True Bistro

The best place to have a nice Vegan meal for non-​vegans! There were four in our group and we tried everything on each other’s plates — we all really liked everything! My meat loving husband was very surprised with the meatiness of his fried oyster mushroom dish! We are already planing our next visit.

Us vegans get very little love in the fine dining experience but this place sure starts the revolution. The space is small and definitely has potential to expand, but the décor and ambiance creates a new experience.
The service is friendly for the most part and the food is phenomenal. We had the mushroom and ravioli starter along with Prosecco! For main dishes, I ordered the red black-​eyed pea and my friends had the skewer and loaf… all of them were melt-​in-​your-​mouth-​divine!
We didn’t try dessert because we were heading to a vegan bday party, but I will be back to explore that part t the menu.
This place is great for all sizes but I do wish it was a little bigger and that the staff personalized our service– we didn’t have much interaction beyond ordering, and that would have made the dining that much better!

Phyllo purse entrée (drop the mic)
That’s really all you need to know. Get that. I have eaten lots of other things and enjoyed those meals. I have come for brunch and dinner. But now that I have had this entrée, I don’t think I can enter this establishment again and not order it again.
The hard part is finishing the meal – it’s a rich dish – served in a portion large enough to share…
Something to consider next time

First time I have ever tried vegan, and I was not disappointed! Very tasty & flavorful.

Yum! This was our first time to a purely vegan restaurant and it was a success! The Moroccan chic pea soup was outstanding with flavor. The warm bread was as good as fresh baked. We were a table of 5 so many different options were tested. You can’t go wrong with the flavors and you will be full! The desserts were nice the banana bread was incredible. The flourless chocolate cake was too sugary or coco milk chocolate for our liking. Flourless chocolate torte need to use dark chocolate my opinion.
Otherwise loved this place!

Had the most excellent brunch with low key but very attentive service. My sister started with the organic OJ which she loved, and then we moved onto the biscuit and mushroom gravy (delicious, comforting, and above all FILLING). She had the tofu scramble with nut cheese, sun dried tomatoes, and kale pesto: which I have to admit I was sorry not to have ordered. The decadent nut cheese and the perky ingredients took the tofu scramble out of the realm of the college tofu scramble and into the culinary stratosphere. Finished off with a vegan cinabon and some coffee. Am told dinner is excellent too: look forward to being back.

Phenomenal vegan food, especially for brunch. I ate a tofu, seitan and green pepper scramble, green salad with olive oil and lemon and wheat toast with fresh raspberry preserve. To accompany the food, I drank earl grey tea with soy milk. The water is fresh and filtered, so that is an added bonus. This place allows socially conscious individuals following a plant based diet to finally have Sunday brunch again! Note: This place is packed, so be prepared to wait and bring a good friend to give you company!

Definitely come here for brunch. I had the biscuit and gravy and it hit the spot. Usually I end up having food regret if I order waffles or pancakes for brunch, so we ordered a waffle w/​strawberry topping for the table, and it was uh-​mazing.

As a vegan, I often struggle with feeling like the odd one out when I’m out to eat, but not here. Here there are so many delicious and elegant options. So much food, delicious cocktails, and more. I came for brunch and had the tofu Benedict, which was delicious, although I wish there wasn’t tarragon in the sauce. The biscuit was light and fluffy and amazing. I tried my family’s tofu scrambles and folded crepes as well, all of which were amazing. It’s a sweet little space and the staff was very nice. I loved it and will definitely be back. I can’t wait to try dinner.

I went here with REALLY low expectations. I am basically a carnivore. So my opinion on most vegan places is «I’m supposed to pay for vegetables?!» But when my fiancé picked this as his birthday dinner, I was required to give it a try.
Despite the papyrus font the atmosphere inside is very nice. Pretty upscale and a pleasant place to sit. The servers were all extremely friendly and helpful. I ordered the brussel sprouts and soba noodles. The brussel sprouts were served with smoked tofu and were VERY smoky. I really liked them. Very flavorful and crunchy.
The soba noodles were also really good. The tempura vegetables on top were excellent and the broth was flavorful and not too salty. From the places I’ve been in the past most vegan places tend to either make things too salty or too spicy to compensate for no meat or dairy, but only one dish we tried seemed to fall into that trap. I was pretty impressed. However, I was still pretty hungry at the end of the meal due to a total lack of protein.

I brought a couple vegetarian and dairy-​allergic friends to True Bistro a while back to celebrate a birthday, and it was a relief to dine somewhere they could order literally anything off the menu. I’m not going to pretend I loved any of my dishes (what can I say, meat and cheese are essentially a way of life, and seitan simply can’t compete, no matter how well it’s prepared), but they were certainly tasty, and it was definitely worth it to see my friends happy. In addition, the owner is sweet and incredibly friendly, taking the time to speak with patrons about their dining experience and the inspirations for the menu. He even snuck a candle into my friend’s birthday dessert when I pulled him aside to let him know about the occasion.
Bottom line, three stars for me + five stars for vegans and their brood averages out to four stars total.

High quality ingredients, a creative menu, great flavors, and the right portion sizes. True Bistro deserves every one of Unilocal’s five stars. I came here a few weeks ago with a friend and we shared several dishes: gnocchi, artichoke, brussel sprouts, cheesecake, and two other dishes that I cannot recall. Each was light, flavorful, and somewhat complex. And, the dishes arrived very quickly. We went on a week night and made reservations in advance because there aren’t very many tables (though the restaurant doesn’t feel crowded). Vegetarians and carnivores alike would enjoy True.

