Megan Beaule

Review of The Kitchen at the Boston Publ...

You could eat every meal of the day, from breakfas...

You could eat every meal of the day, from breakfast to dinner, at BPM. I want to keep it simple for this review, so I'm going to recommend some vendors for each meal of the day, and give you some general pros and cons.

Breakfast: Mother Juice, The Popover Lady, Soluna Garden Farms. Mother Juice and Soluna Tea are for people like me, who prefer to skip breakfast in favor of a caloric drink. The "OMG" at Mother Juice is the select juice for everyone who thinks juicing as a health craze is ridiculous and just wants something yummy. Soluna shines with their in house tea blends. The Popover Lady is a stand out for how affordable and delicious their goods are (last time I went it was 3/$9 popovers -- 3 is way more than I can eat!)

Lunch: Noodle Lab & Boston Smoked Fish. When you think Noodle Lab think Chipotle-style ordering meets ramen. Grab a sheet from the side of the wall and start to make your tough calls. Relatively affordable with broths and ingredients that pack a punch. Don't overlook the pork Gyoza! $4 / order and one of the best things they serve. Extra sauce, please! Boston Smoked Fish Co. is hard not to put on every part of this list. Their Bagel and Lox makes a great breakfast or lunch, and while most of their items couldn't serve as dinner alone, it's easy to find a side at BPM. However, it was their affordability that made me decide to mention them for lunch. Entrees are $10, locally sourced, and high quality. My personal favorite are the fish tacos, loaded with cabbage for crunch and a delicious crema. Writing this review is going to make me hungry, isn't it?

Dinner: Beantown Pastrami Company. These sandwiches are expensive, but God are they worth it. Piled high with tons of quality meat on soft, fresh-tasting bread. Be warned -- the horseradish here is the real deal and not to be trifled with.

Skip it vendors: Massachusetts Farm Winery and Growers (I've tried it a few times and they can't seem to recommend a wine I actually like), all of the non-veggie items at the grocers (Stillman's hot sauce is underwhelming), ThePack (BPM is not the right environment to browse or buy dainty jewelry)

Now, back to Boston Public Market in general.

Pros: Variety, long vendor hours that are only expanding (they began opening up at 7 just this summer), everything here is locally sourced, vendors have a lot of knowledge about not only their product but BPM in general, management is constantly trying to make cosmetic and consumer upgrades, right off Haymarket station and very close to Government Center station, right off of public parking (which they validate)

Cons: Loud & busy, expensive, very hard to find staff that works with BPM directly (rather than staff of their vendors), a decent number of similar vendors (multiple people selling cider, bagels, pastries, etc.)