Tanam

15/10, I wish I could live here. The rum they serve is so smooth! We went for Kamayan, and there is a sink right there so you and your entire party can readily wash your hands. All the food is incredibly fresh and delicious. A lot of traditional recipes, but a bunch of interesting new recipes too. I loved that they served us rhambutan, Tamarind, and pineapple for dessert. 1000% ask Rachelle for suggestions for food or drink, she knows what she is talking about. Ellie is an amazing cook, she came out and chatted with us and we are excited to see what she is coming out with soon! Love love love love this place, do yourself a favor and come in!!!

SLOW TERRIBLE SERVICE My husband and I were really excited to try this place when we saw the nicely plated Kamayan dinner photos on their website, but our experience here was beyond disappointing. We booked a reservation and fully paid for our dinner in advance on Tock before our visit. After we arrived and ordered our drinks, we weren’t served food until 1 hour and 20 minutes later. While we were sitting and waiting on the patio in 20F degree weather, the kitchen was consistently serving and fulfilling take out orders. Every table next to us on the patio has been waiting for their food to be served during this time as well. How can you prioritize takeout orders when we have booked in advance and have fully paid for our dinners?! Finally when the kitchen finished preparing our food, the waitress carried out a tray with all the rice, meat and vegetables. Please note that if you are not dining privately with a big group indoors, you will not get the banana leaf covered table. All the food came on a tray. What’s worse for our experience was that we purchased additional lobsters for our meal when we made the reservation, but we were never served the lobster. We realized that only after we have finished our meal and had to notify the waitress to get our payment refunded. The restaurant is extremely understaffed and poorly managed. The food is mediocre as well. It only looks good on photos. If you have time to kill and would like to impress your friends on Insta, maybe the group private dining option is for you. Otherwise, you should really save you money and time by avoiding this place.

Hello Tanam, we were there yesterday, enjoyed our boxed kamayan food and drinks. Even though we pre-ordered for pick up we decided to eat there. We had really good service and the boxed food and drinks we ordered were delicious. However, the Halo-halo party mix was awful. First of all, I felt cheated on the play for names calling a party snack mix Halo-halo which is the name for a very traditional age-old Filipino treat and then serve it badly was distasteful. Everything in it was stale and old. Please check your food items before serving. It was a total waste of money considering the contents are of cheap snack mixes and a small serving size. A cup of old party mix for $8+ was a waste of money.

After reading glowing write-ups in both Eater and Timeout, my partner and I were excited to enjoy what seemed one of the few Filipino culinary experiences in Boston. So it’s disheartening to say that we left feeling disappointed. I don’t know if it was the high price point that altered our expectations (the Kamayan platter is $79 (pre-tax and tip) per person, but in all we found the quality of the food lacking. For a total of around ~$200 the Kamayan platter included: 1 small piece of salmon, 4 chicken wings, 4 tea egg halves, 6 lumpia, and a small portion of pork tocino and pork belly, all on a bed of rice; alongside it were 8 mussels, two small plates of vegetables, and some pineapple chunks and tamarind fruit. (I specify quantities only because the overall quality was lacking, $200 would have been an adequate price to pay for this size platter if the food had possessed any wow factor). The salmon was overcooked, leaving it dry and tough. The tea eggs, while cooked well, lacked a noticeable flavor profile and served more as a space filler. The pork belly arrived cold and the skin was crisp to a degree where it was hard to chew. Other items that arrived unexpectedly cold included the mussels and the pork tocino. The plates of vegetables, which normally would have served as a refugee away from the meat heavy dinner, were left virtually untouched. They were almost entirely unseasoned and arrived cold. The dinner was not without some redeeming qualities. The lumpia were good, along with the chicken wings, which were probably some of the best we’ve eaten. But we ordered a Kamayan platter, so 4 chicken wings and 6 lumpia alone weren’t enough to save the meal. None of the meals components were tasty, interesting, or exciting enough to justify the price point. However, the service was wonderful. Our server was attentive and took great care in explaining each component of the meal. The idea behind the restaurant is exciting in theory, but its execution left much to be desired. Overall, this was less an experience, more an overpriced dinner. Drinks and appetizers seem to be the way to go at Tanam.

This is hard to write because I had been looking forward to trying Tanam for a while and stan Filipino food/culture, but my kamayan takeout order was disappointing. Keeping in mind that ordering to-go will cause some obvious changes to temperature and texture of food, the flavor and execution of the dishes overall were lacking. The pork tocino was extremely dry and under-seasoned, as was the kabocha squash and bok choy. We also received salmon (guessing this was maybe a special for the day). I would have liked a description of what this was, because it was hard to tell what it was supposed to be and came across unpleasantly fishy. The lumpia and tea eggs were decent. The chicken wings were just okay- the menu states these are double-fried but I would not have guessed that without reading this. The kabocha coconut milk puree could use more seasoning. The coconut milk mussels were good, and the pork belly was crispy and juicy. The condiments were good but for the price of the meal I would have expected to receive bigger portions. In general I don’t think the takeout option is worth the price. The takeout kamayan was $140 (not including fees) and I don’t feel I received my money’s worth. I’m still rooting for Tanam and hope they review and consider feedback.