I was pretty impressed having not tried an all vegan restaurant before, especially one attempting «fine vegan dining.» We started off sharing a saffron/​pesto ravioli, which was tasty. I had the Seitan Skewer for dinner and it was full of flavor. The sauce gave the seitan a fresh taste and the side kale and polenta were delicious. I wish I knew what they did with the kale because it was that good. The wine pairings with the dishes were also nice recommendations. We also shared the flourless chocolate cake which tasted like very concentrated coco. It was a different type of chocolate taste, but certainly still enjoyable. I think this restaurant really excelled at creating complex tasting sauces to spice up the dishes.
One downside is that the portions aren’t exactly big for the price being charged.

It is really well executed, creative, and delicious food that happens to be vegan.
Loved the kale cakes app. The seitan skewers and phyllo purse were also good but the phyllo purse came out a bit cold. The pumpkin cheese cake was a standout, probably one of the tastiest cheesecakes I’ve had and it’s not even cheese.
The restaurant was packed (glad we made a reservation, even though it was a Wednesday) but service was on point and the food came out quick.
I’ll definitely be spreading the word about True Bistro.

I used to love True Bistro, the food was great and the staff attentive and welcoming… We just got back from the Sunday brunch, took a friend and this is the third time I felt I should kind of apologise for recommending this place.
It’s unfortunate but sometimes now I go there now I’m thinking hmmm
Don’t get me wrong, I love the fact it’s just up the street from where we live, I loved the vegan Baileys, or did till they stopped serving it several months ago. today I had two okay Bloody Mary’s. no salt or pepper offered, sigh.
Their brunch is usually pretty good, tho today the fries served with tofu scramble were clearly black-​overcooked and the waiter just shrugged uttering «oh well some people like them like that». I’ve had these a lot and not received them like that before, nor the kind of dismissive waiting staff commentary. I also had to ask for pepper. as there’s not a pepper shaker on the table– they prefer to grind it from one large mill which is nice when before it was offered at the time of serving meals but not so much when having to ask a seemingly somewhat disinterested waiter. I could understand it if the place were busy but out of say 20 tables maybe four or five were occupied with two people, not even large families, mid Sunday brunch time!
This is one example of not being so thrilled of late. other examples would be, not attentive waiting staff, food looking like it’s been standing around a bit, seemingly smaller portions, but maybe that’s me being greedy :-\ and the energy of the place has changed. from once welcoming and lively on the ball staff now it just seems kinda lackluster. Perhaps off days? but this has been like this the past several if not more times I’ve been over a six month period.
I’m hoping soon this place exceeds expectation again!

I love it! Its so cozy and nice in there and the meals are soo delicious! Pure heaven! I had the smoky potato-​kale cake for dinner and the «death-​by-​chocolate» cake Best restaurant ever!

Came here for brunch on a rainy Sunday — and the rain coupled with the quiet, minimalist atmosphere made for a very peaceful, lazy brunch.
Overall, I thought the food was solid. It was a little bland for my taste, but I tend to err on the side of more hot sauce and more spice :). We had the tofu scramble, sweet potato panini, mac & cheese side, and the folded crêpe with blueberry and lemon. The crêpe was my favorite — the lavender ice cream, lemon, and blueberry melded together well — but we liked everything. We both would have liked the sweet potato sandwich to have a little more in it (it was potato, cashew cheese, and pesto) but that was our biggest complaint. Enjoyable overall — especially since brunch isn’t the most veg-​friendly meal.

Good restaurant.
For fine vegan or vegetarian food, also consider Red Lentil in Watertown or Walnut Grille in Newton.

Delicious! Excellent service! Cute outside. Would definitely return! Very glad I stopped by. I ordered the tofu Benedict, and it was much larger than I imagine! Huge portion but of course I finished ;) The hollandaise sauce was fantastic and would mage anything delicious.
I felt awful because one if the people in my party is quite difficult, with a limited taste pallet and point of view. He wasn’t the friendliest or most accommodating, and yet the waitress was as kind as ever. She even brought him coffee despite his refusal in her efforts.

What a truly beautiful bistro! It was my first time at True Bistro, and the experience didn’t disappoint. Although I was a bit skeptical of their vegan offerings, the space was warm and inviting, and the meal hit the mark.
We had a generous portion of olive tapenade with baguette toasts and cornmeal-​crusted oyster mushrooms to start. The highlight of the appetizers was definitely the horseradish dill aioli for the mushrooms which eventually got spread onto every possible carb surface.
For mains, we had the fettuccine with arugula pesto, sun-​dried tomatoes and peppered chevre, and the beautiful phyllo purse, which seemed like a must-​have as it was basically on EVERY TABLE. We were a bit disappointed with the fettuccine as the peppered chevre came in tiny cubes that served mostly to accent the noodles, rather than elevate the taste, but the phyllo purse — it was worth every bite. The tempeh and squash insides complimented the mole and arugula perfectly in a blend of bitter, sweet and spicy. I’d come back here again and again for this!
Including two cocktails, our meal was so filling that we didn’t have room for dessert and packed half the purse up to go. True BIstro would have gotten a 5 star from us, except it was impossible to ask a for some cashew cheese on the side, despite being an ingredient in 4 other dishes. Cashew cheese is such a rare ingredient at restaurants, that we would’ve loved it if they made it available on the side. All in all, a truly tasty experience.