Credit cards: Visa, MasterCard, American Express, Discover, and Diner's Club.
Access: Fully accessible.
TANJORE
18 Eliot St., Cambridge
(617) 868-1900
Restaurant reviewed 1/29/98 by Fiona Luis
Don't be fooled by the darkness behind Tanjore's door. Pull open the heavy glass panel, walk between the chili-colored curtain panels, and enter the pleasant saffron-and celadon-hued interior: What awaits the adventurous palate here is a culinary tour traversing the vast subcontinent of India.
Perhaps the restaurant's name provides an enticing clue. Tanjore, a city in south India, is renowned for its temple. Eating here, you might say, is akin to taking a happy leap of faith. The names of many a dish may sound strange to ears accustomed only to the Indian fare common to the Boston area, but let your sense of adventure prevail.
That's precisely what Bombay-born Samir and Pakruti Majmudar were banking on when they opened their third restaurant, this 80-seat one in Harvard Square, right across from the Kennedy School of Government. Their first two forays into the business - Bombay Bistro in Brookline, which serves north Indian food, and Rangoli in Allston, which was the city's first look at south Indian cuisine - made them confident that Boston palates were ready for even more culinary intrigue. So, with Tanjore, the Majmudars decided to offer a broader range of regional cooking styles. Here is where you'd come for, say, a Goanese appetizer of spiced cashews, a Punjabi snack of lentil dumplings in yogurt, or a Keralite lamb dish scented with spices from the Malabar coast.
``We wanted to go beyond north Indian in particular,'' says Samir Majmudar. ``Offering tapas-style portions would be interesting, I thought. I had to give it a try.''
He says diners have been encouraging, and many are thrilled with regional specialties not often found in other restaurants. Like rasam ($3.50), the South Indian red-gram dal soup laced with tamarind and tomatoes, which also contains lentil-and-rice dumplings called wada. It's a lively yet soothing way to start the meal. Order a few nashtas, or Indian-style tapas. Try the chaat papri ($4.75), a Punjabi salad of wheat chips and chickpeas tossed with tamarind and yogurt, and definitely order any of the terrific dosas ($5.50 to $7), crisp crepes made of rice and lentil flours and served with coconut chutney and sambar. My favorite: the masala dosa (($6), filled with fragrant onions and melt-in-your-mouth potatoes.
Indian food, especially the cuisine of the south, always comes to a vegetarian's rescue, and Tanjore offers an impressive array, including a Gujarati appetizer called dhokla and patra ($3), roll-ups of patra leaves stuffed with gram-flour bread. It's first steamed, then sauced and spiced: the flavors are elusive and intriguing. But two meat offerings shine. Chicken vindaloo ($10.50), a spicy curry from Goa laced with jaggery (a raw sugar) and vinegar, is distinctive as is Malabar masala ($11.25), tender lamb cubes in a smoky, gingery sauce from Kerala.
Service is unfailingly attentive; the staff accommodating. On one visit, a waiter overhears our table wondering if baigan bhurta is the only eggplant dish available. ``There is one other kind,'' he says, ``not on the menu. But I will see if the cook will make it for you.'' He does, and a tangy, tamarind-laced brinjal concoction emerges in a beautiful copper crock, melting and piquant. On another visit, two 10-year-olds are so enthusiastic about the delicious kheer ($3.75) that an extra helping of the cardamom-tinged rice pudding emerges courtesy of the kitchen, to their endless, sweet delight.
It can't be easy culling appetizing gems from the vastness of India into a single menu. But the Majmudars manage a winning combination at Tanjore - care of preparation and good service in a temple to culinary diversity.
Tips & hits
