We passed in front of 12 Chairs Cafe in Soho many times, intrigued by the line in front of it as I never heard about this place before. The name comes apparently from the time their small cafe had only 12 chairs, a thing from the past considering that they expanded, with even a restaurant in Brooklyn.

The menu of this Israeli place is nice, with lots of options for vegetarians and non- vegetarians, and with many middle eastern choices, but not only, perfect to share. Here is what we had:

Coffee and tea are pretty basic, but know that they have fresh squeezed juices as well as a mint lemonade.

The borek, that is a phyllo dough stuffed with potato purée and an egg that is then deep fried is superb! You get the crunchiness of the fried phylo and then the softness of the potato purée combined with the creaminess of the runny egg yolk. It came with labneh and a tomato purée that gave some freshness to it.

The sabich is not bad, although not as good as the one at Taim. This eggplant sandwich made with a fluffy pita is filled with fried eggplant, a hard boiled egg, tahini, onion and I guess it had some turnip in it. It was ok as a bit mushy and I thought that the taste of the eggplant was a bit lost in it. However, I liked the presentation that made it very easy to share, the pita being cut in half and the Israeli salad split also in two equal portions.

But I think the best was dessert. We did not hesitate to order they knafe, a Mediterranean dessert made with kadayifi, gabneh cheese, orange blossom and sugar syrup. Homey, the sweetness of the syrup is cut by the cheese. the only regret is that it is small!

So, overall, it was a great lunch. I understand why so many people wait in line to dine at this place: it is pretty good. I’ll definitely go back to 12 Chairs Cafe, in off times to avoid the line…

12 Chairs Cafe - 56 MacDougal St, New York, NY 10012

Lunch at 12 Chairs Cafe in NYC

I Just Want To Eat!