Tangö Contemporary Cafe — Restaurant in Honolulu

One of our new favorite places. Here's my honest review: ✨Location✨ I think it's in such a great walkable area with free parking. There's a mall and a Dave & Buster's and a movie theater all within a few feet. If you're willing to walk 20 minutes you can also get to Ala Moana Mall ✨Price✨ I think the price is phenomenal. We've done their happy hour and we've also done their wine and dinner pairings and neither disappointed ✨Ambiance✨ The ambience was amazing. We love that the decorations and the professionalism of the servers. This time we happen to sit outside and I have to tell you, while I was skeptical in the beginning, it was a truly unique experience. There's only three tables outside and I just felt like it was a lot more personable. They came to check on us multiple times and I felt like royalty. ✨Drinks✨ Definitely recommend the expresso martini. The dessert shot we had last time was amazing but I don't even remember what it was called. More importantly you have to try the wine pairings for their wine dinner. ✨Recommendation✨ I would definitely recommend doing one of their wine and dinner pairings. Call and get yourself added to the list. They do it the second to last week of the month. I love having a curated menu with a surprise combination of flavors. I think the chef is amazing. If you can't make one of those I would definitely recommend coming for happy hour. Get the smashburger and try something new. Of all the restaurants in the Honolulu area, I think this has the best, family oriented, experience. They always remember us. They always go above and beyond. ✨Food✨ What is there not to love about the food. Constantly surprised by the variety of foods that they meld together that create such a pleasurable experience. I did not like the espresso bar but that's personal preference. I absolutely adored the Mocha Ice Cream Cake so theres something for everyone. Again I recommend that you sign up for the wine and dinner pairing because you'll get to try a lot of unique flavors under one roof. And if you don't know what you want, like me, you don't have to. The chef will curate a menu for you. ✨Customer Service✨ The customer service is amazing. They are constantly watching to make sure that you have everything you need and did a phenomenal job with allergies. Pray brief second, I thought I had something that would irritate my allergies but they went above and beyond describing the menu to make sure I knew that the bean and I was allergic to was not in the dish. They always remember us. Our server Jess is the absolute best. She will take care of you for sure! The owners have came out to talk to us multiple times and so has the chef without even knowing I do food reviews. I think that makes an...

The world food travelers stopped in at Tango Contemporary Café as yours truly hadn’t been there for dinner, just lunch. We were seated at a tiny table but luckily for us there was a cancellation so we were moved to a table for four. It was fortuitous because we ordered two appetizers and salad; there was no way the dishes would have fit on the original table.

The wine book had a QR code for additional wines but it turned out to be misleading as the more current source was the book. We ordered a 2019 Duckhorn Three Palms Vineyard Merlot for $159; very reasonable as the bottle sells for $115 in the store. It was dark red with dark fruit and chocolate.

First up; slices of bread was served with a pesto dipping sauce.

Our appetizers were the Foie Gras and the Sautéed Escargot. The foie gras came on a toasted slice of brioche with a strawberry gastrique. The presentation of the escargot was interesting … They came in a square cast iron pan with a brown sauce with pieces of mushroom and garlic. On the side were three thin slices of toast.

We followed the appetizers with the red and golden beet salad; they served the salad on two plates (thank you!). Instead of cubes, the beets were sliced and served over greens with labneh (strained yogurt) and a raspberry vinaigrette. It was very refreshing.

Our entrées were the Slow Roasted Rack of Lamb and the Duck Confit. The presentation of each was excellent … three ribs of lamb were arranged over pieces of roasted potato with a Yuzu Kosho Demi glace; the duck was served with a pea and artichoke ragout and garlic Broccolini. The lamb was delicious as was the duck. I would have liked some kind of sauce for the duck but I appreciated the crispy skin; unexpected for duck confit.

We ended with two desserts … Kona Coffee Ice cream cake and Affogato di Gelato. The ice cream cake was served as a slice … Layers of coffee and vanilla and Italian Chocolate ice cream atop a layer of chiffon cake. The Affogato was properly presented … A glass of vanilla bean ice cream and a cup of espresso. Visual and taste delights!

The restaurant was very busy but service was fine; Ashley was our server and she was assisted by another (unnamed). We enjoyed the wine and food; all reasonably priced....

I was hopeful for this place, but it joins the likes of Panya, Scratch Kitchen, and Bocconcino in the ranks of overrated Kakaako eateries.

We went for weekend brunch. It was very crowded, but service was pretty fast though a bit on the brusque side. I got the Original Breakfast Hash and it was so bland. I don’t think seasonings of any kind were used. The portion size was also unimpressive for a $18 dish. My friend’s Tango Burger was decent, but not $22-burger decent. The fried potatoes that came with the burger were pretty good, partially due to the barbecue sprinkle. Why couldn’t they have put that sprinkle on the breakfast hash too!? It would have made the dish several times better.

Then we got the check. The first thing that we noticed was that there was an egg surcharge buried in the middle of the list of items. The charge was 50 cents per egg used in the dish, and it was not disclosed anywhere on the menu or by our servers. Ok…I get that eggs are expensive right now, but you guys could have temporarily increased the price of your dishes instead of hiding a fee among the actual items on the bill.

Some of their dinner items sound interesting, but who knows what kinds of hidden fees they have on the dinner menu. Won’t be returning.

@Spencer Ford nice hot take, I think…since “handicap dining” isn’t a thing unless you’re talking about ADA compliance. Regardless, it sounds like you think that people should cut some slack for restaurants that serve underwhelming food or run ineffective operations. Are you the owner of Bocconcino, by...