Tucked in between Newbury and Boylston St. is a hidden jem of Middle Eastern restaurants in Boston: Café Jaffa. After walking down Gloucester St. many times over the past four years, I finally decided to stop in for a visit.
The restaurant was bustling with families, couples, and groups of college students. As I looked around at all the smiling faces, everyone seemed satisfied with their meals. I was excited to check out the menu.
The restaurant featured not only Middle Eastern Cuisine, such as grape leaves, hummus, schwarma, and falafel, but also offered hamburgers and sandwiches for those less daring.
After skimming through the menu a few times, I decided to go with the grape leaves and hummus plate. My date ordered the falafel and hummus plate.
We started off with a Greek salad smothered in feta cheese and filled with fresh tomatoes, olives, and crispy romaine lettuce.
The timing was impeccable; after finishing the salad the waitress brought over a plate of fresh pita bread and our main dishes soon after.
The stuffed grape leaves sat on a plate filled with homemade hummus. After biting into my first grape leaf I knew the venture had been worth it.
The tightly wrapped vine leaves were filled with rice and spices, some of the best I’ve ever had. I never thought hummus would go with grape leaves, but the combination was perfect.
Once I finished the grape leaves I dipped the fresh pita bread in the hummus until there was nothing left on my plate.
I thought to myself, “after a meal so satisfying, I wonder how the bill will be?”
Fortunately, the restaurant lives up to the expectation that it has “reasonable prices and high quality.”
I was impressed with Café Jaffa. The staff was friendly, the service was quick, the portions were large, and the food was delicious. I would recommend Café Jaffa to anyone looking to jump out of their comfort zone and try a new cuisine.
The trek from Simmons on the cold, windy Saturday was worth it. As Billy Costa would say on TV Diner, “Café Jaffa gets the platinum plate.”