Saray Restaurant

Don’t bother.
I gave them a chance in spite of the many negative reviews on Unilocal.It is thanksgiving after all and every other restaurant in the area is closed.
At 6pm these guys were empty (seemingly the normal state of affairs given the comments here). I ordered babaganoush and eggplant salad, and a hot dish (spinach a la turk). Well check out the photo ;) Babaganoush is literally five spoonfuls in size and the eggplant salad is just a slice of eggplant in yogurt. Small portions? Exploiting the customers? No wonder they are empty…
I wouldn’t call the food «bad» but it’s not good. I will not dream about it.
I also did not like that they wouldn’t give me free rice with the hot spinach dish (which was basically reheated frozen spinach with yogurt on top). For the price it cost there should be rice included. Besides they have a deal on Unilocal I could have used but didn’t and it wouldn’t have hurt them to include some rice! Along with the miserly portions, their unwillingness to add the rice added to my discontent.
So I just add to the chorus of people who suggest: GO ELSEWHERE!
Update: Stomach doesn’t feel good. Food didn’t taste fresh. and probably wasn’t.

Poor quality food and vastly over priced. It is rare for me to feel as disappointed in a place as I am in this one. There are many fine restaurants in Boston — visit them, avoid this one.

They failed to mention the skewers were very hot. My wife accidentally brushed her had over it blistering it. Food was good and service prompt. We had to ask for a discount and even then it felt we were out of line. Might come back.

Saray won’t wow you with the busy corner street location or the drab interior space and design. However, if you’re looking for legit Turkish food, this is your place. Some recent reviews have touted better Mediterranean or Middle Eastern alternatives. The true Turk (or fan — here here!) knows the difference in between.
The mezzo plates (cold and hot) are very well done. The hummus was possibly the best I’d ever had — a sumptuous dance of tahini, lemon, and garlic — that seems impossible to have obtained. Easily a delightful place for vegetarians. I do wish the bread/​wheat accompanying the plate was a bit more exciting.
However, moving on to the Doner I can say not having the lamb would be a shame. It’s not the sweaty mélange of random meat part drips with excess spice that you’d find at some imitators: no, this is a great cut, perfectly cooked, and surrounded by multiple sides for you to prepare to your own taste.
The key here is sharing, folks. Don’t be shy; do as the Turks do. The waitress will be happy to provide some help and instruction (yes, that is very spicy; yes, that has meat in it, etc).
The chai tea and deserts were finely done if on bland china.
I’d give it a 3.5 if I could but the authenticity and quality certainly sway it to a 4 rating over a 3. I’ll return.

A nice little place in the Allston-​Brighton neighborhood, good food, reasonable prices.

Amazing Food! Best Turkis food in Boston… Prices are a bit expensive and hence I give it a four star but besides that everything was perfect.
I always get a Saray Platter which comes with lamb chops, kebabs, chicken kebabs, rice, doner kebabs and everything is AMAZING!

My husband and I tried this place because I had a Groupon coupon. We were excited because we love Mediterranean food.
Meh, a little disappointing but maybe it’s because we had expectations. Edible though and the ambiance is okay. We’ve been here twice and it’s close to empty in the evenings.
For similar cuisine, I recommend Café Beirut in Jamaica Plain.

Just finishing up our meal here with Turkish tea following our delicious baklava. Delicious, authentic Turkish food here. We shared Jerusalem salad first, it was well dressed, fresh, and generous. My wife had the Adana Kabab — «moist and well flavored, and the rice was rich.» I had they Saray Special which included a variety of their specialties, all well seasoned and gives you an opportunity to try many different items. Order the «special carrot drink» for a unique flavor (if you dare). Totally worth trying — especially with a $ 40 for $ 25 Unilocal deal.

Great service, amazing grilled kufta… Loved the dessert! I had an eggplant dish too that was delicious

It was a rainy afternoon in Boston on the day before Christmas. Trixie was driving. The wipers fitfully sloshed an impenetrable curtain of water around on the windshield as she hurtled down Commonwealth Avenue narrowly missing terrified pedestrians.
As some of you may recall from previous adventures, Trixie is often euphemistically referred to as «a good eater,» which in practice means only a short time after consuming a Lumberjack Special breakfast her internal lunch bell starts clanging like Big Ben during an air raid. Today was such a day. She applied the brakes near the corner of Comm Ave and Fulller Street, skidding to a stop and crashing into the signboard outside Saray. «LET’S EAT!» she announced, springing from the driver’s seat.
Inside, the place was peaceful and delightfully empty of other diners, although I suspect the only reason for this was that the whole world was out shopping or standing in lines at places like Best Buy for their crack at purchasing a 500 inch MachoTron big screen TV on sale. When a sweet young waitress approached the table, Trixie roughly interrogated her, quickly determining that she was from Romania, not Turkey, but that there was indeed a Turkish owner somewhere in the mix.
When the food arrived her mood changed abruptly. One bite of the Zucchini Pancake (one of three, I might add) and she nearly swooned. I have never seen her at a loss for words. But there she was, in a dreamy trance over these crisp on-​the-​outside, tender and burstingly flavorful on-​the-​inside deep fried creations. Then arrived the Sultan’s Delight; morsels of exquisite chicken nestled in a subtle yet memorable sauce. «Come back, come back, little Trixie,» I beckoned, but she was lost in a delirium of gustatory delight.
«WHEN CAN WE COME BACK HERE?» she finally demanded in between bites. I’m certain it’ll not be soon enough for this tough-​as-​nails babe.

