Restaurant Week Boston, Summer 2011 – Tangierino

I LOVE Restaurant Week! It is a time where you can put on your fancy shoes, and head out to all of the amazing restaurants you have heard about for one, reasonable, price. For those of you unfamiliar with this culinary dream week, it is a set week where restaurants in a city all offer a prix fixemenu for a set price. For Boston’s Summer 2011 Restaurant Week, the dinner price was $33.03.

Included in that price are generally 3 courses, most commonly an appetizer, main course and dessert. It is a time when restaurants get a chance to showcase their culinary delights to patrons who may have been weary of trying the venue at their more hefty, regular, menu prices.

This year the occasion happened to fall on the week when my sister was in town for her birthday, and one of our good friends from home was visiting. Could it be more perfect?

Yes, it could be more perfect. Tangierino, one of my sister and my’s VERY favorite restaurants, was participating!

We first discovered Tangierino after a strong craving for B’Stilla hit us. Yes, I crave foods like b’stila. You will too once you try it. Well, ever since we discovered this Moroccan inspired experience. From the second you walk into Tangierino, you are swept away into a world of belly dancers (which yes, they have), luxurious materials, and dim lighting….but all in a good way! Unfortunately all of these things equal incredibly bad lighting for photos!

I ordered the Couscous Bidaoui (braised lamb shank with seven vegetable couscous), Deb ordered the Chicken Brochette (two skewers of chicken tenders over seven vegetable couscous) and Stephan ordered the Tangine of Salmon (grilled salmon, olives, root vegetables, bell peppers, roasted chick peas, charmoula broth). We fell into silence as we each savored our perfectly cooked dishes bursting with flavor. My lamb literally fell off the bone and melted in my mouth. Yeah, it was that good.

 It was time to move on to dessert! Yeah, I was way to full to move on to dessert. I could barely force a mouthful of the warm molten chocolate cake that burst open and spilled gooey chocolate deliciousness all over the plate. Yeah, I was that full!

Just a note, I have been disappointed at restaurant week dinners in the past. It is pretty well-known that chefs do not always turn out their best plate of food during this week due to the sheer volume of diners that come through. But I must say, Tangierino really shined through. It may have even been one of our best dinners there to date, and that is saying a lot!

When people ask me for an unusual restaurant recommendation in the area, this is my go-to rec. The atmosphere is fantastic, and you can really make an entire evening out of it. There is even a hookah bar down stairs if you are so inclined!

What is your go-to restaurant recommendation?