Tara Kitchen — Restaurant in New York

Update February 2023: the food remains flavorful and delicious. The addition of cocktails is welcome, and things seem to be in good order all around as a restaurant. That said, at current prices it still feels more expensive than what we received.

Original:

The food here is FANTASTIC. We had some harissa dip and olive tapenade before our meals and both were just phenomenal. The bread was wonderful also. When we got our main courses they came out bubbling hot and were just so flavorful. The fish and lamb were all cooked perfectly. The flavors were great all around, even our picky friend loved her honey chicken dish.

The only reason I've taken a star off is because there were a few things that stopped the experience from being perfect. For one, it was very clear that this is the first time anyone on the wait staff has worked as servers. They were all extremely quick with service, but there were lots of little oddities that knocked the experience down. At one point we mentioned an eggplant dip we had ordered but not received, and the head server came back saying "you didn't order eggplant dip, do you want some now?" Even if we didn't order eggplant dip (which we did) it was fairly jarring to be accused of being wrong. Again, not the worst, but just a touch on the weird side for customer service.

The other thing that wasn't great was the atmosphere. It's still a new space, but it's incredibly sparsely decorated. It feels oddly echoey, yet small. Some of the table ware doesn't seem to match up, either. At $25 a plate, it makes sense that tea is served from a fancy teapot and we get nice silverware with a cloth napkin. Then we have plastic cups for drinks and water poured from plastic pitchers with no ice. Kind of odd and cheap feeling. Lastly, they need to figure out some way to clean the baskets used as trivets for the main dishes. It makes sense that the incredibly hot dishes need to be put on a trivet, but they were caked with spilled sauces from previous meals. Pretty gross to see old, dried food on your placemat.

So, the food is amazing and well worth the price. I figure if I come back in a month the service will probably have sorted itself out, and hopefully they'll have found a way to clean those gross trivets. At that point, I assume I'll revise my review and tick this...

While the food we did get was fabulous, this was a disappointing outing. We had guests in from out of town and the first place we wanted to take them was Tara's Kitchen as we have had fabulous outings to the location in Schenectady. This time we decided to try the Troy location. We were the only guests in the restaurant on a Wednesday evening. We were seated and the server came over for a drink/appetizer order. When trying to order a drink I was told - Oh, we don't have that one I don't know why it is still on the menu we haven't had it in a long time. Ok, not a big deal and another drink was selected. When ordering an appetizer - also told - Oh, not sure if we have that one and then when asked to describe what was in another appetizer they reply was - yeah, I'm not sure. I can appreciate not knowing but possibly saying I'm not sure let me check and I'll be right back would have been a better option. After receiving drinks and appetizers - which were excellent! We were asked for entrée orders. Once again, when selecting an entrée, we were told - Oh, we don't have any of the plate options, only the tagine options. Again, I would suggest starting off telling people what is available and what is not when they are seated. Not having any of the plate options does take out half the menu. Anyway, dinners were ordered and the food did not disappoint. The flavors were delicious as always! Truly my observation is only related to service - an effort should be made to train the servers. I would probably not return to the Troy location but would definitely do take out or go back to the Schenectady location. The food...

The flavors and aromas of the dishes at Tara's Kitchen are intoxicating. The food is authentic, with incredible flavor combinations and a diverse menu! My favorite entrée has to be the tagines—stews cooked in traditional pots. The lamb tagine with chickpeas, parsley chermoula, and tomato jam is a must-try, along with the lamb tagine with vegetables in spicy date sauce. Their lamb is always so juicy and tender that it literally melts in my mouth (low-key drooling right now). The portion sizes are perfect, and I love their pita bread—so soft and warm. It’s wonderful that they have a dedicated "Vegetable" section for vegetarians, which made it so convenient when deciding where to take my aunt for dinner.

The appetizers were very good too; we had a sampler of all three dips, Moroccan cigars, and potato patties. I also appreciate that the food comes out steaming hot, and you can see them making it fresh in the kitchen. The baklava was also fantastic.

Everything about the ambience feels so Moroccan, from the music and paintings to the cutlery and placemats. The staff were nice, serving food quickly and answering any questions we had. However, on one visit, one of the staff members was very sick and coughing a lot, which made me a bit nervous, especially with a little baby with us. I hope the restaurant can be more mindful of that in the future.

I also wish they had their Moroccan wines in stock; every time we've been, they never seem to have it.

Tara's Kitchen is a wonderful spot that captures the essence of Moroccan cuisine. I’m looking forward to returning and trying more of their...