When Jeanette Engelthat’s Mama to youboasts of having fed presidential candidate Howard Dean, you believe her. That’s because Mama’s Brown Bags, the box-lunch delivery service Engel operates out of Fremont, is a mealtime oasis in a murky desert of shoddy prepackaged lunches. Mama’s boxes ($10.99 apiece) follow the standard formulasandwich or salad surrounded by accoutrements (in this case: potato chips, a cookie bar, an apple, bottled water, and two Hershey’s kisses)but that’s where the similarity to other local companies ends. Engel’s outfit roasts the meats in house, and it shows: The roast pork sandwich is “not for the slight of jaw,” as one taster put it; pork dripping with (but not swimming in) barbecue sauce is piled high with Swiss cheese, sliced onion, and lettuce on an onion garlic rolldaunting, filling, and good. The turkey sandwich follows suit; any fool can dress up a few thick slices of bird with cranberry sauce, but Mama’s turkey is unimpeachably fresh, which makes all the difference. The caprese salad could have included a bit more mozzarella, but that’s a petty complaint; the basil seemed fresh-picked, the tomatoes were juicy and sweet (in late fall!), and the vinegar and olive oil were unexpectedly flavorful (and packaged separatelyclassy!). If you work downtown and don’t like braving the cold and damp, you’ve probably tried the rest of the box-lunch places; now try one of the best. Mama’s Brown Bags, 770 N. 34th St., 206-633-BAGS, FREMONT

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