Sheger Cafe

Reviews

• Bill Z.

  star star star star star_border 7 June 2026

  It's like these places call to me... okay, no, not really, I actively seek them out. I was excited to find yet another Ethiopian restaurant in the Boston area I had not previously visited. I certainly enjoyed it. I'd definitely come here again. But this restaurant is among stiff competition when it comes to Ethiopian restaurants I like in the area in general.
  
  I loved the atmosphere here, just very friendly and casual. It was fun watching the Ethiopian music videos on the big-screen TV. The menu items are just unique and different enough to make it interesting. If you like chicken, your choices are pretty much limited to Doro Wat, and the egg is closer to hard-boiled than soft-boiled. The lamb and vegetable dishes are pretty typical. The menu options that were the most interesting were those of beef. Here, a number of beef entrees (and maybe some lamb ones too? I forget) are grilled. These bring a different taste and texture to your plate.
  
  They also have fish on the menu, and I believe this may be the only Ethiopian restaurant in the Boston area to have fish as a regular menu item. I've had it as a daily special at other local restaurants. At these, you still had to work with your hands - through the scales and bones - to get the meat - but let me tell you, it was delicious. Actually, we didn't order fish here, and I saw no comments about it in other reviews, but I would hope it would be just as good here as elsewhere, and I hope I'll see reviews on their fish dishes in the future.
  
  They were, unfortunately, a bit casual in the amount of liquid in the menu items as they put them on the injera, which made it soggy and much less usable. But they brought us more injera without being asked, so all was good.
  
  We started our meal with a bottle of honey wine. This seemed a little bit off to me, lacking in the sweetness I was expecting. So for a second round, we ordered bottles of Rift Valley, an Ethiopian Cabernet Sauvignon - these were really good. I believe your only liquor options here are Ethiopian beers and wines.
  
  Sheger Cafe is definitely worth visiting, especially if you live locally.

• Cristina R.

  star star star star star_border 27 May 2026

  Excellent Ethiopian food and a welcome change of cuisine for North Cambridge!
  
  We came in on a rainy Sunday evening and were only one of 2-3 tables throughout our time there. We ordered drinks: a glass of honey wine (sweet, yummy, a large pour) and a St. George (light, Ethiopian) beer.
  
  The menu offers a great variety of dishes, and we opted for the Ultimate Combo for two in order to try a sampling of meat (lamb, beef, chicken) & veg dishes. Our combo platter came out pretty fast - it was put in front of us even before our drinks arrived!
  
  All of the bites were so flavorful and mixed together nicely. There was an ample amount of injera, so we even had leftovers to take home! The prices are reasonable ($32 for the combo, so $16pp. $5 for wine & beer.) for the quality and amount of food. Sheger really hits the spot!

• Alex K.

  star star star star star 20 May 2026

  This café was my first taste of Ethiopian food. I was not expecting much as most alleged ethic restaurants are just Americanized versions of ethnic food and they are all too often on board with silliness like trending items that don't belong and KidDs menus the like. Not here. This is pretty much authentic as far as I could tell sans probably a few things. I was the only one in here and I sat by the window and loved the primitive vibe inside -seemed apropos with minimal indigenous décor of a few ethnic items peppered about.
  
  I asked the waitress what was the "most Ethiopian-est" item on the menu and she suggested the Sampler Plate which had a bit of everything. I just had water to drink. The meal took about 15 minutes to arrive.  It was presented on a large plate covered by a pointed witch/Sombrero-type hat thing as a lid made of natural fiber that was lifted off revealing a large pizza-pie sized roti/chapatti-looking disc about 18 inches in diameter that was a dark beige color with air holes laden throughout, kinda like a giant flapjack but not really. (Kinda sounds like I'm trying to describe a UFO sighting.) All the food items were placed on this rather alien-looking edible disc with the food items nicely spaced apart.  A couple bonus rolls of this disc material were atop as well. No utensils are given as this is a hand-eat as is Ethiopian food. The bread thing was like foam rubber in the haptic sense and was very spongy. I do emphasize that this bread thing is like nothing you've had. Not just some krummy ole' pita bread or some store bought thing. It was fun to pick up and play with and make mini-burrito-type bites and create mash-up flavor combo rolls.
  
  Flavors of the food items were assorted and curries were there as well as rosemary and many spice combos that were unique and flavorful with some items being spicy. I didn't really bother with analyzing what I was eating but I think there was lamb and chicken and beef and lentils and cabbage stuff and random things and an egg too. All was very good. The cost 19 bucks and I was very satisfied as it was a large volume amount of food especially when all of the bread thing was consumed.
  
  I must say this place was a great surprise and was very different from anything I had. It may be described as sorta Indian-like but milder curry-wise on the spices and more earthy in flavor and the bread thing was so fun to eat as its haptic appeal was mental.
  
  Highly recommended! Get the Sampler Plate! :)

• Ruthann H.

  star star star star star_border 20 May 2026

  Happy to update this review! I have been back several times since I wrote the first one and I think the quality of the food has improved significantly. The injera is always fresh and the food is served nice and hot. Lovely staff too.

• Kelly B.

  star star star star star 19 May 2026

  This is my first Ethiopian restaurant I have tried in Boston. I don't know that I'll try anywhere else. The food was delicious. It met all my expectations. I got the ultimate plate and it fed myself, the hubs and our little one. Lots of food. The restaurant was very cute and the owner was super nice. I live in Arlington so it's a great location for me. I have no complaints and will definitely be back. If you want some good Ethiopian I would recommend trying here.