Ethnic Restaurants and the Quad

In this series, columnist Lingbo Li will tackle all your questions about foodie life at Harvard and in the Cambridge/Boston area. Got a query? Leave a comment or e-mail us at flyby@thecrimson.com.

I'm going to be in the Quad next year. I've heard that Porter Square has some awesome ethnic restaurants? Is this true? Which are the best?

Is hipster an ethnicity? If so, you might want to try Zing! Pizza. They have a divine "Blue October" which pairs a thin, crunchy crust with dreamy swirls of caramelized onion, blue cheese, and mozzarella with a butternut squash sauce. They also stock gluten-free crusts for the wheat-wary.

But to answer your question more directly, you'll find the most joy comes from Porter Exchange Mall, inexplicably housed in a Lesley University building, a hop and a skip from the Porter Square T stop. There, you'll find a Asian food court brimming with goodies like steaming bowls of ramen at Tampopo; warm, luscious pieces of unagi nigiri at Blue Fin; satisfying bowls of Japanese curry and rice bowls at Cafe Mami; and for dessert, don't miss out on the decadence of cream and azuki-stuffed buns at Japonaise Bakery. The deliciousness of all of these meals is compounded by the fact they're really wallet-friendly.

If you're looking for a stone bowl bi bim bap, Seoul Food (clever!) down the street does a perfectly acceptable version. I like to supercharge mine with a few buckets of gochujang—the hot pepper paste that comes with it.

So get fat, and enjoy.

Lingbo Li, a junior in Quincy House, is a food blogger, an FM food columnist, and FlyBy's resident gastronome.

Photo courtesy of Chensiyuan/Wikimedia Commons.