Oleana Restaurant

Super wonderful place! One of the best meals I’ve ever had! The service was courteous, the ambiance intimate, and the food was out of this world. Wonderful small plates! We had the buttered hummus, lamb tart, tamarind lamb, spiced pita, and olive oil mousse with candied pears. Delightful and delicious!

Can you give a place 6 stars? The food here is simply incredible. Mediterranean style tapas bar with a total Cambridge feel. The staff is extremely helpful and you can tell they genuinely love what they’re serving because they know the quality of it. Ask your waitress which Mezze plate (tapas) he/​she would would recommend as the menu is rotating. Here are the dishes I can vouch for: the falafel is the best falafel I’ve ever had… They’re almost creamy and melt in your mouth. The octopus and potato dish has some secret seasoning that makes it pop in your mouth. Also, the Sultan’s delight is a can’t miss! For desert we had the unbelievable prolifiters (spelt wrong). Just look for the dish at the top of the desert menu. If you skip desert here your doing yourself a disservice. Wine list is extensive and they have a Wine Director that makes all the picks. Impressive.
In terms of seating there is an indoor dining room, a small bar area and an outdoor patio. Definitely a reservations type place but I reserved for a Friday 9:00pm on Open Table day of and it worked fine.
Ultimately, I had very high expectations going into it as I had heard great things and it surpassed these expectations. Move it to the top of your list!

Oleana is a Mediterranean cuisine restaurant opened in 2001 by American chef Ana Sortun. The restaurant is located in the residential parts of Summerville. The space is small and intimate with a dining room and beautiful patio. The meal should start with some of their crafted cocktails and transition into wine. The menu is typical of meze in that it starts with small mostly vegetable plates and finishes with heavy protein laden dishes. The flavors and profile of the plates that come from the small kitchen is representative of Chef Sortun’s training abroad.
We chose to let our server choose all the meze and it seems 2 dishes per person is probably adequate. The meal was filled with rich flavors and textures which was appreciated from a cuisine that I don’t personally always enjoy. I will say this is something different and there is clearly talent to create such unique presentations. One of our favorites of the night was the sultans delight and anything with hummus. Our service was exactly on point and overall it was a great night to celebrate my wife’s birthday. Thanks!

We really enjoyed our dinner here. We each got the vegetarian tasting menu which resulted in a flow of small plates – my favorite way to eat. Our server was great as well.
I really wanted to love Oleana, but for the price the food and atmosphere just don’t add up. It’s a small place and they have done their best but the tables are so close together I just had this crowded feeling all night. The food was very good and a couple dishes were excellent but not the level I had hoped for. If it was a little less expensive or a little closer to me personally I’d probably go again.

Hadn’t been here in 8ish years, but it’s still a rockin! Still packed all the time and hard to get in or to the patio in the back. The food flavors are still amazing with solid service. We tried so many of the mezze like warm hummus, croquettes, moussaka, octopus and they were all amazing. Favorite was the octopus which was amazing! Moussaka also had great textures and flavors.
Lamb was great and the chickpeas were fresh and the swiss chard was out of this world. So tender and flavorful. I’d eat a bucket of the chard. The chicken main was ok, a little dry and the zatar topping didn’t seem to add much flavor. We also got a side of the potatoes which were also not exactly what we expected and not our favorite, but everything else we had was wonderful.

Best restaurant in Boston. Reliable, outstanding food. Great vibe and great service. We go there once every 2 – 3 momths and always leave wanting to come back, so we do. Our favorites are:
— spicy fideos
— anything with lamb
— sultan’s delight
— deconstructed falafel
— baked alaska; my favorite dessert in Boston.
Try to seat on the patio during summer, its great!

