Sofra - Review - Cambridge - Boston - The Infatuation

"Stop a stranger on the street anywhere in greater Boston, and they’ll likely have an opinion on Sofra. If it’s a bad one (unlikely), accept that you will never be friends with this person. The counter-service spot in Cambridge has been around since 2008, inspiring fierce loyalty with its baked goods, mezze, and a spread of Middle Eastern breakfast and lunch dishes. At its most basic, Sofra is a wildly overachieving neighborhood bakery. But most neighborhood bakeries don’t also have shakshuka, served in a hawayej-spiced tomato sauce under a sprinkling of toasted breadcrumbs, that has made generations of Harvard grad students weak in the knees. Another favorite is the Turkish breakfast with a soft-boiled egg cocooned in crunchy phyllo and served with yogurt and cucumbers. photo credit: Natalie Schaefer photo credit: Natalie Schaefer photo credit: Natalie Schaefer photo credit: Natalie Schaefer Pause Unmute You'll probably have to wait for a seat at Sofra, but that's part of the fun. The bakery is roughly the size of a double-wide storage unit, and the limited seating inside is more of a symbolic gesture than an earnest attempt to accommodate the hordes who want to eat here. Get an olive oil cake or a spinach gozleme to-go before a stroll through Mount Auburn Cemetery, or, for a better shot at snagging an indoor table, visit their second (much larger) location in Allston. Food Rundown Turkish Breakfast We’ve never had a bad meal at Sofra, but the one we keep coming back to is the Turkish breakfast: A soft-boiled egg with crispy kataifi pastry tangled around it, dice-sized hunks of briny feta, yogurt, olives, and assorted vegetables. photo credit: Natalie Schaefer Meze Platter The meze bar is always changing, but some of our recent favorites have been the tangy hot pepper labne, the slightly sour cabbage salad, and the baba ganoush, smokey and rich with molasses flavor. This platter doesn’t come with bread, so add some crick cracks or za'atar bread for scooping. photo credit: Natalie Schaefer Spinach Gozleme Ideal for a quick bite on the go, this flatbread is folded around a smattering of spinach, ricotta, mozzarella, and kasseri cheeses. Dill and mint give it a nice tang. Chicken Shawarma The thing that makes this chicken shawarma better than every other chicken shawarma we’ve had is the generous serving of housemade toum, a sauce with poached garlic, milk or yogurt, and liberal squeezes of fresh lemon. Dunk the shawarma in the sauce for a creamy tanginess that balances the meat and greens. Meyer Lemon Olive Oil Cake This cake is heavy with olive oil and bright with lemon, and covered with a smear of frosting and a buckshot of poppy seeds. Order it with the house chai." - Tanya Edwards