Cafe Hemshin

food is so tasty and the staff are always friendly, I love the chicken dishes I always get the buffet

walked in to grab lunch today and was very surprise to see only 2 people having lunch. Last time I was there was over a year ago to reload my gift card as they had a load $ 25 get extra $ 5. went to the register and was told that they switch computer system and have new giftcard. my old card was no longer valid and I’m out of $ 30.00. NICE business practice! No wonder you guys are losing so many customers.
any recommendation other then Fallafel King, want to branch out

This is a really cute place for a quick meal! I got a chicken kafta wrap which was delicious! I could tell that all the ingredients were fresh and it came with a really good greek salad. It’s a bit on the pricey side but I guess everything in the city is.
Plus, I was told that after 2:30 there is a 20% discount! Overall, I would happily return.

Superb! Except it’s hard not to spend too much $$ at their buffet. Everything is so appealing (and dense) — adds up quick on the scale. Space could use better heating/​cooling during extremes in weather. Lovely gem!

Really not over the moon happy with this place. It was okay, but I won’t be rushing back. The falafel was a bit dry, and the food just was not as flavorful as it smelled or should have been. The spinach fritters were yummy though. I was just expecting way more flavor from the Kebab Chicken and Bulgur Rice. The Rice Pilaf was nice as well. Just not really enough flavor for me to want to try again anytime soon.

Love this place — I enjoy the salad bar often for my lunch break (make sure to get there on the earlier side!) Plenty of hot and cold options. I really love the spinach patties, kale salad, bulgur, grape leaves etc. I prefer the buffet to the sandwiches, but maybe I’ll branch out and try one again. Unfortunately, it is too expensive for me to regularly go to for lunch. I am a petite gal, but spent $ 11 dollars on the buffet — hummus is heavy! Lesson learned!

once they got popular their prices have skyrocketed. They went from 7.25 to 9.75 per lb on the salad bar if i wanted to pay that price id go to Roche brothers and get a better selection and have it more fresh. The lettuce tends to be old and welted here.

Turkish coffee!!! Satisfying to the soul

Since yesterday slow counter service, I just spend my 30 minutos break waiting…
Owner so rude with employees and customer.

Hard to find, but worth looking for. We had breakfast today and it was great. The food was served warm and ready. Service was good and prices were reasonable. Lots of healthy options for kids. My wife and I had the oatmeal and the kids had a bigger breakfast that got them going. The owner even gave us extra food. Nice!
The only thing wrong with this place was the early morning construction work right outside the building.

A very rule owner… the prices on the board do not match what their cashier charged me. I was charged $ 3 more for Lamb shish Kebab than it was advertised on their menu. when I asked why prices do not match & the owner claimed «the amount of food in their sandwich is more than other place» and he encouraged me to eat in other places…
This rude owner does not realize here is America and the prices they charge must match their menu and I can easily file a complain against their business! I asked for refund so that I could go somewhere else, and he refused to refund me. Very arrogant!

Ok so here goes… I have heard great reviews about this place for their fresh salads and vast selection of lunch buffet options. I have walked by numerous times and seen their signs for their breakfast buffet and I said why not, let’s give this a try.
It’s a big shop high ceilings and a lot of seating. As I walked over to the breakfast buffet at around 9:10 I could already see the ice on the serving station was a great lake. Not a single ice cube and it was about 65 degrees out (no excuse for this). On further inspection the only items they had were, scrambled eggs (suspect), pancakes (only 2), corn beef hash (close resemblance to pink slime) and then a tray of bacon and sausage which actually looked pretty decent. This poor performance already quelled my appetite for any buffet styled experience. To be honest it turned me off completely but I persevered, gave them the benefit of the doubt, and decided to get a breakfast sandwich.
I order a regular sausage egg and cheese on a sesame seed bagel. Simple ask, not too constructively challenging, oh but it was. It took about 13 minutes to make and I was the only one in line with one other companion. We got coffee because it came with the meal which was probably the only positive experience. We received our orders and brought them back to our office to eat. When we opened our boxes we had two dilapidated sandwiches… with lays ruffle chips. Both sandwiches had no cheese (which was ordered) and sausage links were sloppily stuffed in. My bagel was very big compared to the filling and the sausage tasted like rubber, mystery meat, definitely not pork. The chips were STALE and the egg covered all of 33% of the bagel. It was hard to eat. Worst breakfast I have ever had in Boston. This was almost inedible and to be honest I don’t find much like that. Maybe I should have gone with the buffet…
Look I will be reasonable here. Breakfast is not a strong suite of Café Hemshin, I understand that. However breakfast is not a challenging discipline to work in. A slight incentive can produce a solid breakfast and it is actually pretty hard to screw up breakfast in general. They may have not been giving breakfast much thought because it did look like they were preparing other foods for lunch. However, that is no excuse. If you advertise something deliver on your product. This was terrible. Archies is the go to in this neck of the woods for breakfast. Thoroughly disappointed and to an extent disgusted.

Go here 3 – 4 times a week just for the kale salad and other healthy salad stuff. But what blew me away on their hot buffet was their Buffalo chicken chunks. These folks are from Turkey and have no right mastering an American Classic so quickly. They should advertise this dish for the football season. Off the charts, kids. If they marketed this they would have a huge following of Buffalo crazed ESPN junkies breaking down the door. This dish eclipsed the Tuna chunks that are well with a mention.
The folks that run this place are very nice as well. Great lunch spot.
Grim Eater approved.

