Saturday afternoon I went to the Cambridgeside Galleria with two of my best girls. One of our three musketeers is getting married this November and we other two were more than happy to join her this weekend on her quest for the perfect pair of outfits for her engagement photo shoot later this month.
While our bride-to-be circled each store, we flitted from rack to rack making our personal selections for her and buzzing back and forth from the dressing room to bring alternate sizes, colors and accessory options. We were so proud of our finished product, we even came up with a stylist name with which she can credit us in her engagement photos.
After over three hours of trying on clothes we were ready to refuel. I suggested Bambara at the Hotel Marlowe, which is literally around the corner from the mall entrance.
None of us had been to Bambara before and we were immediately struck by the upscale decor. The hostess walked us to a booth in the far, back corner of the restaurant.
Our waiter arrived and delivered us menus which were made of dark brown cork! How unusual.
We also noticed the quirky utensils.
We started with a round of drinks and dove right into the bread basket, which was overflowing with delicious, doughy rolls.
We were surprised by an amuse bouche from the chef. The two bite plate was watermelon with cucumber, feta cheese and a jalapeno garnish. None of us enjoyed it, but it was a nice thought.
To start we split an order of the herbed french fries with spicy mayo. These were absolutely fantastic. I would go back just to order these! Seriously.
We also ordered the flatbread pizza which came with arugula, tomatoes, goat cheese, roasted garlic and fig vinegar.
For dinner, we each ordered a different salad from the menu. I ordered the Boston feta salad, which is basically a Greek salad with Boston lettuce. The feta cheese was delicious, the salad was perfectly dressed and the pita chips were a nice touch.
One of the girls sampled the Caesar salad which she said was just average.
The last salad tested was the chopped salad which was baby greens, cucumbers, avocado, tomatoes, dried cherries, candied pecans, onion jam, goat cheese and sherry vinaigrette.
Though Bambara did have an impressive dessert menu, we were too full to explore it. We maxed out somewhere around the bottom of the french fries basket.
When we left the restaurant we headed through the hotel lobby to the ladies room. We were pleasantly surprised by how beautiful the hotel lobby was, including some funky furniture and murals.
Bambara is a great place for post-shopping snacks and drinks at the bar, but no need to blow the cash on dinner.
