Tanoreen has been on my list of places to try for seriously over 5 years. I've heard nothing but great things about it (it's frequently touted as one of the best Middle Eastern places in the city) but what kept me from going there was the fact that it was in Bay Ridge and a good 45 mins -1 hour away. So finally when I had a free Saturday, Aarti and I made the long trek on the R train to Bay Ridge to try it out. It is a legit hour from the city, so definitely be prepared for that. But once you're off the train, it's a quick 5 mins walk to the restaurant.
It was definitely much bigger than I expected and even though I know it's a well known restaurant, I was still surprised at how crowded it was. Practically every table was taken by 7pm on a Saturday. Everything on the menu sounded great - it had all the classic staple Middle Eastern dishes and then some. This would be a great place to go with a large group because there are so many great dishes to try that it's really hard to do with only 1 or 2 other people. Aarti and I settled on hummus ($7), feta cheese salad ($9), and the cauliflower side ($8) while I opted for the grilled combo ($21) and Aarti got the vegetarian combo ($21). While hummus may seem kind of boring to get in a restaurant, there really is nothing more delicious than a solid hummus with soft warm pita to start a meal. This one was great - very creamy with the right mix of tahini, chick pea and olive oil. Next I tried the feta salad which was a refreshing combination of feta, tomato, red onion, cucumber, lemon and olive oil. All the ingredients were super fresh and healthy tasting, although it almost seemed like a garnish dish rather than a salad. But the star of the appetizers was the grilled cauliflower with tahini on it. There's just something about grilled cauliflower that I really love, especially when it's slightly burned/charcoaled on the outside. It was tender but still had a slight crunch to it. Sadly, we were pretty full by this point even though we still hadn't touched or seen our entrees.
When our entrees did come out, we were both totally overwhelmed by it. They were both literally the size of 2 giant plates. One combo dish would have been enough to feed 2 people but the fact that we got 2 combo plates was just ridiculous. We each took about 3-4 bites and really just couldn't eat any more. For the record, my grilled combo came with kabob (ground lamb), chicken kabob, and shish kabob (marinated lamb) and a side of rice and salad. Of the few bites that I took of the meat, it was fantastic and very well cooked. I asked for most of it to be medium rare which is was and of the 3 meats, I was the biggest fan of the shish kabob. As I mentioned I ended up taking 3/4 of it home and even the next day, it was a pretty hefty leftover meal and while the meat wasn't as tender as when it was served warm, it was still tasty. At the end of the meal, even though it was my birthday, neither of us really had any room for dessert.
Overall, I'm super happy that I finally made it here. While they do have sign outside their restaurant that says that it's the #1 Middle Eastern Restaurant in all of NYC, I'm not sure if it's truly #1 but it does came pretty darn close. I just wish it was a bit closer to the city but I guess that part of their charm and how they keep their prices relatively affordable. Total bill: ~$120 with tax, tip and 2 drinks
Photo Credit: Yelp
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