Nine Winters Bakery — Restaurant in Cambridge

I love Nine Winters. The menu is an innovative and playful line up of drinks, pastries, and food and all of it is executed impeccably. The owner, Marissa, is kind and community-centered, and her story & values show up in every aspect of the shop. Longer food review is below, but tldr: every item on the menu is worth trying here.

The Jeju Island and Galbi drinks are so yummy and contain flavor notes I haven’t had at any other coffee shop in the Boston area. The pastries are incredible, I especially loved the Curry Lace Oat cookie — an unexpected pairing of flavors and textures that go so well together. I’m looking forward to coming by on a weekend to try their donuts (rotating flavors weekly). As for their food, I can probably eat their house salad every day, and don’t even get me started on their deviled eggs. Don’t be scared off my the Gochujang bolognese, it’s not spicy but retains the umami-ness of the Korean...

Nine Winters is a splendid fusion of flavors and creativity. I love the Korean inspired menu, the combination of sweet with savoury and sometimes spicy is just delectable. There are also often milder flavors for those who are shy about trying new things. The coffee is smooth and rich, I recommend mocha sesame sauce to go with it. I personally am a huge fan of the egg bun and peanut butter chili crisp cookie. The staff are so patient, kind, and professional. They're truly a bright spot on a dreary day. Marissa herself is often present and frankly a super cool woman, I look forward to seeing her. The aesthetic of the bakery also charms me, it's light, airy, but has a calm and...

My wife and I were excited to try this place but ultimately came away disappointed. There is limited seating, and the service at the front was quite slow during our visit (it took ~10 minutes to get through the two groups ahead of us in line). Once we ordered, however, we received our food quickly: gochujang bolognese, Korean deviled eggs, and a black sesame chocolate chip cookie. The cookie was fine - it was soft and sweet but not particularly chocolatey. The two savory dishes were tasty but overpriced. The bolognese portion size was comically small: it contained maybe 8 bites total. For a "meal" that cost nearly $30, we were...