December 31, 2017

Check out the Vegan momo/vegan chowmein/vegan fried rice/ aloo at Tasty Mo:Mo: in Somerville

Local Stories

Today we’d like to introduce you to Somerville’s Tasty Mo:Mo:.

How did you end up in the restaurant business?
I came to America in 2006 with the hope of being a CPA. As I was going to college and working at the same time with very little time on my hand, I would take out some time to cook Nepalese food for myself and my friends. I came here on my own and having no family is really tough. I have always been a foodie and there was no Nepalese restaurant esp Momo was hard to find in Boston.
Mo:mo (dumplings) is a flavorful dish served from streets to high end restaurants in Nepal. You can find momo from block to block. Growing up eating momo and coming to America with no momos for years made me realize I should definitely start something of my own. I was just not ready and I felt I was too young at that time.
Since I was here to finish my studies and be an accountant, I had a job in a startup company after my graduation from Northeastern University and not too far, I realized that was not what I wanted to do. On the side I had a serving job at Charlies’ Kitchen in Cambridge for six years. I loved
working there. I made friends with many regulars at the bar and I would tell them my dream.
I built my dream in my mind first. I landed from my virtual world to the real world when I named my restaurant Tasty Mo:Mo: and went to register for it in Somerville in 2012. The feeling of recognition of the Nepalese food was also the road to Nepalese culture which enhanced me in having momo as the name of my restaurant no matter what.

We’d love to learn more about the struggles you’ve had along the way.
I worked very hard to be where I am today and I still work every day. My first challenge was to take the initiative to open the restaurant. Because I have no family members here, I had to go through a lot of financial and emotional problems. Thanks to Charlies’ Kitchen from where I saved a little bit to get the work started for opening one. When I opened Tasty Mo:Mo: with the very little idea of how to handle employees and working environment, I went through a lot of stress. Because I was one man army. My staff had never worked anywhere and I was the leader of the team. I only planned on opening one but I forgot to plan the after math. The first three months were very very busy. We were featured in Scout Somerville and Boston Globe. We put in a lot of hours. I had to train everyone at work and teach them food regulations. I was mentally challenged somedays because I would hardly get to sleep and answer eveeyone’s questions.I overworked. Despite that I got a lot of complaints and criticism, which only made us stronger and better. Struggle is real.

When I look back to our challenges to have
a functional workplace, I laugh at myself
at how unorganized I was.

Tell us something interesting or unique about Tasty Mo:Mo:.
What’s unique? Of Course Tasty Mo:Mo: is. We serve freshly cooked food. It always takes 15 mins or even more during rush hours to have the food ready. The shape of our momos are unique. We make 4 different kinds of momos in different shapes. When We wrap the momos,
Customers love to watch us and learn it too. We only make Tasty Mo:Mo:!!!