Esmai’s

Absolutely loved my experience here! I had the creme brulee espresso martini which was to die for. One of the best espresso martinis I’ve had in Boston! After for appetizers we enjoyed the fried okra. I never see fried okra at restaurants so i was extremely excited! I loved it and loved my Bahn Mi entree even more. The inside is beautiful, lots of natural light and on nice days the open windows are amazing. I can’t wait to bring my friends back here!

Pretty please mention on the menu that the chicken & waffles comes with WINGS! For $18 I would hope these were the best but I am extremely unhappy. While I understand this is an Asian fusion restaurant these were 100% disappointing. Nothing about these say fusion chicken & waffles. Ours came EXTREMELY charred, and no one likes to speak up when they’re unhappy with their food.

We came here for brunch on a Saturday. Between the 6 of us we tried 4 or 5 different coffees and it was all bland and had 0 taste, with the exception of pistachio which tasted artificial. I had the chicken and waffle, albeit the taste was fine, there were chicken hair on every single piece. I told the wait staff and it seemed like she didnt think it was a big deal. I will not return.

Wonderful, eclectic, and creative food and drinks! A delightful set of familiar French, British, and Vietnamese, but all with a bit of a twist. They have different menu items for lunch, dinner, and weekends, so it is worth checking out multiple times. We were very impressed with the Imaginative dishes with excellent presentation and flavor. Staff are super friendly. We highly recommend the bao, bone marrow bahn mi, beef wellington, and even the fries were excellent! For the (sweet) coffee lover, the egg coffee is a must try. Can't wait to try out the other menus! Lunch menu has amazing butter egg on fluffy milk bread sandwiches!

This is a hidden gem of Coolidge Corner/Brookline. The atmosphere is welcoming and comfortable. The menu is tastefully done, focusing on doing things delicious, not offering everything under the sun. The menu has something for everyone, beef, chicken, seafood and vegan. I had the lemongrass chicken skewers and they were outstanding! The craft cocktail, also a rec’d of my server, was outstanding: Spice Cooler, rum based with a really beautiful pineapple mint. Definitely coming here again!

This place is more focus on atmosphere than food and service. The place had a cute cafe vibe on one side and a darker lit bar side. We sat on the cutesy side. We didn't get any water or utensils even after our food came out and just had to wait until we saw someone to wave down. When we asked for a bag, no one came back. The food was okay. We ordered the: 1. chicken karaage milkbread. Tastes good, but it was the smallest piece of chicken that fit half the sandwich. Not worth. 2. Loco moco. Not good. 3. Chicken and waffles. Didn't expect chicken wings tbh. Chicken was fine but the french toast was hard as hell. 4. Truffle tots. Can't go wrong with tater tots 5. Ube stuffed french toast. The only thing I liked but friend said it was too sweet.

My 2 girlfriends and I came to Esmai's Cafe for a girls' catchup on a Tuesday night at 6PM. Reservations were easy to make online. Meter parking was plentiful nearby. We were seated right away. I remember this place as Hops n' Scotch and honestly, I think they really improved the space! The ambience was nicer, more posh, and the decor was super cute. The service was quick, helpful, and very nice. We were checked in with often and made sure we were happy with the food. The menu of drinks and food were really interesting! We got the: - Spill the Tea mocktail - the rose tea was very subtle but tasty and aromatic, it was really pleasant and came in a pretty glass - Hot Egg Coffee - VERY sweet (which I LOVE) it might be too sweet for some... but personally I LOVED the first sip which was sugar overload heaven XD - Cold Egg Coffee (yes we got both!) - tasted great, almost like a bubble tea without the boba, the Vietnamese coffee is strong and sweet, which I like - Banh Mi + Bone Marrow - a must get! this Vietnamese charcuterie board was very creative and DELISH!!! I loved the pate with the bone marrow on top of the toast - the bone marrow was melt in my mouth deliciousness, and then I made a separate toast with the pate, cold cuts and pickled veggies. this app was a winner for me - Mini Beef Wellington - this was SO GOOD!!! Since there were 3 of us, we each got 1 mini beef wellington and the meat inside was so surprisingly tender!! And then the outside pastry was nice and flaky, and I kept wanting more and more of the sauce - this honestly was my favorite dish of the night - Escargot - this was good and some of the pieces were nice and plump but I did prefer the other two apps above - Grilled Octopus - I thought the octopus was very tasty and moist, the poached Asian pear salad was a nice addition - Lemongrass Chicken Salad - the salad is pretty standard, but actually the lemongrass chicken was very juicy and flavorful - Smoked Fried Rice - this was my friend's favorite dish, she really liked the smokiness of it, and I thought the fried shrimp egg roll was so creative - Loco Moco - this was SO TASTY!!!! every component of this dish was good and balanced everything else, from the Japanese hamburger and its mushroom gravy sauce over the rice, the yolk oozing out of the fried egg on top, then cutting a piece of the spam on the side and then the macaroni salad and carrots and finishing with some fruit - this was my favorite entree and my 2nd fave dish after the Mini Beef Wellington - Creme Brulee - this was so yummy and not too sweet, the right creaminess and so easy to eat, we finished it easily - Matcha Lava Cake - SUPER DECADENT and again, I have a MAJOR sweet tooth, so I LOOOOOOVED this lava cake! It was oozing and the sauce with the cake and a bit of strawberry were PERFECT... and then you discover the matcha and it's a nice surprise! I was in chocolate heaven ^__^ Portions were really perfect for our party of 3 but we got waaayyyyyyy too much and we were STUFFED. We had to box the rest of the fried rice and loco moco. I recommend finishing the bone marrow right away though since when it cools down, it'll gel up. Even if you're full, I'd say make room for dessert. If you're a dessert fan, both the matcha lava cake and creme brulee were worth it! But if you only had to choose one and you DO have a sweet tooth, I'd recommend getting the lava cake :) All in all, a VERY successful and delicious night out with my friends. We were never rushed and it wasn't very crowded (albeit it was a Tuesday night), so we were able to chat for a while and really enjoy our food and drinks. I would definitely come back and bring more friends, try out their creative cocktails next time, or maybe even come for a date night ;) I highly recommend trying Esmai's! I also love that the owner chef is a woman and brings her culture in to the food and menu. You can feel the love and care that was put in to designing everything, from the decor to food. Please support them!

My new favorite restaurant in Brookline. Super creative, very flavorful dishes with great drinks and great service. I really enjoyed talking to the head chef - I love that she took a pulse on her customers. Notes on dishes: 1. bone marrow appetizer was a deconstructed banh mi- fun to put together, bread had great flavor and marrow was well salted 2. Mini beef Wellington was three 2" balls of great flavor with tiny pieces of vegs with beef. Innovative and tasteful but not as good as 3. Roasted tomato mussels are amazing. The sauce is perfect - Sun dried tomatoes with roasted garlic and other flavors. The bread was great. I can't recommend it enough. 4. Pappardelle pasta had a great depth of flavor. Chef mentioned a soup was used to make the sauce. This dish is quite large. The extra 99 drink was out of this world - so well balanced and spicy. The cosmo was different and good. Service was attentive. We sat by the windows which were open and ate a delicious dinner while enjoying the nice fall breeze. Will go again very soon - I can't wait to try more of these creative dishes.