Sarma Restaurant in Somerville is a Middle Eastern fine dining spot with a lively and cozy ambiance. The interior design of the establishment is spacious, well-lit, and perfect for conversations. The price range is on the higher side, but the quality of the food justifies it. The place is located in a vibrant area of Somerville, and it's easily accessible by public transportation. One of the special features of Sarma Restaurant is that they have outdoor seating available during warmer months. The menu at Sarma Restaurant offers a variety of vegetarian and non-vegetarian dishes that are bursting with flavors. The Black Sea Cornbread is a must-try dish that will change your perception of cornbread forever. The Avocado Muhammara is another creative dish that pairs well with burrata and pistachios. The Short Rib Muhummara and the Beet Muhummara are also highly recommended. For cocktails, the Sarma Sour and the Ginger Margarita are excellent choices. If you're not in the mood for alcohol, the homemade soft drink options like the Pomegranate Fizz and the Lemon Mintade are refreshing. The wine list is extensive, and the staff can help you choose the perfect pairing for your meal. Overall, Sarma Restaurant is a fantastic establishment that offers exceptional Middle Eastern cuisine in a lively and cozy setting.
MAR. 2024 UPDATE
This review is for the Sarma x The Grateful Bagel breakfast collaboration on 2024/03/02. The overall experience was a 3/5 for me, but since this was a one-time event, I am keeping the 5/5 rating for the dine-in experience.
Pre-orders were supposed to go live at midnight, but Sarma had an issue with Toast that resulted in people not being able to place their orders until 12:15 AM. Once ordering was available, everything sold out within a minute. This resulted in a lot of tired, angry people. Luckily, I was constantly refreshing the page and was able to place my order. Although technical difficulties are expected:
1. Sarma should have posted a status immediately to let people know that they were working with Toast to resolve the issue. A message was eventually posted but after 10 minutes of radio silence.
2. The link should have been shared (with ordering disabled) beforehand so that people could read the description for each item (only the menu item names had been shared) and to prevent all of the questions asking for the link.
Now for the food:
- Biscuit Spanikopita ($12): This was my favorite of the things I ordered. The spinach and feta filling was creamy and savory but very thick, so I could only eat half. The biscuit was buttery and held up well.
- Egg and Cheese Brik ($10): Didn't like this. The outermost layer was flaky and flavorful, but the rest of the pastry had a tough, stale texture. The egg was runny but nothing special. I liked the hummus that was provided.
- Sesame Fried Chicken & Grits ($18): Tbh, I ordered this because I read that it came with black sea cornbread, which is my favorite from Sarma's dinner menu. Sadly, it was only a small piece of cornbread but still tasted as good as I remembered. The fried chicken is also from the dinner menu and was also still good. I've never had grits before, but they added texture more so than flavor. I didn't like the bacon bits. The gravy that was provided tasted ok, but I preferred eating the chicken on its own.
- Chicken Shawarma ($15): I didn't like the bagel because it was way too tough, but the chicken was juicy, and I liked the spicy tahini cream cheese.
Overall, the breakfast food was just as expensive as the dinner items but half as good, so I'm disappointed. Maybe the food would have tasted better fresh, but this was a take-out only event, so the menu should have taken into consideration items that would be suitable for that. I probably wouldn't do Sarma Breakfast again, but I'll definitely be back for dinner sometime.
NOV. 2023
Sarma was 100% worth the hype! Every search of "must-try restaurants in Boston" brought up Sarma, so I knew I had to go. Luckily, I was able to find a reservation for the next day as a party of one. For bigger parties, you'll have to book further in advance. I recommend setting up alerts on Resy.
There is street parking, but it is quite sparse as most of them are taken up by residents. You also get a text with parking tips closer to your reservation time.
The place is pretty spacious, with both bar seating and tables. The decor matches the middle eastern/Mediterranean vibe.
Onto the food! I ordered everything that my server recommended: black sea cornbread, pork belly biscuits, lamb kofte sliders, and ricotta loukamades. Of course, I also had to get the off-menu fried chicken, which pops up the most in reviews. My favorites were the black sea cornbread and fried chicken. The cornbread was addictively good: fluffy on the inside but a nice crisp on the outside and had a kick but was delicately sweet. For the fried chicken, you have to wait for servers to come around and offer it to your table. Unfortunately, it came toward the end of my meal, and I tried to save room for it, but it took quite a while. I recommend having a stronger will than me because it definitely tastes better fresh than as reheated leftovers, especially the sauce. Everything else was good but not things that I would get again.
There is so much more on the menu that I want to try, so I will definitely be back!
