Over the summer my husband and I had various errands that took us past a mom-and-pop eatery called Mama Angie’s, which specializes in Cambodian steamed buns (called “steam buns” on the brief menu) with a fusion twist. This week was our second visit, which proved as good as the first.
Mama Angie’s does not have seating, so we had takeout for lunch. We made a meal out of sharing three generously sized buns. The first was stuffed with a spicy noodle mixture.
Though I’m no expert on steamed buns, the fluffy texture and slight sweetness seem just right to me. These filling buns are a bargain at less than $5.00 each.
Coincidentally, the husband and I were talking about dumpling and dumpling-adjacent foods within a reasonable drive from us. We too are huge fans of Tasty Dumpling too—so I’d stick with that if that’s my craving. It’s hard to knock that out of first place for me.
Mama Angie’s steam(ed) buns fit more in the lunch category for us. I need to remember to take an insulated bag to maintain the temperature better next time I go.
Flu shots for the husband and me yesterday gave us an excuse to pick up steam buns for takeout from Mama Angie’s. We shared three for our lunch: chicken mango heat (very spicy hot), a crabmeat and cheese (seemed inspired by crab Rangoon), and kaw ko.
Kaw ko, a delicious Khmer beef stew, was removed from its braising liquid to fill this delicious bun. I just wish you could taste this through your screen.
Before we ordered, we said that kaw ko was new to us. Mama Angie herself quickly appeared beside her husband at the cash register to offer us a taste of the kaw ko. Though we would have gotten the bun even so, I was glad to be introduced to kaw ko in that way. The beef inside the buns is shredded and defatted, but in the stew a ribbon of melt-in-the-mouth fat remained in the beef chunk. Carrot was another central component. Delicately spiced, super savory.
As we were leaving the shop I noticed that the kaw ko stew itself was offered as a special that day. Still kicking myself for not ordering a portion for later. The flavor profile is perfect for winter weather.
You do know how to live. We got 'flu shots ourselves last Saturday, and only got groceries after. While you need to hustle to Watertown for piri piri, I need to hustle to Lowell. Perhaps we can arrange a food exchange at some midway point.
(In all honesty we did have a reverse-seared dry-aged prime ribeye from Savenor’s for dinner, so I can’t complain.)
Oh, this is so up my alley. We were talking about going to Lowell this weekend, and since we still have Lao leftovers in the fridge, we probably won’t go to Laos Thai … if it’s easy to describe, where’s the nearest parking for Mama Angie’s? (If it isn’t, don’t worry about it, we’ll figure it out!)
Thanks so much for your initial report and this update! We made it there recently after a day of chilly yard-work and devored an order of the “cheese steak” eggrolls (essentially beef Rangoon) in the car while still hot. Perfect fry-job, really hit the spot.
Once home we reheated and shared a pork sandwich (num pang I think, akin to bánh mì) which was wonderfully meaty and came with very tasty papaya & carrot pickle. Also got two steam buns, one “regular” (pork, sausage, & egg) and one meatball (which I think would work better in an Italian-style sub but partner seemed pleased). No pictures, nothing lasted long enough.
Looking forward to getting back there to try more things like the kaw ko and the phak lov (which sounds offal good).
There’s a very small parking lot behind the building which was full when we went. Local custom appeared to support parking along the side of the driveway so that’s what we did.
@TB is 100% accurate about the parking situation at Mama Angie’s. There’s a tight, narrow parking lot alongside the building. Limited number of spaces at the back and a couple spots along the fence.
I oughta restate here that Mama A’s is a to-go situation. No seating inside the compact shop.
If you do venture over there, across the intersection (same side as Market Basket) there’s an Indian grocer called Apna Bazar (1815 Middlesex Street). Very well-stocked. I can never set a foot in there without at a minimum coming home with something from the snack aisle. And roti. I like the packages of plain roti from the refrigerator case.
Oh yeah, I think you mentioned Apna in another thread? This could work out well with it being to-go, because as soon as I mentioned Mama Angie’s, Mrs C started looking up different places in Lowell, and I was like … we have a backlog of five or six places we’ve wanted to check out*, why are we adding to it? (I appreciate the impulse though, because this is how we find places!) So maybe it’ll be arepas or something for lunch, then Apna, then Mama Angie’s to bring home. Or some such combination.
*Every time we go to Lowell to go to X, Y, or Z, we wind up getting Laos Thai instead. It probably doesn’t help that it’s right around the corner from Sophia’s, and that yogurt is insane.
Also at Sophia’s: The packages of dried Greek oregano sold on the stem. I could not approximate the intensity of that stuff even when I grew and dried my own oregano.
Now that I see you’re adventurous indeed, if you wanna go a tad further afield from Mama Angie’s, the Market Basket across the river on Pawtucket Boulevard holds surprises (MB Store #88). Look for the addition of “On the Boulevard” to the Market Basket sign in their parking lot. Seriously though, the selection of international foods is wide. More variety of pacakaged smoked salmon than I have seen at Whole Foods or fancy stores (maybe because I visited the week before Thanksgiving?). Interestingly to me, there’s a small section of Central European items that I haven’t seen since Karl’s Sausage in Peabody kitchen closed. I scored a jar of my beloved plum/prune butter (lekvar) that I’ll use for holiday baking.
If you do cross the river, may I recommend avoiding the decrepit Rourke Bridge. We trek a little further to the Mammoth Road/School Street bridge just to avoid the Rourke, which is extremely overdue for replacement.
To possibly make it seven or eight or nine, around the corner from Mama Angie’s on Middlesex Street is China Star Dim Sum Lounge, my go-to in the (pre-COVID) Beforetimes. Haven’t made it back there yet as my usual crew got out of the habit (we took to meeting at Tasty Dumplings and eating on their patio instead) but I hope to fix that soon, maybe with take-out if there’s another post-holiday spike.
I think Tasty Dumplings is one of the places we keep saying we’re going to go, because it’s across the street from where we park when we go to Laos Thai/Sophia’s—by the Greek church?
It’s crazy how often people in the Nashua area will ask for recommendations on Facebook, Reddit, etc, and people will bring up Manchester, Bedford, Portsmouth, before they mention Lowell. Like no one can see anything past the state line. From a Nashua perspective, Lowell and Burlington—Chelmsford too, really—are stacked with “hidden” gems.
Seriously though, the selection of international foods is wide. More variety of pacakaged smoked salmon than I have seen at Whole Foods or fancy stores (maybe because I visited the week before Thanksgiving?). Interestingly to me, there’s a small section of Central European items that I haven’t seen since Karl’s Sausage in Peabody kitchen closed. I scored a jar of my beloved plum/prune butter (lekvar) that I’ll use for holiday baking.
