If you know Banh Mi Ba Le only for its stellar sandwiches, you’re missing out. Open at 5 am, the Dorchester market is also a pre-dawn hub for noodle soups, rice porridges and other Vietnamese breakfast staples that will wake up your palate and serve as the day’s most satisfying meal. The friendly counter staff move at a rapid clip, so be ready with your order, be it bun rieu (a sweet-savory pork and crab broth brimming with fried tofu, pork knuckles, congealed pork blood cubes, crab roe, steamed rice noodles and a mountain of shaved herbs and vegetables), chao (chicken-y broken rice porridge with fried shallots, scallions and pork blood cubes) or bánh cuon (chewy, floppy steamed rice noodle sheets stuffed with minced pork and mushrooms and served with two kinds of springy mild sausage, fried spring rolls, heaps of bean sprouts and herbs and a salty fish sauce-based dip). Before you leave, hit the beverage counter for a fruit smoothie, fresh-pressed sugar cane juice or sweet and rich Vietnamese coffee.
Bun rieu, $6, Chao, $5, Bánh cuon, $5, all at Banh Mi Ba Le, 1052 Dorchester Ave., Boston (617-265-7171) banhmibaleboston.com
Rise and Shine
By Elizabeth Bomze | Photo Credit: Nicole Popma | Sept. 25, 2015
No offense to bacon and eggs, but there are so many other morning meal options in the Hub worth waking up for. The following favorites may have you swearing off standard diner fare for good.
The merry-go-round of pushcart dim sum is great when you’ve got lots of time and breakfast buddies, but on the other side of Chinatown, newcomer Jook Sing Cafe dishes up Hong Kong-style breakfasts that are great for solo or on-the-go dining. Of particular note: ham and macaroni soup, in which thin slices of deli ham and double-elbow macaroni bob in a clean, full-flavored chicken broth that’s made for sipping like savory tea.
Ham and Macaroni Soup, $2.95 at Jook Sing Cafe, 177 Harrison Ave., Boston (617-426-2828) jooksingcafe.com
By Elizabeth Bomze | Photo Credit: Nicole Popma
Hearty, simple yet rather decadent, Lucy Ethiopian Cafe’s che’che’bsa is a twofer. Part one is a corn-based pan bread that’s crumbled, gently spiced with a sweet-hot berbere blend and sauteed in lots of butter. (The optional scrambled egg for an extra buck adds savory bulk.) Part two is the scoop of ultra-thick, crème fraiche-like yogurt drizzled with honey that offers the ideal sweet, tangy, cool counterpart. Bonus: The che’che’bsa is served all day, so you can even have breakfast for dinner. For an extra-indulgent meal, pair it with the peanut tea, which has nothing to do with brewed leaves and tastes like the liquefied center of a Reese’s cup, or the buna be-jebena, Ethiopian coffee prepared in a clay pot, served in traditional cini cups and accompanied by wafting incense.
Che’che’bsa, $8.50-$9.50 at Lucy Ethiopian Cafe, 334 Mass. Ave., Boston (617-536-0415)
By Elizabeth Bomze | Photo Credit: Nicole Popma
Picture a pancake merged with a corn muffin and you’ve got a cachapa, the Venezuelan corn cake that’s a popular roadside snack and a specialty on Orinoco’s Sunday brunch menu. The nutty-sweet batter is griddled until golden brown on both sides, stuffed with anything from stretchy mozzarella-like queso de mano—a must-try for cheese lovers—to heartier proteins like stewed pork or beef with black beans and plantains, and finally folded in half like a taco. It’s soft, sweet and savory, and it tastes particularly good with a smear of the restaurant’s garlicky green mojo sauce.