ALAYA DINNER REVIEW I first heard about Tanam on the Eater "Hot Restaurants" List. Coincidentally, a friend was coming in town and wanted to do a tasting menu so it was almost fate that I had just recently read about Tanam. Tanam is located in Bow Market in Somerville, an eclectic courtyard filled with several little shops, including one that sells chocolate, another that sells pierogies, and then a brewery (Remnant Brewery). It's fitting that Tanam is found in Bow Market because of the uniqueness of the dining experience. Something unique about Bow Market is that they have All Gender bathrooms, which I had never seen before. And I'm not talking about the single room bathrooms, I'm talking about those where you go in and there are several stalls and urinals. Definitely a new experience but I'm sure these will become more normal. We arrived to Tanam to a white room with white curtains and a single table set for 9. There is a 5:00 PM seating and a 7:30 PM seating so we arrived at 7:30 and were seated at the table. Soon after our fellow diners arrived and we ended up becoming friends throughout the meal. I think that is the point of Tanam...you end up having a conversation with people you wouldn't otherwise have and you make new friends. FOOD: We were served a 5-course fixed-price meal of Filipino American cuisine. The owner and head chef (Ellie) would come to explain the inspiration for each dish as it was served, whether it be something she learned from someone in her family or something popular in the Philippines. While the Filipino elements were there, she also tried to incorporate local New England elements, especially in the seafood. Normally I would go through every dish in detail but given that the menu will be changing soon and I think it should be more of a surprise, I will refrain (but you can see the pictures below). What I will say that most of the dishes were delicious and executed well and they will all have ingredients you likely have never had before. Some favorite dishes included lobster, duck confit, and this fritter with papaya, bean sprouts, and scallions. DRINKS: The drinks are very unique here as well...I had a Filipino beer (San Miguel) but my friend had a purple cocktail made with Ube. They take a lot of pride in their drink menu so be sure to try a few things. This is a very unique experience that you won't find anywhere else. I would highly recommend it as a way to get out of your comfort zone and have a dining experience different from the usual small plates restaurants around the city (which I also love).

A lovey surprise. Innovative concept restaurant serving Filipino food (only Filipino restaurant in Boston). I love eating with my hands and Tanam encourages that. The food menu is small but every item on it is exteremely high quality. The maticulously crafted food and its deep complex flavors makes sense when you learn that Chef Ellie, a former neuroscientist with a Science publication. Make sure you try everything with birds eye chilli sauce. The cocktails are out of this world. Try the Death and the Filipino version of the Pico sour. We went for the bar menu and can't wait to try their full sit down family style menu.

If you are wanting to have a fun and unique food/social experience with your friends, then reserving seats at the Kamayan at Tanam won't let you down. Before I get into the Kamayan, I will warn you that this restaurant is SMALL. It can't be more than 100 square feet. They don't have a bathroom, but there is one available nearby. You have the option to eat outside in a cute little courtyard though if you aren't doing the Kamayan. The Kamayan is a Filipino family style feast where you sit around a table laid with banana tree leaves under a variety of foods and eat with your hands! Tanam hosts these every Wednesday at 5pm, 7pm and 9pm. There are 10 seats, and they will sell all 10 even if you have a party of 8 (like us). It's not awkward though, since it's pretty fun for everyone and easy to get along. It's house policy for everyone to wash their hands before sitting. For the feast, the staff will artfully lay out rice in a snake pattern, with 4 lobsters, fish, fried pork belly, fried chicken wings, muscles, green veggies, pineapple, sauces and more. Before the feast begins, the staff will teach you how to eat with your hands, which is unexpectedly difficult when trying to dip rice clumps in sauce. Then, you gorge yourself for 2 hours until you're in a sweet and salty food coma. They have a small drink selection, but wow they have some really refreshing unique cocktails. Get the ube sour at least. The biggest downside of the Kamayan is how expensive it is. The seats are $70 each, and go to $89 if you include tax and tip. This doesn't include drinks, which are pricey. It's a lot of food, and it tastes good, but it of course isn't as efficient as hitting up a cheap Chinese buffet for food per dollar spent. However, it's a lot more social than a buffet or any other kind of "all you can eat" place, so it's hard to put a price on that. Probably not $89 though. Still, I don't have any regrets reserving the seats. It was a good, fun experience that everyone was happy with. We were the second group to finish the entire feast (mostly because of my personal efforts to make it so), and I was completely stuffed and happy. It was definitely a memorable experience in a good way, and I recommend everyone to try it at least once.