Sarma Restaurant

Arriving early for our reservation, we were directed to the bar to enjoy some drinks while waiting. However, it took us about 10 minutes just to place our order and another 10 minutes to receive our drinks, setting a slow-paced tone for the evening. Our table for two was ready about 10 minutes behind schedule. A minor inconvenience was needing to close our bar tab before being seated, a process delayed again by the bar's sluggish service. Once seated, our waitress provided some excellent suggestions, leading us to order five plates, two of which required additional items for dipping. Unfortunately, the accompaniments were served at different times, disrupting the flow of our meal. The first set of dipping items arrived with the bread we ordered, but when the additional smear plate was served, we were left without anything to dip into it until we requested more, resulting in another 10-minute wait. The food, while genuinely flavorful, was notably salty across all dishes, revealing a consistent trend in their kitchen's seasoning choices. The service from the kitchen was considerably slow, with our full order taking a long time to complete, arriving well after we had finished our initial plates. Additionally, a kitchen fee of 5 percent was added to our bill, a charge we felt could have been more included in the menu prices. While the food was good, the overall experience was marred by service delays and a pervasive saltiness in every dish. This restaurant might be suitable for a casual snack, but for those seeking a well-coordinated dining experience for a proper meal, it might be wise to look elsewhere.

One of the best restaurants in Boston area.. tough to get reservations, so book early.. you will not regret it..

I hesitate to do this review because it is hard enough to get in this little gem, but I’d be remiss because Sarma is hands down the best food I’ve eaten. This was my second visit and we sat at the bar. Both times the service was impeccable, the atmosphere is comfortable and inviting, but the food is the real reason that Sarma is worth the wait… every plate I tried was truly delicious and when asked to rate them I couldn’t, all equally delicious. The cocktails are amazing too. Worth a visit if you’re in the Boston area! Vegetarian options: Plenty of delicious vegetarian and vegan options. Dietary restrictions: The are AMAZING with dietary restrictions… just let them know and they will make recommendations. Parking: Might be better to Uber, though there may be new parking available on School St?

Infested with rats! Very very bad service

Absolutely loved my experience at Sarma! The warm gyro bread was a delight, soft with a generous topping of Zaatar. Also tried the Avocado Muhammara dip, which was a spicy and crunchy treat. The Pina Colada Mahalabiya was a refreshing and delicious dessert. The service was excellent; the waitress was friendly and answered all my questions.If you’re seating at the bar or single high tops you don’t need to reserve. Parking can be a challenge, so consider taking the green line. Overall, a fantastic dining experience!

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!

Everything on the menu is amazing. Make sure to snag a bowl of the freshly fried chicken that passes by! Their menu is seasonal so worth at least a few visits a year.

Never disappoints. Always fabulous