davis_square | Baklava

I would suggest walking down the bike path to where it meets Mass Ave and then hooking back towards Davis on Mass Ave. There you'll find the Greek Corner restaurant, which has INCREDIBLE baklava.

The walk would take you 10 minutes, by bike, even faster!

Although it's not in the immediate vicinity, Helmand is close to the red line, and has amazing baklava.

The best Baklava I've found is actually at a middle eastern restaurant. I prefer the baklava at the Sagra grill in Harvard Square (although the middle eastern food is much better around the corner from that place at the Falafel Corner).

Although to be honest, the best Baklava I've ever had was made by

ifotismeni. Maybe you can ask her nicely to make you some? ;).

Helmand is actually not far from my office, so thanks for the tip!

Their kaddo bourani is also to die for.

hahaha!thank you :D

Edited 2010-09-14 20:24 (UTC)

do you have a preference in kind of baklava? depending on who's making it, the flavor can be kind of different. greek corner makes a decent one and *probably* the zaxaroplasteion in arlington (it's on the 77 not at all far from davis) has it.

but if you're looking for more pistachio-ed or almond-y and less walnut-y, i'd have different places to recommend...

Well, is anything more "traditional"? I don't have a particular preference; my son heard about baklava and was asking me about it, so I feel he should get to experience it. ;) I think that as long as it's dripping with honey, he won't care which nut it has inside. ;)

The zaxaroplasteion does, and it's delicious.

er, well, baklava is traditional to many ethnicities across the middle east, and each has its own variant of it (and many ethnicities have several different traditional variants within :D)

anything dipped in chocolate is not 'traditional' (athan's bakery has chocolate-dipped baklava, delicious but non-traditional!) anything else pretty much is. baklava = some kind of syrup (honey or sugar based) poured over layers of phyllo alternating with some kind of nut, usually walnut, often a mix of walnut with pistachio.

sorry tl;dr that was probably way too much information! lol
the greek corner near davis has traditional greek-style baklava, but there are many amazing delicious variations of traditional baklava from many other countries. :D

Edited 2010-09-14 20:35 (UTC)

I figured as much; that's why I put "traditional" in quotes. So ix-nay on the chocolate, but other than that, as long as it follows your general description and is of good quality, we'll probably like it. :)

oh and no, that was certainly not too much information, since after all I'm pretending this is an educational activity! ;)

I don't recall if Cafe Barada has it, but I've had some of their other middle-eastern foods and found them to be several cuts above the average. Way better falafel than I've had anywhere else in Boston.

yep! :D enjoy ^_^

excellent! i hope your son likes it. kids often do as it is REALLY sweet!

if you go to a greek place, i recommend trying kadaifi (like syrup-soaked shredded wheat) and galaktoboureko (imagine baklava but with a mild custard in the layers instead of nuts) as well. they tend to be popular with kids at greek festivals :)

I am now imagining this so hard I want to know if anyone delivers it. Where can I get some? Greek corner? Any random Greek restaurant?

Also, I mean, seriously, who doesn't want to get to type "zaxaroplasteion". Preferably several times. zaxaroplasteion! zaxaroplasteion!!

But can you type it in Greek?

ζαχαροπλαστειον? (Admittedly, I don't know if that earlier one is an omicron or an omega, and I don't know the accents...)

At any rate: I studied Greek, I have the powers of Unicode, and Greek Polytonic is just a drop-down menu away.

So now I'm curious, which variety do you make? Baklava is one of my go-to recipes and I stick with a (supposedly) Syrian version that's pistachios and sugar syrup (vs. other nuts/honey).

Yes, they do have it, and it's very tasty. They even sell it in bulk in gift tins.

i looooove the syrian version so much, it is to me a lot more delicate and the pistachio is a fantastic contrast. being greek-american though my family recipe is punch-you-in-the-mouth sweet with rough-chop walnuts and really REALLY powerful honey syrup (usually pine or wildflower honey, never clover).

it should be just about anywhere, at least, god i would hope so!

if not at the greek corner or zaxaroplasteion, ANY greek festival right around now (and 'tis the season really) will have this at the pastry booths. these are staples of greek church ladies!

i think the last one is the omicron, but my spelling in greek is absolutely awful...ζαχαροπλαστείων; i think.

so much fun to say XD

Thanks for the suggestion! We went there tonight in fact, and I thought the baklava was quite good, although my kids didn't like it. Oh well. Kids are weird. ;)

I've had the baklava from Zaxaroplasteon in Arlington, and thought it was too dense and too sweet (and way too big a portion), but all of those objections might appeal to a kid. ;)
I do like the baklava at Greek Corner, and the one at Helmand (which, they will correct you, is "bucklawa"). I think all those little grocery stores in Watertown carry it too -- are they Armenian? A different kind of traditional.

Cedars (the hummus folks) makes it. I've gotten it at the Harvest Coop before. It's good, but not as flaky as some of the restaurant versions. But I like it that way.

Also, if you're interested in making a healthier version for your kids, I've discovered that you can slice apples into very thin slices (with a mandoline or vegetable peeler) and layer them with some thick liquid sweetener of your choice (I make date paste with dates and water blended together, maybe with a bit of lemon juice) and chopped nuts. Let it sit marinating for a few hours (I do this in a dehydrator to warm it up, while keeping most of the vitamins still intact) so that it gets all gooey and thick before eating. It's not flaky at all, but it's soooooo good!

Out in Watertown Sq., I like Tabrizi's, which has a couple of kinds of baklava and a bunch of other Middle Eastern pastries; they're a fabulous bakery. (They also have some Middle Eastern groceries, like rose water and Turkish delight and such. And the proprietor is a sweet guy.)

yes, it's omicron! As for the accent it's ζαχαροπλαστείον

ah i need to learn to spell :( my baba is always yelling at me that i keep switching the omicron and omega!

seconded. yum.

Cafe Rossini, just south of Cedar and Highland. The baklava there was so good I finished my dinner off and ordered a second one to go home with me.

Baklava

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