Mom Nonmi is Chef Chris Chung’s latest venture in Cambridge. You may know him from his time at Clio and Uni, or even his most recent (now closed) restaurant, AKA Bistro in Lincoln. Momi Nonmi is a modern Izakaya and features lots of gluten free options. Leah, Fiona and I decided to meet for lunch one day and we wanted to try one of everything on the menu! Above is the shokado bento ($29) that is a sampling of 9 different creations. It changes daily, sometimes hourly, depending on what is fresh. How beautiful is the presentation?

The wagyu dumplings were as delicious as can be. Sukiyaki consume, mushroom and daikon.

The deconstructed oyako dip was amazing (bottom in the middle). The chicken was fried perfection and it was served with a poached egg and onion.

Momi Nonmi is open for lunch on Fridays and for brunch on both days of the weekend. Late night service is offered Thursday – Saturday. Parking is on the street at meters. The restaurant is on the smaller side, reservations for peak times would probably be a good idea.

Momi Nonmi

1128 Cambridge Street, Cambridge, MA

www.mominonmi.com

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Moody Street in Waltham has become quite the foodie destination. A friend came in from out of town and we went to Tempo Bistro, a recommendation from his brother who lives close by. The restaurant was jammed and service was a bit slow at times, but we were catching up, and didn’t mind. The menu changes seasonally. Appetizers include items like: flash fried calamari, sweet potato braves, shoestring truffle fries, fried Brussels sprouts and smoked bacon. Salad options include burrata and truffle honey, kale caesar, roasted beet and goat cheese and an asian chopped salad. Entrees son dad so delicious it was hard to choose just one thing: spring carrot vegetarian ‘bolognese’, spice rubbed rare yellowfin tuna, grilled Berkshire heritage porterhouse pork chop and grilled all natural angus prime hanger steak.

Desserts change daily, but here are some sample items: raspberry ricotta cake, flourless chocolate cake, blood orange vanilla creamsicle, coconut lime pound cake and ice cream sundaes.

Appetizers will run about $10, while entrees are $19-$28. They have a great cocktail menu featuring some killer signature craft cocktails. Head in on Tuesdays for $1 oysters. Fridays and Saturdays they offer late night food, $5 breakfast sandwiches and $10 kobe beef bacon cheeseburgers from 10:30pm – 12:30am.

Upcoming events include a rose the night away dinner on July 19th and a tacos and Don Julio tequila night on July 26th.

On busy nights, parking can be tricky, so get there a little early. Street parking and small pay lots nearby. Open for dinner only, Monday through Saturday.

Tempo Bistro

474 Moody Street, Waltham, MA

https://www.tempobistro.com

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Rosebud has been on my list for some time now. I’ve been wanting to try their boozy shakes and their pies. They’re located in Somerville and only open for lunch on Fridays. They also serve brunch on Saturdays AND Sundays! I decided to head in to do some research for my Pi Day post. I manage to sneak into a spot in the open lot across the street. The pay lot accepts credit cards – yay, otherwise, try grabbing a spot on the street. From the front the restaurant looks tiny, just a little car, but when you go inside, you realize that there is a whole restaurant behind it. I love the decor, from the bright green bar chairs to the large statement mirrors on the wall.

It’s hard to decide what to order, but we end up going with the griddle cheeseburger and the pulled pork sandwich. The cheeseburger ($11.95) comes with yellow cheese, lettuce, shaved onion, pickles and WGS (wicked good sauce). For a few dollars more you can add an over easy egg or some smoked bacon. The burger comes with crinkle cut fries, but you could get onion rings too…or in this case, half and half.  I went with the pulled pork sandwich ($9.95) that came with pulled smoked pork, creamy slaw, pickles and a house sweet heat sauce. The sauce is finger licking good and the pulled pork is really tender. Other lunch menu items include: croquet monsieur, pesto chicken, tuna toastie, mushroom melt, flatbreads, smoked chicken wings, wedge salad, and Thai sticky ribs.

