Cafe Landwer is a chain of cafe/restaurants in Israel that has expanded to the U.S. and other countries. Israeli cafes take their breakfasts seriously, and Landwer is no exception. The “Famous Breakfast” is the classic Israeli breakfast, including bread, labneh (soft white cheese), a small salad, and an array of other condiments. The only other restaurant we have reviewed with this offering is Tatte, which incidentally has a competing location right across the street from Landwer. Landwer’s breakfast is more traditional Israeli — Tatte’s breakfast condiments were too sweet for my taste.

Landwer offers multiple types of shakshukah, all high quality. We enjoyed both the havarti and the feta, with a slight preference for the feta.

Their breakfast menu is admirably extensive, and some non-Israeli options are included.

Vester cafe and its neighboring sister restaurant Dumpling Daughter (whose owners are in fact sisters) are relative newcomers to the brutally competitive restaurant scene in Kendall Square. We hope they stay! Vester has a number of interesting breakfast options. Pictured below is the granola and yogurt with a slightly spicy honey that lights up your mouth.

That was DELICIOUS! Even more exciting was the salmon toast special with horseradish sauce, beets, and dill. The combination of flavors and textures really blew our tongues.

Lastly, they have a large coffee selection, including the iced soy latte, perfect for a hot morning.

Loyal Nine is an upscale restaurant in East Cambridge abutting a cafe with sophisticated coffee, pastries, and savory breakfast options.

The Oat Porridge, with onions, cheddar cheese, and mushrooms. This was quite satisfying and interesting.

Including their own yogurt…

And a dizzying array of coffee choices.

The flash brew was quite yummy!

In summary, if you want to experience Loyal Nine for the best (and cheapest) meal of the day, drop by one morning.

The bread has a soft interior mixed with feta and mozzarella magically baked into it. You can also order it with Z’houg, a middle-eastern cilantro spicy sauce. Theirs is the best in town. Z’houg is becoming more popular, and a yummy mild version is even being sold by Trader Joe’s. You can pick up an Israeli one in The Butcherie grocery store, but the best one in town is the fresh Z’houg at Broadsheet.

The rest of the breakfast menu (pictured below) is good, but we come here for the boat.

The Smoked Salmon Tartine and Museli Bowl were both decent.

They make a great Cortado and even draw nicely with oat and cashew milk (pictured below), which is no easy feat.