After eating at Sarma and loving it, my friend and I decided to try out Oleana for dinner. We arrived on a Friday night with no reservation, but were lucky enough to be seated at the bar after about 10 minutes.
We were pretty hungry, so we just decided to split a bunch of dishes:
Bread basket (4 stars): I don’t know how many types of bread were in the basket, but the darkest one dipped in their olive oil was delicious.
Hangar steak special (5 stars): I can’t remember all the components of this dish, but I really enjoyed the flavor of the steak and how it paired with the rest of the ingredients.
Spinach falafel (4 stars): I am not a huge fan of falafel, but after reading so many rave reviews, we decided to give this dish a try. The dish was very tasty as all the flavors melded together well and provided for a nice, creamy bite.
Sultan’s delight (5 stars): Another order that we can thank other Unilocalers for. As it has been for many other diners, this was one of our favorite dishes of the night.
Quail (4 stars): We had the quail at Sarma and really enjoyed it, so we decided to get it at Oleana as well. This quail was tasty, as it had a nice combination of spices atop it that gave it great flavor.
Scallops (5 stars): This was another one of my favorite dishes of the night as the scallops were cooked perfectly and paired so well with the sweet and delicious stewed tomatoes.
Dessert – baked alaska (3.5 stars): As many Unilocalers have mentioned – this dessert is HUGE. I really did like how all the flavors came together, though I wish they served the passion fruit caramel on the side since I felt like it was a bit too sweet and overpowered the rest of the dish.
Overall, we really enjoyed our dining experience here, but both agreed that we preferred Sarma. In addition, even in the tapas style some of the dishes here are a bit overpriced. Nevertheless, if you are looking for a nice night on the town, this place should definitely be on your list.

Food: 4.0÷5.0
Service: 3.5÷5.0
Value: 3.5÷5.0
Décor: 3.0÷5.0
Overall: 4.0÷5.0
Very little to add to prior reviews. Solid tapas style menu with friendly service. The food was great though the menu felt a bit constricting for groups of larger than a few people. Loved how casual the spot is for the price point.

My wife and I go to Sarma with almost eerie regularity, so we wanted to celebrate our wedding anniversary by going someplace different. But we only strayed as far as Oleana, as we couldn’t possibly leave the Ana Sortun family of restaurants on so special a day.
As we expected and had no doubt of, the meal was absolutely exceptional start to finish. Every dish is fancy without being pretentious, homey while still special, and traditional while still inventive.
The whipped feta with peppers should be a must-​order, as you’ll dip all the bread on the table into it as you await the rest of the courses. The Sultan’s Delight (a heavenly short rib) has been on the menu a long time and for very good reason. It is not a tired dish and continues to wow. Honestly, I could write glowing reviews about every item, but trust that if the ingredients interest you when you look at the menu, the end result will be outstanding.
The service was, of course, excellent and the ambiance feels like you’re in a quiet urban oasis.
Sarma is a gift to Cambridge. And a great anniversary gift to ourselves.

Dined at oleana with a friend last night. We had an 8:15pm reservation, but arrived a little early so we were seated on a small couch (wooden bench with some pillows). We ordered drinks while we waited for our table. Cocktails were alright, but on the pricier side for a very very small pour.
Once we sat at our table, we asked the waitress how many small plates she recommended. The two of us split 5. Our favorite was the braised pork special that came with feta, peas, pine nuts, and orzo. Very earthy dish with a variety of flavors. All other dishes (sultans delight, octopus, fried crab, and falafel) were great as well. The octopus could have been served a bit hotter though. We had baked Alaska for dessert and were extremely excited when it came out but were quickly disappointed. There’s an overwhelming citrus syrup at the bottom soaking I tot the cake portion. It does not go well with the coconut flavor or ice cream/​merengue portion of the dessert. It would have been 10x better with the syrup on the side.
Overall, oleana was great for dinner and has a very cozy feel. It’s pretty tight and gets crowded quickly so i definitely recommend reservations. The menu is somewhat similar to its sister restaurant in Somerville, Sarma. I think the dishes at Sarma were a bit better and more unique.

Absolutely love this neighborhood gem! Oleana offers some of the best Mediterranean food around, and has the same level of consistency/​deliciousness as Sarma. We ordered:
— Whipped Feta
— Spinach Falafel, Tahini Sauce, Beet Yogurt and Cress
— Sultan’s Delight – Tamarind Beef, Smokey Eggplant Purée and Pinenut
— Moussaka – Tahini, Fava Beans and Fried Peas
— Sauteed Scallops, Egyptian Tomato Sauce, Fava Beans, Dukkah
— Baked Alaska
Our favorites were the Whipped Feta (goes wonderfully with the bread), the Spinach Falafel, and the Scallops. The scallops were perfectly cooked, and the tomato sauce and beans were the perfect accompaniments. I highly recommend getting these.
The Moussaka was flavorful but a bit too salty, and the Baked Alaska came with a passionfruit syrup that was definitely a bit too sweet for us — it was hard for us to finish it. We loved the meringue though, perfectly fluffy and torched. The dessert is quite large, and I would recommend splitting it between two people.
If you’re taking photos, let the host know, and they might be able to seat you near the patio area which has terrific lighting!