They have a rotating menu of pies that change monthly. This month they have mocha cream, blueberry crumble, peanut butter fudge, Dutch apple, and cranberry pear. You can try a slice or grab a whole pie to go. We couldn’t resist the mocha cream pie. The filling was light as air and SO decadent. The pie crust wasn’t the best I’ve ever had, but the filling more than made up for it.

What’s your favorite pie?

Rosebud American Kitchen and Bar

381 Summer Street, Somerville, MA

http://www.rosebudkitchen.com

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After a fun evening in the South End, we decided to grab a quick bite at Banyan in the South End. Soaked all the way through, I should have learned my lesson the last time I got caught out in the rain that my North Face jacket isn’t waterproof. We seek refuge in the back of the restaurant and hope that we can dry off before we have to head outside again. Not starving, we order a few light bites to share. We start off with the fried chicken bun with sesame mustard aioli, celery root and apple slaw, cilantro ($8). Different enough to stand out but not too different to make the dish weird. I loved the fried chicken bun!

Next up, the warm lobster on toasted house bun, honey miso butter and pickled sea beans ($15). The bread is different than what came with the fried chicken bun, but it works with the lobster. It was light and bright, another really good choice!

Lastly, we ordered the rice bowl with smoked shiitakes, egg, brussels sprout kimchi, sunflower sprouts and topped with fermented plum hot sauce ($16). I  like how you can see every ingredient in the dish. When we get our hands on it, we break the egg and mix it all up. This was a really tasty dish with some bold and unexpected flavors.

Banyan

553 Tremont Street, Boston, MA

http://www.banyanboston.com

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The restaurant has a really great vibe, and the decor is fabulous – from the dark wood to the mustard colored seats to the amazing bar. HGTV’s Taniya Nayak designed the space. The team and I took Mark out to celebrate his upcoming wedding.

We started with the pickle pot ($5) that was lip puckering good. Love the presentation.

Most of the team had the burger, which did look delicious. I had the housemade ricotta dumplings ($22) that came with shrimp, peas, carrots and a crispy prosciutto cracker. A great dish, really nice bright flavors – very summery. With lunch entrees ranging between $16 and $29, the prices are a bit steep for lunch, but the food was delicious and Mark was happy.

They offer 38 wines by the glass (check out how cool that is!) and live music in the evenings. They are open late night, 11:30am – 2am daily.

Bostonia Public House
131 State Street, Boston, MA
http://bostoniapublichouse.com

Make a reservation with Open Table

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I must say, I really do love Lavender. I hope they survive, and I say that because every time we are in there for lunch (I can’t attest to their dinner crowd), it is pretty quiet, we are usually the only table (or there may be one or two other tables but that’s it). As I mentioned, we go for the lunch special, you can’t beat it. You know how when you go to Chinese food places, you want a little bit of everything (thus the pu pu platter-greatest invention ever) …well the lunch special is where it’s at. For $8-$12 you get: 1)your choice of white rice, brown rice, pork fried rice or veggie lo mein 2) your choice of crab rangoon, egg roll, chicken finger or chicken wing 3) your choice of wonton soup, egg drop soup, hot and sour soup or miso soup 4)a house salad (dine in only) and your entree (there are over 20 choices).

There is main dining room area, with a mural of the Great Wall of China spanning the entire room. On the far side, there is a ‘sports  bar’ area where you can grab a bite and watch the game on an LCD tv above the bar.

There is something about the wonton soup that is crave-worthy. They make the wontons fresh in house. They are wonderfully simple-I can’t explain it, they are just perfect. If you can do a simple dish well, that speaks volumes.

I’m partial to the General Tso Chicken, pork fried rice, egg roll, and salad for $8.95. It’s a ton of food, and I usually have enough for a second meal (although I shamelessly admit that I order a large wonton soup to go too!). The food is good-it’s old school Chinese food without the grease (and they have some fusion items as well).

They have great service, the waiters and host are always friendly. They also offer karaoke on Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights from 9pm-1am (over 35,000 songs). So stop in for a lunch special-you won’t be sorry.

Lavender

519 Boston Post Road Sudbury MA (978) 579-9988

www.lavenderasiancuisine.com

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