Foods are delicious and not expensive. It’s a good choice for having lunch if you wanna eat Mediterranean or Turkish food.

Pathetic Salad I have ever had. I and my wife visited this place as we had Groupon for this café, it was the worst salad we ever had.

Love this place! This buffet have so many foods selection. The foods are very fresh and tasty. The restaurant is clean and well lite. Staffs are very friendly and nice.

*** March 2015 visit ***
Yup. Been a while, but here I am again!
Café Hemshin has had a total makeover since my last visit. They’ve taken over the room next door and opened up their space. You enter up a ramp and a seating area lays before you. As you walk up, you can see the buffet area to your left in three sections — cold, hot, and salad bar. There’s also a refrigerated dessert case with baklava by the piece.
If you prefer to be served, that’s against the inner right corner where you can get a salad tossed to your liking for $ 7.49 or $ 8.05, or a roll up or plate made up to order. Their take-​out menu is out of date. To give you an inkling, prices now stand at $ 7.95 for a Signature Salad (vs. $ 6.95), Vegetarian for wrap $ 6.49 or a plate for $ 7.42 (vs $ 5.95/$ 6.95), and a half & half kebab special now starts at wrap $ 7.47/plate $ 9.50 (vs $ 6.91/$ 8.81).
I hit the buffet at $ 8.50/lb and came back with plenty in my little cardboard box to satiate my appetite along with the pita that came gratis — white for me. I aimed for under a pound and succeeded. The spanakopita lacked crispness in the phyllo — though that would be too much to expect — and I didn’t care for the veggies that came with the cheese ravioli. But the moussaka still does it for me, and I liked the cooked veggie options — ie sauteed spinach with almonds, roasted pepper/​zucchini, butternut squash. However, I miss the little mozzarella balls that used to be in one of the cold salad mixes.
I’m a bit bummed that I didn’t hit the $ 7.50 spend needed for the free soup. I was so close! Otherwise their soup is now $ 2.95 for a cup and $ 3.95 for a bowl. Sadly, I didn’t notice any sample cups such as those I’ve spotted at Café de Boston.
If you come here often, it might be worth it to buy their gift card when it is being offered at a cash discount.
*** ⁴⁄₂₀₁₅ visit ***
If you happen to be paying with one of those online deal vouchers, don’t worry about hitting the $ 7.50 mark. No free soup for you! That is, unless you spend an additional $ 7.50 on top of the value of your voucher. Never mind the fact that you actually spent money on that thing.
Their buffet changes a bit from day to day. That can be good, but I missed their roasted vegetables on this visit.
But I’ll end on a positive note — I like how they label their buffets so there’s no wondering what’s what, and no need to bother one of the staffers to inquire about dishes. And there was so much more corn in today’s corn fritter than last time!
*** ⁴⁄₂₀₁₅ again ***
Tried their Sutlac $ 2.81 oven baked rice pudding, made with milk, sugar, and vanilla. It is a good portion, but a high liquid to rice ratio, so you could nearly drink this dessert after breaking through the baked skin crust. Nice flavor though.

Today i want to eat something healthy so i found this place.
Its a buffet with turkish theme dishes. and I am so happy i made this decision.
EVERYTHING i got was delicious. EVERYTHING.
I got: grilled butternut squash, kale salad with qinoa, hummus, cucumber and tomato salad, spinach fritter, chicken kabob and some kind green salad.
Everything is super health and delicious. This will be mine now go to spot.
the place is like in an alleyway so it might be hard to find it. Its on the corner of boloco.

Bought a Groupon to this place which I did not know existed since I do not work downtown. I have been there twice but despite a menu… my eyes (and feet following) have never gotten past the «salad» bar. Loaded with all kinds of foods it takes a lot of control to not try everything. If you take one of the cardboard cartons it fills up for about 8 bucks — not bad (compare to Whole Foods!).
Most everything is tasty — some things better than others. The falafel (gluten free) on the salad bar was definitely on the dry side (maybe not so if ordered in a sandwich at the counter?). I also had a fried spinach patty that was way too greasy. But the other hot and cold things I sampled were pretty yummy including the fish and chicken entrees. And the staff was friendly and efficient.
Unfortunately for those of us who live in town but commute out for work — it is hard to get to the numerous lunch restaurants that have limited hours/​days.

30 minute lunch break? No problem. Café Hemshin is the place to hit up. $ 7.99/lb they’ve got succulent meats, fritters, pasta/​carbs, and a huge variety or cold bar goodies.
The broccoli ziti was awesome, the mosaka was flavorful, you have to get several pieces of the roasted pork, The chicken adobo kebab wasn’t my flavor flavor, but that’s okay. Pita comes with every order if you choose to accept the mission. Their salads are decent at $ 7.75 to make your own, albeit drenched in dressing.
After 2:30, with a coupon by the door, you can get 30%off your meal. It’s hidden in a small alley in downtown, but it’s sure hustling and worth hitting up if you don’t want a sit down meal or a whole meal.