| rev:text
| - After reading so many positive reviews and passing the restaurant more than once with intrigue, I decided to give Tabule a try on a Sunday afternoon for lunch. The restaurant was relatively empty, with only 4 other tables occupied at the time, which should have been my first warning sign. However, the decor and modern ambiance was more than inviting as was the menu.
The waitress eventually greeted us and decided to sit us at the rear of the restaurant near the kitchen door, despite the myriad of tables available. This was apparently convenient for her to fill her station. Besides the kitchen noise, we were also treated to the staff stocking and cleaning during the course of service.
The less than attentive waitress eventually took a drink order. The fruit juice concoctions were wonderful, especially the strawberry-basil juice. However, this was not enough to sustain a memorable meal.
The server eventually took the rest of our order with the comment of "you have been here before and don't need me to explain anything right?". We had not been there before and this comment was a clear indication that she was in a hurry to get back to her conversation at the bar with fellow staffers.
The meal started with hallüm salad - baby arugula, onions & seared hallüm cheese tossed together in a pomegranate dressing. It consisted of lots and lots of arugala, almost no onions and four pieces of seared cheese. The pomegranate dressing was mostly oil and the hint of pomegranate was almost unnoticeable. Still it was refreshing to the palate, but not much to write home about.
Next came the falafel plate with six fried balls of crushed chick peas, split fava, parsley,
garlic, onions and spices fried and served with tahini in a plastic container. Overall the flavor and spices were well balanced. However, these crunchy balls with soft delicate insides had their true flavor completely masked by the taste of old oil and a slight overcooked char.
The last plate consisted of their fried eggplant - slices of eggplant fried and topped with a lemon garlic dressing. Clearly the eggplant had not been drained before serving and was sitting in a pool of its own oil. The garlic was more than heavy handed and the lemon was no where to be found. This dish could not be finished and what I did manage to eat remained with me for the balance of the day.
After much starring, we manage to get the server's attention to request a check and after several trips back and forth the bill was actually paid. With not so much as a "was everything alright", "thank you" or "come again", we exited the restaurant. In fairness the bartender and the one server who had stocked wine bottles all during our lunch did thank us.
Overall, this restaurant has the potential to be so much more than it is, but the key is in the details. Both service and food are in much need of improvement before I would consider returning.
|
![[RDF Data]](/fct/images/sw-rdf-blue.png)
![[cxml]](/fct/images/cxml_doc.png)
![[csv]](/fct/images/csv_doc.png)
![[text]](/fct/images/ntriples_doc.png)
![[turtle]](/fct/images/n3turtle_doc.png)
![[ld+json]](/fct/images/jsonld_doc.png)
![[rdf+json]](/fct/images/json_doc.png)
![[rdf+xml]](/fct/images/xml_doc.png)
![[atom+xml]](/fct/images/atom_doc.png)
![[html]](/fct/images/html_doc.png)