Tagine Dining Gallery

by nycicon L.

I have my own personal reasons why I like this place ;-) but overall this is a cool low key spot for a nice dinner with a group of friends or a date. With interesting music, eclectic individuals, and a nice selection of morracan food, this is definitely not your everyday place to but you will not regret the experience.

by Becky T.

The Yelp app for the iphone worked it's magic this weekend when we were visiting NYC.  We were looking for a hookah bar in the area of Times Square, and it led us to this place.  It's more of a restaurant than a hookah bar, but they had hookah and on a Saturday night they had a bellydancer and a DJ that was playing arabic techno and club music.  We sat and hookahed in the front window area where it was filled with pillows in a low booth on the floor which gave us a sense of privacy.  The jasmine hookah was to die for leaving an aftertaste like tea and the DJ was friendly playing some Persian music for my Persian friend since it was her bday and then throwing in some requested Madonna for the rest of us.  They didn't even mind when we all started dancing and it was all fun times until creepy old breakdancing Turkish guy kept on insisting that we go downstairs with him to smoke some shish.  Then it was time to go.

by Irene F.

Went to an awesome sangria tasting and dinner here last night! Toni  (guessing on the name) was a spectacular hostess and waitress, told us all about the 3 different kinds of sangrias, and made sure we were always eating and always had our glasses full! Kudos! We had a white sangria, lots of strawberries, yummy, then a rose (my personal favorite) and then the red. Each came with a course, and we ended up dancing with the belly dancer (a sangria side effect, no doubt) and ordering a few more pitchers. A fabulous time all around. The lamb kefta was amazing, as was the litte potato thingies with the spicy sauce (I am clearly a culinary genius).So close to port authority lies this awesome little gem! It's pretty small, and they also have hookah (always a bonus, we never quite got around to that unfortunately) so I will definitely be back, and rather soon I think!

by Jen L.

Cute little space, and surprisingly empty for a Saturday night, but the food was really excellent.  The bellydancer comes out once an hour starting at 9:30pm,  for about a 20 min show each time.  It'll make you want to take up bellydancing, or at least marvel at her - she was truly amazing. Try - Lamb Tagine, Potato Croquettes, Sangria, Morrocan mint tea. If you're over 100lbs good luck fitting onto the bench side of the table!

by Alison H.

Visiting Tagine for the first time the other night was in a word...hypnotizing.  I don't know if it was the rhythmic sounds of the music, the gyrating hips of the belly dancer, or the intoxicating aroma of exotic spices, but immediately upon entering, I felt like I had been magically transported (via magic carpet probably) to Fez or Marrakesh.  The wait staff and the owner were delightful, topped only by the quality of the chicken bastilla.  I loved it so much that I'll be going back there for a birthday party in a few weeks!

by David B.Lisa B.Amy G.Sarah Y.Stacey G.Rebecca L.