Would rather give 4.5 stars. Great food and great ambience. Got down a bit by average service and some misses on the menu. We had a reservation and got there well in time. Wanted to sit in the pateo but they told us that it was full. We went out to see and there were tables available.
The food had some highlights like the Muhlama croquettee with rhubarb jam, spinach falafels, Nettle borek and Baked Alaska. We even had the asparagus sarma, green pea hummus and fried mussels.
They gave Zaatar and date-​sesame bread which was delicious (but cold, i like warm breads!). The Muhlama croquetter was something different and perfectly balanced with the rhubarb jam. I have had better spinach falafels but the pickles and radish gave a good touch. Nettle borek was suggested by the server and lived up to it. Baked Alaska was amazing. My 1.5 year old nephew loved the coconut icecream.
The service seemed flat overall and I didnot like that they didnot give the patio table to us.

This place is spectacular! Practically a hole in the wall. I sat at the bar with a friend and we ordered a few small plates from the «Meze» section of the menu.
Whipped Feta — A very small portion, just enough to dip the bread they provide you with. I would suggest maybe getting an order of this per person.
Spinach Falafel — The falafel itself was kind of doughy/​dry, but still tasty. The tahini sauce was delish, as was the beet yogurt that was served with it.
Asparagus & Goat Cheese Sarma — I wasn’t a huge fan of this one to be honest. It was well executed, and had all the ingredients the description mentions. But something about it was lacking for me, personally.
Moussaka — This was my favorite dish! Seriously, to die for! The blend of the lamb, and eggplant, and fava beans – excellent!
I think the amount of food we got was perfect for two people to share. The only thing about this place that is lacking would be the cocktails. They must have a limited alcohol license, because they only had select spirits. The wine selection was plentiful though. I started off with a Brut that was tasty, but they ran out, so my second glass was different and not as great.
Everyone from the hostesses to our server were friendly and happy to help/​provide honest feedback. I will definitely be coming back here.

I’ve been thinking to try this restaraunt for a long time, very positive reviews and so on and so forth. So I am finally here. To tell you the truth, not impressed at all. However, I can see how vegetarians like it: the special course tastes good.

I was in town for business and this place was highly suggested by local friends. Parking is terrible as you can only do street parking on the main street. Residential parking is restricted except for sundays. I came here with a coworker at 8pm Thursday. The wait was only 15 mins and we were put at a tiny table. The ambiance and the table were meant for people on dates. Unfortunately, my coworker and I were here just to gorge ourselves on food. :D
We split 2 meat small plates (avg $ 10 each) and an additional set of 4 small plates (~$ 40) from the vegetarian chef tasting menu.
The only thing I can remember was the Spinach falafal. Everything tasted amazing, but this is pretty pricey for the amount of food you get which is understandable.
I’d come back here but only for going out with significant others.

The food is delicious and deceivingly makes you very full after a few small shared plates. The pace of the meal was measured and purposeful. We were seated at one of three tables for two people set along the wall. It was a bit awkward throughout the meal because each table was placed only a few inches away from one another. We could clearly hear everyone’s conversations and vice versa. You almost wanted to join in on the conversation on either side of you but at the same time, the seating made us be more reserved as we tried to keep our voices down to make the experience more personal. My run down on the food that we had:
Octopus, Potatoes Bravas, Smoked Aioli, Turkish Spices ($ 14) — tender pieces of grilled octopus with fried potato pieces, light on the aioli, so everything is still nicely crispy but warm temperature
Spinach Falafel, Tahini Sauce, Beet Yogurt and Cress ($ 12) — piping hot just the way fresh falafel should be though to be honest, I didn’t taste the spinach
Sultan’s Delight – Tamarind Beef, Smokey Eggplant Purée and Pinenut ($ 14) — tender with rich umami flavors
Vermont Quail Kebob, Baharat Spice, Barberries and Pistachio ($ 13) — of all the dishes, I would forgo this one and choose another dish. Two small tender quail pieces on some kind of soft bread circles. There wasn’t anything special about this dish.
Lamb Shank, Sweet Potato and Green Wheat Salad, Leek Creama, Dates ($ 28) — absolutely delicious; any carnivore would be delighted to see this tender, fall off the bone meat with a nice green wheat salad that had a nice chew. The radicchio also provided a nice bitter element to balance the flavors.