Service
Dine in
Meal type
Dinner
Price per person
$100+
Food: 5
Service: 5
Atmosphere: 5
Recommended dishes
Black Sea Cornbread
Sarma has been on the food bucket list for the past 4.5 years and we finally made it! We were lucky to nab a reservation for 5:45pm a month in advance (many calendar reminders later...). The restaurant started out with a lot of empty reserved tables (though the bar was full with walk-ins from the beginning) that quickly filled up as the evening progressed. The ambience is lovely, the menu is a delight (I really appreciate the glossary on the side), and the service was great.
We were recommended to order around 5 dishes for 2 people, and ended up getting 7. While it was a lot of food and we had to pack up about 1 dish's worth of food to-go, I don't regret trying a lot of items! I'll summarize my top picks from what we tried.
Delicious, would definitely get again
- The beef carpaccio ($23) was a delight. There were crunchy deep fried noodles, delicious sauces, fresh salad mix, all on top of tender beef. And, unexpectedly, a perfectly soft boiled egg/deep fried egg. When I showed this dish to my Turkish friend, he said "Oh yes, these are Turkish breakfast items." What an inventive and delicious way to reimagine breakfast as a carpaccio!
- The garlic shrimp lamejun ($22) was so delicious! I think there may have been some spiced shrimp paste as the "meat" layer on the flatbread in addition to the tender grilled shrimp on top, and both were delicious. I loved all of the sauces, vegetables, and flavors here. Would definitely get again!
- The black sea cornbread ($17) came highly recommended by our waitress and friends and it didn't disappoint! It has an almost rice-cake like glutinous texture with the perfect combination of feta, honey, and buttery flavors. It smells like heaven and it tastes so good. I will be trying to recreate this at home.
Good, may get again
- The fried mussels ($17) were quite good. My favorite part was actually the papaya salad on the side -- it was deliciously flavored, crunchy, and fresh. The mussels were tender and juicy inside of the breading, and interspersed with deep fried vegetables. The green curry tarator sauce didn't really stand out, though.
- The brussels sprout bravas ($14) with chorizo ($2) had a really nice smoky paprika flavor but the sprouts themselves were not that special/got drowned in the sauce. I would've preferred crispier sprouts.
- The sesame fried chicken with tahini sauce ($15 for 4 pieces) that comes out every so often from the kitchen was good, but didn't have strong flavors. The chicken was boneless and very tender, and the breading was crispy though a bit greasy.
Wouldn't get again
- The cheese saganaki grits ($16) were very interesting. I saw "okra gumbo" in the description and couldn't pass it up, but the gumbo component was minimal and drowned out by the cheese. I did like the grits, but I think there was too much cheese relative to the more tasty parts of the dish (grits, okra gumbo), and there was also a lot of acidic flavor from the tomatoes.
Our waitress also kindly brought us some orange creamsicle ice cream and a candle for our anniversary. The ice cream tastes just like an orange creamsicle. We were too stuffed to try any desserts, but maybe next time we will plan our meal out better!
I'd definitely love to return to Sarma to try more of their foods. I really appreciated how a lot of the dishes balanced out any heaviness with fresh salads (which were perfectly seasoned in their own rights). I was worried about having ordered too many rich/creamy things, but I needn't have worried! Everything was delicious, fresh, and distinct. The food also came out really quickly, so finishing within the 1 hour and 45 minute time limit is totally doable. Our total came out to around $165 including tax and tip, which was much less than we were expecting to pay (to be fair, we didn't get drinks or dessert), and we ended up stuffed with leftovers. Looking forward to my next visit!
Service
Dine in
Meal type
Dinner
Price per person
$50–100
Food: 5
Service: 5
Atmosphere: 5
Recommended dishes
Black Sea Cornbread
Fantastic food, the venison wrapped dates and the cornbread were probably my favorites, even the beer had a nice unique twist. Seven layer hummus and crabcake melt were pretty decent too. And decently priced as well.
Food: 5
Service: 5
Atmosphere: 4
Sarma has been on the food bucket list for the past 4.5 years and we finally made it! We were lucky to nab a reservation for 5:45pm a month in advance (many calendar reminders later...). The restaurant started out with a lot of empty reserved tables (though the bar was full with walk-ins from the beginning) that quickly filled up as the evening progressed. The ambience is lovely, the menu is a delight (I really appreciate the glossary on the side), and the service was great.
We were recommended to order around 5 dishes for 2 people, and ended up getting 7. While it was a lot of food and we had to pack up about 1 dish's worth of food to-go, I don't regret trying a lot of items! I'll summarize my top picks from what we tried.
Delicious, would definitely get again
- The beef carpaccio ($23) was a delight. There were crunchy deep fried noodles, delicious sauces, fresh salad mix, all on top of tender beef. And, unexpectedly, a perfectly soft boiled egg/deep fried egg. When I showed this dish to my Turkish friend, he said "Oh yes, these are Turkish breakfast items." What an inventive and delicious way to reimagine breakfast as a carpaccio!
