Single serving: momos from Bini's Kitchen--farmer's market edition

Ah, Saturday at the Ferry Building Farmer’s Market, it was a fave thing to do for the SO, especially if friends were in town visiting. Though in reality, we didn’t go to shop, more to just get out of the apartment and do the 1.2 mile twenty minute or so walk each way, because that counts as exercise, right? The only sure purchase for the SO was some Blue Bottle Coffee and some variation of chocolate and nut brittle from G.L. Alfieri. Both were things I was totally not interested so he could have them all to himself, which is probably why he got them.

Occasionally, I’d like to peruse for new food vendors that weren’t at Off the Grid or one of the food truck parks we would hit up. Over time though, it has become rarer to find newbies there as the line-up has become consistent (and a bit boring for those of us who go on a regular basis). I think on this particular day we were both kind of hungry for a snack at least and since I’m the pickiest, it was up to me to hone in on something. Which is what pretty much steered me toward Bini’s Kitchen.

Yeah, they are not particularly new as I had seen them before when they were just a La Cocina start-up and had a small booth at Presidio Picnic and Off the Grid. Of course, they eventually grew enough to have a tiny little triangle of a space right around Market, Montgomery and Post St in the Financial District. She serves up Nepalese curries and rice and stuff. Being it was 11:30 on a Saturday morning, just a snack still seems like the best option and fortunately, they also sell momos, a little filled dumpling akin to a pot sticker. Double good luck, they don’t have a long line and triple good luck you can get a mixed six pack of veggie, lamb and turkey? Ok, sure why not.

Served fresh out of the steamer and covered in a cilantro, tomato cream sauce. Not too big, not too small and at $6 it was the perfect snack choice. For once I might not have chosen poorly!

Seemed a good idea to start with the vegetable and then work our way up. It is filled with carrots, cabbage and tofu. The dumplings were cooked just right, not chewy or too soft but with enough heft to hold together and give you something to bite into. The veggie filling was eh, you know, vegetables. There was a tad bit of crunch from the but since they were shredded so small, they were a bit soft.

The meat momos were better. It was like having a meatball inside a dumpling. I’m pretty sure the above one was the lamb one, though not 100% as when you cut into them they both kind of look the same filling wise since the meat was ground with roughly the same spices plus what seemed like bits of ground carrots. Since they were steamed, the meat was still juicy, which is nice since both lamb and turkey can get dry if not done right.

What kind of brings them all together is the sauce. It is tomato sauce with cilantro, red peppers and a bit of cream to smooth it out. The describe it as spicy but I think they could have ratcheted it up even more as it was closer to a hint as opposed to wow that’s got kick spice. Still, it works good enough since you don’t really want to overwhelm the fillings or the thin, light dumpling dough. And yeah, it is kind of best to eat all parts together to get the full taste since separately I’m not sure they were all that exciting.

As a light snack to hold you over we both liked them good enough. Not necessarily loved them, but liked them and I wouldn’t be opposed to having them again while wandering through the market stalls. Still think they could flavor or spicy them up more, as is they are a comfortable bite.

I can’t say they will pair well with coffee and brittle either, that is more a personal decision of whether you think your stomach could handle the mishmash of different foods. Lord knows the SO’s couldn’t always! Me, I’m still more a fan of these from that other Nepalese spot in town (food trend alert!), but Bini’s does a decent job on the momos for you to give them some kind of shot and see what you think while you are trying to figure out what else you wanna chow down on.