The highlight of this restaurant is strong and well done spice flavors, along with great execution on cooking meats.
To start off, they offered us a well spiced bread with decent amount of salt, sesame, herbs (thyme?), with a vibrant olive oil.
They recommend 6 meze for 2 people. It’s more like 5 is ideal, or if you order more veg with 6.
Recommend are the:
5 Minute Egg Special
Sultan’s Delight (the most soft and flavorful beef)
Carrot hummus (incredible how much flavor carrot offers instead of chick pea, though no pita unless you order)
Quail kebab (incredibly moist quail with a hard/​crispy rice cake on the bottom)
Pass:
Mousakka (good flavors, hearty almost like a lamb bolognese, but a salty dish in general)
Stuffed cauliflower (same issue, salty with the dukkah and base, definitely could’ve used acid)
A well done beer program. Despite ordering a fantastic Von Trapp Dunkel, I would look for a crisp lager. They don’t shy on vibrant uses of spices, but salt does come through within the bread and certain dishes.
Mezes are around $ 10, with most being a bit more than that. With a beer, came out to around $ 40 a head.

Fantastic restaurant, one of the best I’ve been to in Boston so far. First of all, service and ambiance are excellent. None of the annoying too-​common American service traits of checking in too often, clearing plates before everyone is done with that course, etc.
Excellent wine list, can’t go wrong with that.
And then, the food is of course fantastic. The meze are terrific, I recommend the whipped feta, hot pepper labne, and cabbage salad. The two «sides» are really excellent, the dark leafy greens and the flattened potatoes. All of the desserts are great. It is hard to imagine anything being bad.

The food was delicious and our waiter was great. So why only two stars? There were so many other staff members grabbing the small plates off our table that I felt like I was in a diner. Literally every time a staff member walked by our table (about every 5 minutes) they grabbed a dish. Sometimes they asked if we were finished a particular small dish, and several times we said no. I found it hard to really get into a conversation, because I was trying to hold onto our dishes. When someone grabbed a glass that still had one last sip of wine (a $ 13 glass of wine), that was it — no return to Oleanna for me. (By the way, none of the people grabbing dishes included our waiter.) Please — tell your staff to slow down and stop grabbing dishes. I know the plates are small, but still, no one wants to have to worry about losing food they paid for!

Tough place to get reservations for but worth it. Absolutely amazing food at reasonable prices. We had a 5 – 6 small plates between the 2 of us and each dish was amazing. If I was to pick my best and worst — best would have to be the spinach falafel and the worst probably the trileches dessert. Look forward to going back !

After you’ve had one meal here, you won’t bother eating anywhere else again. In fact, you may even consider smuggling Cuban cigars to help fund ordering every item on the menu here.
Hell, if you need a reason to quit your day job and randomly move to another city, Oleana should be among your Top3 reasons to do so (the other two being chasing after a love interest and moving away from the coast due to rising sea levels).
All the portions are small plates so make sure to order enough for your party (leave the non-​sharer anti-​social types at home to their Seamless).
PRO-​TIP #1: eat very, very slowly to enjoy all the rich flavors.
A few highlights of the menu (all are recommended):
1. Whipped Feta, Sweet and Hot Peppers: Had the consistency of hummus (a plus) plus the right balance of spicy and sweet
2. Hot Pepper Labne, Sweet Potato Fries, Kibbeh Spice — fries were a more on the soft side than crunchy but worked well with the thick labne
3. Carrot Hummus, Figs, Fenugreek, Almond Dukkah — my #2 dish that we had… make sure to spread this on the excellent table bread and get early dibs on the limited number of figs
4. Octopus, Potatoes Bravas, Smoked Aioli, Turkish Spices — my first time eating octupus but it definitely did taste like chicken.
5. Spinach Falafel, Tahini Sauce, Beet Yogurt and Cress — my #1 seed… very rich and well-​presented (they put a tahini swirl on top and it comes on a bed of lavash bread). Get around three orders of these (just for yourself, never mind the other folks in your party).
6. Cabbage Salad, Cara Cara Orange, Crispy Pita, Avocado-​Tahini Vinaigrette — a crunchy and well-​balanced salad… the avocado viniagrette requires a slow savor to fully appreciate.
7. Butternut Squash Borek, Tomato Brown Butter, Yogurt and Turkish Spices — little cigars filled with squash… a bit difficult to differentiate the tastes for me but definitely worth a go.
Also, a few specials that were not on the menu:
8. Grilled Halloumi cheese (a little salty but with a great tofu-​like chewy consistency)
9. Sweet potato latke (nothing memorable, so I would recommend more of the other above dishes)
Service was excellent with ample supplies of bread, water refills, and great food suggestions.
PRO-​TIP #2: Make sure make reservations far in advance because the tables are limited. Space inside is also tight so try not to be a lumbering jackass (like me) when maneuvering to the bathroom (pro-​pro-​tip: use the handicap restroom because it’s not the size of an airplane lavatory).