- The garlic shrimp lamejun ($22) was so delicious! I think there may have been some spiced shrimp paste as the "meat" layer on the flatbread in addition to the tender grilled shrimp on top, and both were delicious. I loved all of the sauces, vegetables, and flavors here. Would definitely get again!
- The black sea cornbread ($17) came highly recommended by our waitress and friends and it didn't disappoint! It has an almost rice-cake like glutinous texture with the perfect combination of feta, honey, and buttery flavors. It smells like heaven and it tastes so good. I will be trying to recreate this at home.
Good, may get again
- The fried mussels ($17) were quite good. My favorite part was actually the papaya salad on the side -- it was deliciously flavored, crunchy, and fresh. The mussels were tender and juicy inside of the breading, and interspersed with deep fried vegetables. The green curry tarator sauce didn't really stand out, though.
- The brussels sprout bravas ($14) with chorizo ($2) had a really nice smoky paprika flavor but the sprouts themselves were not that special/got drowned in the sauce. I would've preferred crispier sprouts.
- The sesame fried chicken with tahini sauce ($15 for 4 pieces) that comes out every so often from the kitchen was good, but didn't have strong flavors. The chicken was boneless and very tender, and the breading was crispy though a bit greasy.
Wouldn't get again
- The cheese saganaki grits ($16) were very interesting. I saw "okra gumbo" in the description and couldn't pass it up, but the gumbo component was minimal and drowned out by the cheese. I did like the grits, but I think there was too much cheese relative to the more tasty parts of the dish (grits, okra gumbo), and there was also a lot of acidic flavor from the tomatoes.
Our waitress also kindly brought us some orange creamsicle ice cream and a candle for our anniversary. The ice cream tastes just like an orange creamsicle. We were too stuffed to try any desserts, but maybe next time we will plan our meal out better!
I'd definitely love to return to Sarma to try more of their foods. I really appreciated how a lot of the dishes balanced out any heaviness with fresh salads (which were perfectly seasoned in their own rights). I was worried about having ordered too many rich/creamy things, but I needn't have worried! Everything was delicious, fresh, and distinct. The food also came out really quickly, so finishing within the 1 hour and 45 minute time limit is totally doable. Our total came out to around $165 including tax and tip, which was much less than we were expecting to pay (to be fair, we didn't get drinks or dessert), and we ended up stuffed with leftovers. Looking forward to my next visit!
Service
Dine in
Meal type
Dinner
Price per person
$50–100
Food: 5
Service: 5
Atmosphere: 5
Recommended dishes
Black Sea Cornbread
Flavorful, well-executed small plates. Menu has a lot of creativity, variety, and thought put into it.
Shrimp Croquettes was the excellent standout dish, there was a sauce that tasted similar to Indian butter chicken and lemongrass flavor in the shrimp. Avocado Muhammara was just okay. The fennel anise salad is one of the most refreshing dishes I’ve ever tried.
Meal type
Dinner
Price per person
$50–100
Food: 5
Service: 5
Atmosphere: 5
Great place for Mediterranean style tapas. Like most tapas it’s a bit on the pricey side, but well worth it for that taste and quality of food/drinks. Cute atmosphere. Good service. Highly recommend the gnocchi!
Meal type
Dinner
Price per person
$50–100
Food: 5
Service: 5
Atmosphere: 5
Recommended dishes
Feta Cheese Gnocchi
This was certainly an experience to say the least. This place had high praise online and in person, it translates well. This place is popular, relatively large inside, with the awesome things you’d want in your mouth. Mostly one-way streets with hard enough parking so be prepared and patient especially during busy hours/ days. There was a wait but luckily being a party of one, I got through a little faster, but that place was packed. Fun atmosphere, fun décor, and energetic. I got to sit at the bar and was greeted almost immediately and was given a low down on how things work and was given recommendations. I grabbed a beer and several plates of things that sounded delicious, but of course I couldn’t order everything on the menu. Also, if you don’t know, the menu is always changing so there is always something new to try. I am not from the area so like anything else, if I love the place, I will always come back to it if able. Good beer, delicious food and an area placed before the bar with a chef where you can view the food being made at hand. It’s slightly pricey, but I believe is worth the cost.
Service
Dine in
Meal type
Dinner
Price per person
$50–100
Food: 5
Service: 5
Atmosphere: 5
Recommended dishes
Pork Belly Biscuits
Fantastic food, the venison wrapped dates and the cornbread were probably my favorites, even the beer had a nice unique twist. Seven layer hummus and crabcake melt were pretty decent too. And decently priced as well.
Food: 5
Service: 5
Atmosphere: 4
