Rami's
324 Harvard Street, Brookline, MA 02446
(617) 738-3577
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The Greater Boston area has relatively few Middle Eastern restaurants, and even fewer kosher dining spots. But there is a little place near the Coolidge Corner section of Brookline called Rami's that is both Middle Eastern and kosher, and it also happens to have some of the best Middle Eastern cuisine in the entire Boston area. And while it may have a rather nondescript storefront, this restaurant is indeed full of lots of culinary surprises, so if you are a big fan of Middle Eastern food, you might want to read on...
Rami's serves a mixture of vegetarian and meat dishes (the latter of which are of the highest standards possible (also known as glatt kosher). The vegetarian dishes include such delicious standards as baba ganoush, houmos, falafel (the best this writer has tried, by the way), and potato and spinach borekas. Rami's also has an incredible hot sauce that goes perfectly with these dishes. And for those who want to try some of the meat dishes at Rami's, they have some of the best turkey shawarma in the area, as well as kosher hamburgers and hot dogs, grilled chicken, and ground meat kebabs. Everything is excellent at Rami's, and most dishes are well under $10.00, so you can fill up and have enough money left over for an ice cream or another snack in the Coolidge Corner area.
The waitstaff at Rami's can be a bit gruff and on the serious side, but they do seem to place a lot of importance on making sure the food is top quality. This is not a full-service restaurant, by the way; you order at the counter and wait at one of a handful of small tables for your food. Because Rami's is so small, sometimes you do need to wait for a table, but turnover is generally pretty quick.
So is Rami's the best Middle Eastern restaurant in the Boston area? Well, this writer believes it is close, though there are some other great spots, including Cafe Jaffa in the Back Bay of Boston and Cafe Barada in Cambridge. I believe that Rami's may have the edge (in some areas, anyways), but you will probably have to try it for yourself to compare with some of the others. Chances are, Rami's may be at the top of your list, too.
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