One of the best experiences I’ve had in a while! I recommend to order a bunch of Meze. If your a 2 – 3 person group order up to 6 – 8 Meze dishes. Firstly, it’s a MUST to order the Sultan’s delight. We ended up ordering it twice that’s how amazing it was! Here is what we ordered:
1) Sultan’s delight (highly recommend)
2) Hot pepper lebne (highly recommend)
3) spinach falafel (highly recommend)
4) Fried Mussels (disappointed, nothing special)
5) Vermont Quail Kebob (highly recommend)
6) Lamb and grape leaf tart (disappointed, A very strong lamb smell)
The service was excellent as well.

My favorite restaurant in the world.

I can’t believe it took me this long to try it! Just became one of my new favorite restaurants without a doubt.
–great wine selection
–we split 3 small plates, an entrée, and a desert ALL amazing
–get the falafel appetizer, best I’ve ever had. The duck entrée was AMAZING
–I never order desert but the girl next to us was eating the baked alaska so we had to try it. Can’t even begin to explain how delicious…
we got lucky with 2 spots at the bar on a sunday night but based on how crowded it was you definitely need a reservation.

What a memorable experience. Every item was well seasoned and flavored, with contrasting textures and beautiful presentation. My boyfriend and I dined here for our last night in Boston.
Spinach Falafel. Served with Tahini Sauce, Beet Yogurt & Water Cress. I’m modest with the adjective «best,» but this really was the best falafel I’ve ever come across. Our host, a Turkish gal, advised us to order an extra, as we probably won’t want to split the 3^rd. Since the falafel is baked, it doesn’t have the oiliness and flavorless deep-​fried crunch of most falafels. You can actually taste the flavor of the chickpeas and spinach.
Butternut Squash Cigar Boureks. Phyllo dough wrapped around roasted butternut squash, and covered in a yogurt sauce. I enjoyed it as it was the most unconventional bourek I’ve ever eaten.
Sultan’s Delight. Tamarind Beef, Smokey Eggplant Purée & Pinenut. This tamarind beef was so tender that we did not need to use our knives. It broke into pieces the moment we put our forks to it. I can deduce where they got the name for it, it’s one delightful dish!
Wild Striped Bass. Served on a vegetable patty and sauce. We wanted to try a dish that was «Bostonian.» Since Massachusetts is known for its striped bass, we opted for it. It’s a firm, white fish. More «fishy» than halibut for reference, but a solid entrée.
The Baked Alaska. One hefty dessert. It’s coconut ice cream, coated in meringue that’s fire torched to resemble a frozen flame, perched on passionfruit caramel. Its for the ambitious eaters. We scraped the meringue off as it was all just a little too much.

Oleana’s is a restaurant that swings for the fences. The dishes tend to be huge hits or major misses, and with a high price point you really feel the pain of those misses. That being said, you have to respect the culinary creativity and audacity on display.
To show what I mean lets begin at the end. An example is their house desert: The Baked Alaska. Meringue, ice cream, and a sauce, are fire torched to resemble a frozen flame. The Baked Alaska looks amazing! Conceptually I love what its doing, and individually I like all the ingredients, but the flavors don’t come together. Its an ambitious mess that never coheres and the various flavors struggle to complement or contrast one another. It was worth getting once for the experience but I probably wouldn’t get it again.
The spinach falafel is excellent, three baked falafels with cabbage and a piece of lavash. Since its baked it doesn’t have the oiliness of most falafels. The falafel tastes fresh and the flavor of the chickpeas and spinach is accentuated by baking it and the tart cabbage is a nice contrast flavor and texture wise. The presentation and taste are top notch here.
The mezze special was The Squash Bourekas. Unfortunately this dish was a miss, the phyllo dough was too chewy and the squash was stringy. The unpleasant textures of the squash and phyllo were somewhat offset by a delicious yogurt sauce.
The Fried Mussels were solid but underwhelming, the mussels were battered, and overly fried, but (once again) saved by an amazing turkish tartar sauce.
I’ve had the hummus dish several times and the quality seems to vary, last time it was very good. However, this time it was average at best, as the hummus was chunky and bland.
The homemade bread and olive oil they serve is divine. Ask for more since its a great supplement to the mezze.
Overall, the food is an ambitious and unique take on Turkish-​Mediterranean inspired dishes. Go with the mezze and share with your table.

