A City Girl in City Girl Café – Cambridge

Inman Square, which I nicknamed No-man Square due to my aversion for venturing past the borders of my beloved Boston, has forever altered my view of brunch. I think they were thinking of City Girl when they were wrote this quote: Some restaurants come into our lives and quickly go. Others stay a while and leave foodprints in our palates and we are never the same. Before I met City Girl, brunch was a glorified breakfast for lunch, consumed because you’re too hung over to eat before that and often doubles as your excuse to have an eye-opener before it’s socially acceptable to do so.

When I first entered I had no idea what I was getting into. I gingerly squeezed into the doorway sideways to avoid crushing the couple waiting behind it and found myself face-to-face with a dining room the size of my bedroom with seating for 20 people max. And every table was full. My first question was, is City Girl full because it’s good or because not that many people actually fit inside?  We were seated after a suspenseful 15-minute wait, after which I received my first preview of what was to come. The Rosemary Lemonade was amazing. With just enough sugar to take away the eyebrow-wrinkling sting and a lingering taste of rosemary, this concoction is probably the best legal herbal remedy to stimulate your appetite and prevent the common cold.

Like many excellent restaurants, City Girl has a theme. Masa’s theme is good food at a great price, Las Ventas covers everything in aioli, and I soon found that City Girl’s theme is the clever legal use of herbs and spices.

The French Toast soaked all the flavor of the vanilla custard and anise without becoming soggy, and the bread was, for once, not obscured by a shaggy layer of egg. I hate black licorice, the scent of Sambuca makes me ill, and anise is something I will only tolerate in pho. But pho sure, this hint of anise gave the toast a refreshing hint of sharpness, yet another legal herbal appetite stimulator. The red bliss potatoes were as blissful as their name, so heavily herbed that ketchup was a sin, and I insisted on eating every last one long after I got full. A little rosemary goes a long way…

Green means go and the Verde was no exception to that rule. Those scrumptious scrambled eggs laced with pesto shine like a green left-turn signal at the world’s longest intersection...I don’t know where that is, but I’m guessing it’s somewhere on Mass Ave.  Clever use of basil (yes, it’s an herb) to remind you of the Italian theme, and the two slices of Italian bread are where all carbs go to heaven.

The food is impossibly well-priced, and I’ve paid double for food half this good! There’s a lot of good cafes in this city, but there should be more city girls in this café. The food was so good I forgot to take pics before devouring it. Guess I’ll HAVE TO go back for pics…