute walk, which cuts deep into my lunch hour. It may be because I don't have E. to guide me this time around, but in the past two weeks I have found only two lunch and coffee venues. Folks, one day I ate at Shaws.

While I navigate my new work neighborhood, I'll update here with some of my Financial District finds from the golden days. If they read with a touch of longing, now you know why. With any luck, I will be back up and running the Back Bay side of Where to Lunch so that we can keep you eating all over Boston. The only thing worse than work is being hungry at work. 

Happy Lunching!

B.