At my age, I am no longer as eager to write Unilocal reviews as I was in my younger years. But Oleana treated me well. Oleana treated me superbly. The least I can do is sing its praises.
Vermont Quail Kebob, Baharat Spice, Barberries and Pistachio ($ 13): quail is perfectly cooked and works great with the baharat and pistachio. The barberries brought a new taste that just brought the dish to a whole new level.
Acadian Redfish, Honeynut Squash Dolma, Jewered Rice, Orange Blossom: I am a bing fan of red snapper, so when I heard that redfish was somewhat similar to it, I knew I had to have this dish (I was sold on the other components). I won’t even try to describe this, as I know I won’t do it justice.
Frozen Olive Oil Soufflé, Pinenut-​Semolina Halva, Seckel Pear, Lemon: I was pleasantly surprised by the generous portion of the dessert. The texture of the frozen olive oil soufflé is quite intringing and inviting, and it’s interesting that it’s not too cold, but it remains with an almost solid consistency. The lemon drop crowns the jorney of eating the dessert.
The Isla — Bitter Orange & Herbs /​Cocchi Americano, Angostura, Mint: I’m a big fan of bitter orange, so this was a winner in my eyes, and in my tastebuds.
I will definitely come back to this place everytime I’ve got a chance when I’m in Boston.

This place is one of my hands-​down favorite upscale restaurants in Cambridge. Things that are awesome: ALL of the savory and meaty-​delicious Mediterranean meze and entrees, the baked Alaska for dessert, the ambiance (whether indoors, a little loud but warmly beautiful — or outdoors, with heated starry-​ness). Wine is expensive but good, and staff is excellent.
4 stars ONLY because I want to give the restaurant something to get better at: 1) it’s odd to be told on the phone a restaurant like this can’t take any more reservations, but that there will unofficially be a table open in 20 minutes? Isn’t that like a reservation? Or is that officially just having open seating? What’s wrong with the reservation system? 2) The ‘special’ desserts we got in addition to the Baked Alaska were more ‘experimental’ than special, and couldn’t compare with the Baked Alaska.
…Did I mention the awesome that is the Baked Alaska?

My foodie coworker got married here recently and highly recommended it.
Went with a friend and split the octopus small plate. Awesome. Also split the two small plate specials: fried Greek sheep’s milk cheese and the other was a braised, pulled pork shoulder. Awesome.
Server was great and recommended the chicken and lamb chop entrees. A chicken breast is never something I order out but we did and it was the best chicken breast I’ve ever had. Lamb chops were braised which was a good change from the standard grilled chop. Meat fell off the bone.
Overall, the star of the show were the spices. Every dish was expertly spiced and expertly cooked.
Had two sangrias which were excellent.
Overall, I’d go back and would say this is one of the better meals I’ve ever had.

I was visiting Boston for the day and we came here for dinner. They made accommodations for us by putting two tables together so we could ait inside on a chilly night. We ordered numerous mezes and a few entrees and shared everything amongst 6 of us. Every item that came out was more flavorful than the previous. I did not eat one thing I didn’t love! The prices are quite expensive but you can tell it is for quality and preparation, etc. I would love to come back here!

Great combinations of Mediterranean cuisine! Greek, Turkish, Armenian etc.
We ordered 8 mezes to share amongst 5 people, in combination with pita bread.
Falafel, tahini, octopus. all delicious!
Waiter knew all the wine options by heart and was able to recommend good pairings.
I recommend trying it out!

