I came to Bambara in Cambridge as part of a large group, but I looked online for the prices we would have paid for the meals that we got and I have to say… not worth it.

So let’s start with the opener…

TRADITIONAL CAESAR SALAD – $8
Romaine leaves, garlic croutons, white anchovies, shaved parmesan

I got this salad sans the anchovies, and it was good, probably the most satisfying thing I got on the menu. I tried a taste of someones butternut squash soup, and it was pretty bland so I think I made the right choice.

SIGNATURE STEAK FRITES – $27
Hanger steak, slow roasted roma tomatoes, arugula, herb butter, peppercorn sauce

Here you get your usual Hanger steak (the long one), then you get a pile of tomatoes and a gigantic pile of arugula and a basket of herbed fries. The steak was pretty OK, it came with a decent sauce. The fries were OK, I didn’t end up eating very many. The big pile of arugula was just for decoration and served no purpose because nobody can eat that much arugula.

I also got to try someone’s pasta dish that was mostly just a garlic sauce, and that was just OK as well. A very small portion too.

DESSERT TRAY
Hot Chocolate Cake, Classic Profiteroles , Warm Caramel Date Cake, Lemon Meringue

So I think this dessert tray  was special because we were a large group, but luckily since we got to sample all the desserts, I can tell you that the Hot Chocolate Cake and the Date Cake were pretty amazing, while the Profiteroles had espresso ice cream and were bland. The lemon meringue was more of a garnish but it was OK.

I also got a hot chocolate with my dessert and was nice that they had it.

My main complaint is that the service was slow as hell. Our group took up five tables, but yet we only had two servers. You would think that we would get our own servers for each table like any other party that would have come in. At least three.

My particular table had to wait at least 10 minutes longer than any of the other tables for every single course, so I guess it’s their bad luck that it was the table with the chronic Yelper.

So, considering that I would have paid $27 for that steak dish alone, if I was out on a date in Boston, I’d say thumbs down. The place isn’t all that nice and the food wasn’t amazing. I might give it four stars if the service was any good, but sadly it wasn’t.

I’m a sucker for roasted garlic, so Vinny T’s had me at hello.

Furthermore, I’m also a sucker for Chicken Cacciatore, which they don’t have on their menu. Think that’d stop me from asking if they could cook some up for me? Absolutely not.

I asked our waitress if they had anything with a spicy sauce, something like, oh, a cacciatore sauce. She said she didn’t think so, but would ask the cooks if they could do it up for me.

Well fancy that, they had no problem hooking me up with some fantastic and perfectly cooked chicken cacciatore.

I don’t recall seeing anything on the menu with red peppers in it, but they must have them in the kitchen cause this baby was nice and fired up, loaded with peppers.

It really was one of the better cacciatore dishes I’ve had – especially impressive since it’s not on their menu. Someone back in the kitchen must know their stuff!

I’ve got not complaints about this place except that they no longer offer their red wine vinaigrette dressing which I used to adore.

Our waitress (who I think was also the bartender) just plain super.