Restaurant Week Pt 2. - Tangerine

Tangerine is a swanky mediterranean restaurant located between 2nd and 3rd on Market Street in Old City. Not suprisingly, we found many trendily pretentious people trying hard to be seen and the restaurant interior is definitely decked out as an accomodating backdrop to their self absorbed preening. Upon entering, you are greeted by a dimly lit hallway which leads to a moodly bar area paneled by mediterranean patterned curtains . It was fairly crowded and we had to wait 15 minutes beyond our reserved time. The wait already placed a bad taste in my wife's mouth.

Aesthetically, I liked how the overall restaurant space was broken into contrasting sections. The dim loungy environment of the bar led to a hallway which empties into the shimmering lights of the main dining room. The overall color scheme, hanging light lanterns, sheer curtains and the hundreds of inset candle shelves which decorate the far wall hint towards the mediterranean flair of the cuisine. The floor plan itself is cafeteria style - fairly crowded yet detached...beautiful but not totally cozy.

I had heard that their drinks are more amazing than their food and I had a nice apples and oranges flavored vodka that did not disappoint. Now, it may not be totally fair to judge a restaurant on its $30 restaurant week menu, but when you consider the exposure gained by this event, you would think they would put as much thought into these courses as in those offered in their regular menu. In my opinion, Tangerine went cheap on the $30 deal and the offerings off their main menu looked far more interesting. I started off with a tasty Lamb Polpette sitting on a visually interesting bed of green Israeli cous cous and mint pesto. I was a little disappointed with the presentation of my second course - the Grilled Beef Brochette. It was little more than clumps of beef with a few pieces of potato and broccoli. It was fairly tasty but slightly dry. I finished the evening with a Chocolate Walnut Tart - again it was good...but it didn't blow me away. We left the restaurant admiring the beautiful interior but was somewhat unfufilled by the food.