Cannot believe it’s taken me so long to review this restaurant. (I’m just way too busy.) My dinner at Oleana was the highlight of my trip to Boston!
My husband and I were in Boston for his HBS reunion and invited some friends from NYC to come down and have dinner with us at Oleana for our anniversary in early October. My children (my son in law is a great chef as well) had just spent time in Turkey and fallen in love with the cuisine. And then I read about the James Beard awards this year, and knew that this was the only place I wanted to go in Boston.
Oleana is like a precious little gem box. By that I mean it is small, intimate, and full of charm. I’ve always felt that when you are seated closely together in a restaurant, it’s a lot more fun that if you’re spread out. I love the hustle and bustle of a popular restaurant… and this one was packed!
I am humbled by the dazzling creativity of Chef Ana Sortun and her pastry chef Maura Kilpatrick. And my hat is off to Chef de Cuisine Cara Chigazola.
We ordered delicious wine from the magnificent list and so many dishes to share. We covered the Meze menu from the Whipped Feta to the Fried Shishitos, to the Octopus to the Mussels, to the green beans… and more and more… then we had the Scallops… the flattened potatoes… and really I can’t even remember… because it kept coming and we devoured every bite as if we hadn’t eaten in days. The flavors were so incredibly subtle and yet made huge statements. I would love to eat this way every day. It’s all about the spices… and I have learned that spices are so good for your health.
Then…we had the Baked Alaska. I can’t even tell you how delicious it was. And with it, the coffee was nice and strong.
Pure perfection. As you all know, I only review great restaurants. But this one is at the top of my list. Oleana is my new #1 on the east coast. Well… maybe even all the way across the map…
My dream is to go back to Boston and take cooking lessons with the chefs at Sofra. That is on my bucket list for… well… as soon as possible! My husband wants to go to class too!
Thank you Chefs… I can’t wait to come back. XOXOXO

Was such a pleasant surprise when I found out that we were going to Oleana. This place has been on my bookmarked list for over a year and it is everything the other reviewers said and more. Décor is comfortable and inviting, service was at the perfect pace and the food was prepared very well.
We decided to go out on a limb and deferred to our server for some of the ordered items with the only restriction being that it would be pescatarian-​based and here’s what we ended up with:
Spinach Falafel — Very pretty presentation; meant for you to roll up and eat as little mini falafel rollups. This is a weird comment but I always thought it strange to have odd numbered pieces in appetizers since most diners come in tables of 2’s and 4’s but I’ll save that rant for another day :) This was tasty with the appropriate amount of crunch and the pickles added a great burst of flavor. Highly recommended.
Fried mussels — My first time trying mussels fried but I’m a fried clam veteran and I have to say I’m a fan. Honestly though, any fried seafood makes the fat girl in me smile!
Octopus — Very tender and I want to say that I think it may have been braised. It was served on top of a garlicky yogurt based sauce. Pretty good as well. Just remember those Altoids if you really want to enjoy this to the fullest.
Scallops entrée — Scallops were perfectly cooked and the combination of ingredients used to prepare it was interesting. I’ve never had it with a tomato pomegranate type base so it definitely did not taste familiar. If you like sweeter tasting flavors and/​or tomato based entrees, this entrée may fit the bill.
Baked Alaska — One hefty dessert. The pictures aren’t lying. It was a giant campfire toasted marshmallow with crunchy coconut ice cream. Very good but almost overwhelming because of the size of the thing.
Turkish style profiteroles — Hardly had any more room but managed a few bites. Loved the nuts and the caramel finish. Definitely on the much sweeter side in a confectionery candy kind of a way.
Overall, a wonderful experience. I highly recommend it if you love Mediterranean food!

Uma grande experiência que vale conferir.
Um local muito agradável com um jardim lindo e convidativo a uma grande experiência gastronômica, um mix de ingredientes fazerem uma festa de sabores.
Posso dizer que, seja qual seja seu pedido, você sairá satisfeito.
Mas sugiro os pratos com as mais improváveis combinações. Com certeza sua surpresa será mais feliz.
Para começar experimente o Spinach Falafel, uma entrada famosa da casa.
Perfeito atendimento.
Mas é impreterível a reserva.
Já é um dos méis locais favoritos.