Cachapa, $9.75-$14 at Orinoco, 477 Shawmut Ave., Boston (617-369-7075); 22 Harvard St., Brookline (617-232-9505); 56 JFK St., Cambridge (617-354-6900); orinocokitchen.com
By Elizabeth Bomze | Photo Credit: Holly Rike
One forkful of the huevos rancheros at Eastie’s Taqueria Jalisco and you’ll never go back to the version at your neighborhood diner. There are the eggs—griddled perfectly and drenched in a smooth, ultra-savory tomato-based salsa, every drop of which should be mopped up with the accompanying steamed tortillas. And then there’s the rest: a heap of rice, refried beans so silky that they pool on the plate, half-moons of firm-but-creamy avocado, a trio of housemade salsas that deliver sour, fiery and grassy heat, and a gratis basket of crunchy tortilla chips with chunky salsa fresca. You’ll want a glass of the sweet, cinnamon-laced horchata to wash it all down.
Huevos rancheros, $9 at Taqueria Jalisco, 291 Bennington St., Boston (617-567-6367)
By Elizabeth Bomze | Photo Credit: Heath Robbins; Styling: Katrin Schnippering
If you know Banh Mi Ba Le only for its stellar sandwiches, you’re missing out. Open at 5 am, the Dorchester market is also a pre-dawn hub for noodle soups, rice porridges and other Vietnamese breakfast staples that will wake up your palate and serve as the day’s most satisfying meal. The friendly counter staff move at a rapid clip, so be ready with your order, be it bun rieu (a sweet-savory pork and crab broth brimming with fried tofu, pork knuckles, congealed pork blood cubes, crab roe, steamed rice noodles and a mountain of shaved herbs and vegetables), chao (chicken-y broken rice porridge with fried shallots, scallions and pork blood cubes) or bánh cuon (chewy, floppy steamed rice noodle sheets stuffed with minced pork and mushrooms and served with two kinds of springy mild sausage, fried spring rolls, heaps of bean sprouts and herbs and a salty fish sauce-based dip). Before you leave, hit the beverage counter for a fruit smoothie, fresh-pressed sugar cane juice or sweet and rich Vietnamese coffee.
Bun rieu, $6, Chao, $5, Bánh cuon, $5, all at Banh Mi Ba Le, 1052 Dorchester Ave., Boston (617-265-7171) banhmibaleboston.com
By Elizabeth Bomze | Photo Credit: Holly Rike
If you can tear yourself away from the chocolate-halvah croissants and pistachio pop tarts, Sofra’s Turkish-style breakfast spread is one of the standouts on the morning menu’s savory side. The platter nails contrast, pairing a soft-boiled egg encased in crispy phyllo shreds with cubes of salty-rich fried feta, cucumber coins, jammy tomatoes, black olives, rich yogurt and seasonal housemade preserves—right now, pumpkin spoon sweets.
Turkish-style breakfast, $9 at Sofra Bakery & Café, 1 Belmont St., Cambridge (617-661-3161) sofrabakery.com
By Elizabeth Bomze | Photo Credit: Nicole Popma
Smoked fish isn’t just for bagels. At The Haven, JP’s charming gastropub that just happens to be the Hub’s hub for Scottish fare, one of the weekend brunch specials is a pair of hearty smoked fish cakes in which chunks of rich, salty finnan haddie (smoked haddock) break up a starchy potato base. Over the top, there’s a pair of snow-white poached eggs sauced in cherry-pepper hollandaise, which has a vinegary heat that keeps the dish from verging on too rich. (If the sauce packs too much punch, simply tuck into the pile of baby arugula or, better yet, the gratis oatcakes that are meant to be slathered with the accompanying soft, salty butter.)
Smoked fish cakes, $14 at The Haven, 2 Perkins St., Boston (617-524-2836) thehavenjp.com
By Elizabeth Bomze | Photo Credit: Nicole Popma
Cantonese cuisine gets most of the credit for dim sum, but stepping further east to Taiwan (or, specifically in this case, northwest to Belmont) delivers an entirely different array of dumplings, buns and noodles. Shangri-La’s weekend-only brunch is a feast worth waiting in line for, but you’ll have to visit several times to eat through the entire menu. The must-haves: fried cruellers dunked in sweet soy milk, thin slices of five-spice beef sandwiched in a so-crisp-it-could-shatter sesame pancake, pan-fried chive pies and taro cakes, and pork belly buns teeming with pickled mustard greens and crushed peanuts.
Taiwanese dim sum, prices vary at Shangri-La, 149 Belmont St., Belmont (617-489-1488) shangrilachinese.com
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