Had higher hopes. Terrible services and mediocre food. Wouldn’t recommend.
Pros:
— Location
— Large portions at reasonable price
Cons:
— The service
— Average food
— Not kid friendly
— Bathrooms not clean

AWESOME BAKLAVA… I have been married to a Turk for over 40 years and have had baklava in numerous restaurants in Istanbul, Montréal and several other cities, well as many relatives’ and friends’ homes. This is THE BEST baklava ever!!!
I’ll be back.
Martha

Sandy and I were bored with our town’s typical selection of restaurants although the scene is growing, and wanted to trysomething more exotic. Never having been to a Turkish restaurant before, we decided to be adventurous and give Saray a try. It is located in Boston, but technically Allston, as it is situated on the border at 1098 Commonwealth Ave. It is a very small restaurant with about 10 or 12 tables, but
it is intimate and charming. Because of its size, however, I highly recommend you make
reservations. We visited on a Saturday evening in the summer, and we lucked out, because we were treated to a 3 piece Turkish band, and let me tell you that these guys could JAM! As amusician, I am
always captivated when I see different styles of music; especially when they match my
surroundings and the food I am eating (with the exception of country music… for example, if I were at a southern BBQ restaurant, I would rather eat my Memphis-​style ribs listening to (Steely Dan over
Kenny Chesney any day). The style of themusic had a «middle-​eastern funk,» feel to it, and was as unique and interesting as the food at Saray. The food was exciting to try, because it is anything but typical – you won’t see fries and burgers on
this menu. We ordered the soguk meze tabagi, a cold appetizer plate so we could try several different things – this is always a good move when you are trying a new place out for the first time. It was a variety of different Middle-​Eastern dips and came with a scoop of hummus, haydari, baba gannuj, spicy muhammara, eggplant salad and spinach tarator all with fresh baked bread served along side it. We also had the special Saray vili kebab, which was a sample platter of assorted meats. It had char-​grilled sish, chicken, adana, meatball, lamb chop. The meats were very
well seasoned and flavorful, and were served with roasted red bell peppers, red onions, and rice.
Saray is a great place to check out if you’re looking for something outside your town’s usual food fair, like The 99 or your local pub. Unlike your town’s pub, however, Saray is BYOB; so if you want wine with your meal, you need to make a stop at the packey before dinner. Finding parking for Saray, or
any other restaurant in the area for that matter, su– hucks! It took us close to a ½hour of circling around the same block to get a spot, so be prepared for that. The green line is has a stop near Saray, and that’s probably your better bet if you want to avoid banging your fists on your dash board out of frustration for a ½hour. Allston is a great area to walk around after dinner because
there are a lot of other restaurants, bakeries and ice cream shops to get your sweet fix, and cool spots to stop for a pop… should you forget to pick up your bottle of choice before dining at Saray.

We used a living social coupon here, so it was pretty inexpensive. It’s averaged price without one, but for half off, this place was fantastic. The food was delicious and very tasty. We are vegetarians, but there were plenty of options and the flavoring made it taste better then any meat dish in the world!

FOOD
Pretty big menu with lots of traditional Turkish food. I ordered the Shwarma and much to my surprise the sandwhich was wrapped in a Mexican tortilla. Definitely not normal.
LOCATION
In a great spot right next to the T.
AMBIANCE
The place was completely empty and the service was pretty slow.

We had the Saray special. Everything on it was really good. The hot humus was incredible as well on fresh warm bread. And although I didn’t like them personally, my gf is telling me that the grape leaves are great.

My sister and I tried this place while we were in town before my conference. It was pretty good. The grape leaves were very yummy. It is a little different from what I was expecting but the flavors were great and the serving sizes very large (we shared). The service was also very nice — at times, a bit slow — but, very nice nonetheless.

Purchased a groupon and came here with the boyfriend on a weekday. We were the only guests at the restaurant, which I found odd. We ordered the calamari for starters and it was delicious. I ordered the okra dish and was not impressed at all. It was really bland and served with white rice. We also were served bread that appeared to be store bought and warmed up right before receiving our entrees, which I imagine was supposed to be given to us upon sitting. My boyfriend ordered a chicken meatball dish and he seemed to enjoy it, but wasn’t impressed either. Needless to say, we won’t be returning.

Bought a Group On for this place, and hubby and I checked this place out before Thanksgiving last week. To start, we ordered the cheese pastries, which were really good considering how much I hate feta cheese.
Entrees included the vegetable casserole for my husband, and the chicken kebab for me. It was very tasty, and presentation was very elegant. The chicken was very juicy and was marinated well. For dessert, we ordered baklava (nom nom… I could eat this all day) and Turkish coffee (not for me…).
We’ll be sure to pay this place a visit again soon!
:)

New place to try authentic middle eastern food. It’s also affordable. The atmosphere is clean and friendly. Relaxing atmosphere with music in the background. Bread on the house. Good portion size and presentation is very nice. Food is hit or miss eseppcially if you don’t know what you’re getting. It takes some getting used. Overall great service, not sure if its the place for me though.