Pros:
Food is beautifully presented and the combinations of ingredients are truly artistic to the palette. They really pay attention to the details.
Nice wine list
Intimate and warm ambiance
Cons:
Friendly service, but surprisingly slow and confused service at times. Mezze plates came out at an odd sequence and multiple servers delivered dishes. The wrong mezze was brought to our table once. Drinks were very slow in coming and we had to wait too long for our server to check on us so that we could order more drinks
Bread served with dishes came out slow and it was weighed down and saturated with oil. Some crispy pita crackers would add a nice touch for the whipped feta
The whipped feta was delicious with a light kick, but the approximate 1 tbs serving of this plate for appx $ 10+ was a bit stingy.
Tiny short rib mezze plate was overly sweet and our short rib was more fat than meat

Oleana was quite good, but I felt it didn’t quite live up to all the hype. Good food, great service, nice ambiance… but not exactly out of this world.
My friend and I shared the vegetarian tasting menu and 3 additional mezze plates:
Tasting Menu:
— greens beans and corn with a kick (tasty)
— mixed greens salad with cherries, labne, and sweet nutty morsels (excellent)
— bulgur served with cucumber (very good)
— fideos (vermicelli) with greens (not very good — too many unusual flavors at once)
— milk pudding with fruit (just okay)
Mezze plates:
— spinach falafel (delicious!)
— casik — garlic yogurt with cucumber and mint (very good!)
— deviled eggs (very flavorful)
Dessert:
— baked Alaska with coconut ice cream and passion fruit syrup (okay — not as amazing as everyone said it was)
The service was excellent, and our waiter was friendly, polite, informative, and non-​intrusive. The food came out quickly, which was nice.
Overall, we had a lovely meal, but I was not blown away.

Ah, Oleana. I had heard about for 4 years before I finally made it there — and it was everything I heard and more!
Reservations are hard to get — but bar seating and the outdoor patio (depending on the weather) are first come first serve. In the fall you can show up early and get a table outside — they have heat lamps and blankets.
Tons of vegetarian options. I don’t even remember everything we ordered, but it was pretty good! spinach falafel, the potatoes, baked alaska, borek — everything. The falafel is tiny though. Definitely very good food!
They’ve since changed their wine list, but I had the best wine I’ve ever had here. Pretty sure it was a Gewürztraminer? Had never heard of it before but I loved it!

GREAT FOR MEZE /​SMALL PLATES AT A DATE
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I booked a reservation for an 8:15 dinner on a Sunday night two weeks in advance. Even in the dead of winter with all these snowstorms, Oleana is still packed!
PARKING
Free parking at 139 – 145 Hampshire Street.
AMBIANCE
Casual, yet classic. Nothing is pretentious about the restaurant, which I appreciate. There is a rustic but modern feel to the restaurant. The layout of the restaurant is definitely catered towards parties of 2, making this an ideal place to take a date. I have heard great things about their patio, so I will definitely return in the summer.
FOOD
+ Fatoush: The pomegranate seeds, grapefruit, and crispy pita pieces really made this one of the best and most flavorful salads I have ever had. ⁵⁄₅
+ Dinner special: Cheese fondue with shrimp, beef, and onions. Although this was a great fondue to dip our complimentary bread with, I expected a classic fondue with skewers where we could cook the meats in the cheese fondue. ³⁄₅
+ Spinach Falafel: The presentation of the falafel on a bed of beet yogurt and pita bread was fantastic. We were able to wrap the pita around the falafel like a wrap, and all the flavors came together with a finishing bite of the softest and most tender falafel I have ever eaten. ⁵⁄₅
+ Quail kebob: Definitely my favorite of the night. The quail was so tender and tasted like a mix between chicken thigh and lamb. The pistachio and barberries added sweet and nutty tastes to the meat and it was amazing. ⁵⁄₅
+ Octopus coca: Essentially an octopus pizza, this was a very unique dish. The octopus was so tender that it almost didn’t taste like octopus. ⁴⁄₅
+ Sultan’s delight: This tamarind beef was so soft that I did not need to cut it at all. It literally broke into pieces the minute you put your fork into it! ⁵⁄₅
+ Baked Alaska: Literally the best dessert ever. The browned meringue meshed perfectly with the coconut ice cream and passion fruit caramel (which I was nervous about). ⁵⁄₅
SERVICE
Our waters were never empty, our courses came one dish at a time, and we were never left looking for our waiter. Overall, this was an excellent experience and I now have an obsession with Turkish/​Mediterranean tapas!