Porter Square is only the T stop between Davis and Harvard. However, Porter Square provides a wealth of dining and shopping options that you can't find anywhere else in the Boston area. One of these great opportunities is University Hall, a hidden mini-mall owned by Lesley University.
The Porter Exchange, as it's also called, hosts a plethora of stores along with an awesome food court filled with small, independent Japanese eateries that appeal to students and residents beyond the Japanese community. Unlike a traditional food court, each of the eateries at Porter Exchange is like a mini-storefront with just a few seats inside. There's quite a variety in the dining options in University Hall, ranging from ramen houses to sushi bars to Japanese bakeries.
The first restaurant that I tried was Sapporo Ramen. Like many of the other ramen houses in the mall, the decor is sparse with a few posters of Japanese art on the walls. If anything, the place is a little grungy. On the up side, the ramen noodles that you can find at these restaurants are very different from the dried, pre-packaged variety that most college students are familiar with. These noodles can come with roast pork, miso paste, curry seasonings, mung bean sprouts, corn, scallions and many more options. I decided on the spicy miso ramen and cold green tea.
After a few minutes, the waiter brought over an enormous bowl of soup. On top of a bed of noodles was a large portion of spicy ground pork, fresh scallions, corn and mung bean spouts surrounded by a salty, miso-infused broth. The ramen was very flavorful, and the pork had a spicy, peppery flavor that wasn't too overwhelming. The broth was rather salty, but some of the fresh ingredients helped subdue the briny flavor. At first, the diversity of toppings made the soup interesting, but after discovering all of the accompaniments in the first initial bites, it became monotonous and the huge amount of soup began to seem unnecessary. Sapporo was definitely the busiest shop in the food court, and at just over $10 for a huge bowl of ramen and a cup of tea, Sapporo is at the very least a serious bargain.
The next place I tried out was Masa's Sushi Bar. Masa's has the distinction of being the only place in University Hall that serves sushi. I ordered a spicy tuna roll and was relatively impressed. I was initially a little concerned about the prospect of eating raw fish in a food court, but the sushi was well-crafted and the fish was fresh. The best part about my experience at Masa's was definitely the price. Like most of the restaurants in the Porter Exchange, Masa is well within a college student's budget.
Finally, after sampling the sushi and the ramen, I decided that I had to try something from the final group of Asian restaurants in the mall: those with traditional hot entrees. I sat down at ChoCho's, just across the way from Sapporo. ChoCho's is one of the few locations in Porter Exchange that actually serves Korean, not Japanese, cuisine. I decided to get the chicken teriyaki bento box. Along with the chicken, the combo included rice, a salad, shrimp shumai, vegetable dumplings and miso soup, which proved to be passable, though similar fare is likely available at a number of different locations closer to campus. What distinguished this meal special was, once again, the price. This entire meal along with a Thai iced tea came in at around $13.
The ambience in Porter Exchange is definitely interesting. The patrons are a mix of foodies seeking authentic Japanese food and locals craving the food they grew up with. It's a cool opportunity to have decent food at awesome prices, although none of the food is extraordinary. Still, the experience and the prices are enough to make this a great stop for Tufts students.