I was a bit skeptical about this place given the block is a bit seedy, but all in all the experience was pretty good. My main objection here is that the prices seemed high for the style and location of the establishment.Seating is mostly a plush pillow/couch type arrangement common at many middle eastern restaurants. Decor is middle eastern paintings on the walls with a small bar in the back. Hookah is also available if interested.I ordered the Traditional Spring Tagine, Merguez, and the sampler for dessert. The meal started out with bread and two very tasty dipping sauces (one was sort of sour, the other a spicy harissa). Next, the merguez was definitely the best I've ever had. The seasoning was right on with a bit of a sour/salty taste. Merguez is a North African lamb sausage and has quite a unique flavor. The tagine was also quite good with sweet prunes complimenting the savory lamb quite well. If you've never had a tagine, I would recommend ordering a lamb one to try. It comes in a cool clay pot and is cooked so that the meat is literally falling off the bone. The desserts were the usual filo dough with honey, pistachios, etc. These tasted quite fresh, although I'm usually not a big fan of desserts, so you can decide for yourself.Tagine has the benefit of being a restaurant, hookah bar and live music/performance venue.  I've been there a couple of times and enjoyed myself both times.Tony, the proprietor of the establishment is a very cool lady.  My friend knows her, so we stopped by in the late afternoon to have a glass of wine and hummus.The food which is very tapas-like is authentic and above-average.  She gets her olives from Atlantic Avenue and they are amazing.  I can go either way on the belly dancing...it's a little corny to me, but I'm sure a lot of people enjoy it.  They also have live bands...sometimes Jazz, sometimes Middle Eastern...she mixes it up.They have a little, cozy booth cabana in the front for hanging out and hitting the hookah (high-quality, consistently good hookah).  The rest of the space consists of table set up in a family style configuration and a bar in the back.Moroccon food is one of those foods that, if I eat it one day I want to eat it every single day for the rest of the week.Tagine is very pricy, but it's totally worth it if you order small plates and tapas. It's very vegan friendly, and have a really great cocktail menu.I started with a delicious, and perfectly spiced bowl of Harira soup, served with an adorable little loaf of crispy bread. Then husband and I shared a place of mixed mezza, including the most incredible carrot salad I've ever had. The seasoned potato croquettes were like an adult version of tator tots, served with a whipped tahini dipping sauce that was heavenly. I knocked off a start based purely on the wait-staff, who spent most of their time giggling near the bar and ignoring the patrons, I have a major pet-peeve for people who think they are doing you a favor by waiting on you.Just came back from Tagine. It was the best time we had in New York for our vacation! Lots of great music and really nice company. The food was also amazing and the bar tenders and waitresses were really attentive for the entire night. Definitely an experience worth having! Thank you Tagine for making New York so memorable for us!The staff at this place was astonishing.  We wondered if they might actually be high because of their awkwardness and juvenile behavior.  Despite telling the waitress to stop corking our bottle of wine, she kept re-corking the bottle. The restaurant did not feel clean and was very uncomfortable.  Artwork on the wall with women in bondage resulted in us losing our appetite and running for a new place.  We left after our appetizers.The appetizers actually tasted pretty good, but they weren't able to make up for the awkward waitstaff, dirty dining room and disrespectful artwork.I strongly suggest you look elsewhere for Moroccan food.Formerly funky, formerly reasonably priced and formerly not full of itself. Yeek - what happened to Tagine? The lowest priced entree, north of $20, is 3 meagre pieces of chicken you're expected to eat on the selfsame plate you got your appetizers on. And you have to ask for water. Twice. The waitress edges across a sofa on her knees to peek over the back of the divan and ask if everything's OK. IMHO, A grown-up menu and grown-up prices entitle diners to a modicum of grown-up portions and most of all, service. This attitude was fine when the place was shooting for a coffee shop atmosphere, but it's a slap in the face now. Pity - been coming here since the place opened. Now it's charging 6th Ave. prices on Ninth -- in the 30s, no less --  but has little knowledge or experience with what begins to constitute their end of a justification for the upgrade.

by David B.

I was a bit skeptical about this place given the block is a bit seedy, but all in all the experience was pretty good. My main objection here is that the prices seemed high for the style and location of the establishment.Seating is mostly a plush pillow/couch type arrangement common at many middle eastern restaurants. Decor is middle eastern paintings on the walls with a small bar in the back. Hookah is also available if interested.I ordered the Traditional Spring Tagine, Merguez, and the sampler for dessert. The meal started out with bread and two very tasty dipping sauces (one was sort of sour, the other a spicy harissa). Next, the merguez was definitely the best I've ever had. The seasoning was right on with a bit of a sour/salty taste. Merguez is a North African lamb sausage and has quite a unique flavor. The tagine was also quite good with sweet prunes complimenting the savory lamb quite well. If you've never had a tagine, I would recommend ordering a lamb one to try. It comes in a cool clay pot and is cooked so that the meat is literally falling off the bone. The desserts were the usual filo dough with honey, pistachios, etc. These tasted quite fresh, although I'm usually not a big fan of desserts, so you can decide for yourself.

by Amy G.

Moroccon food is one of those foods that, if I eat it one day I want to eat it every single day for the rest of the week.Tagine is very pricy, but it's totally worth it if you order small plates and tapas. It's very vegan friendly, and have a really great cocktail menu.I started with a delicious, and perfectly spiced bowl of Harira soup, served with an adorable little loaf of crispy bread. Then husband and I shared a place of mixed mezza, including the most incredible carrot salad I've ever had. The seasoned potato croquettes were like an adult version of tator tots, served with a whipped tahini dipping sauce that was heavenly. I knocked off a start based purely on the wait-staff, who spent most of their time giggling near the bar and ignoring the patrons, I have a major pet-peeve for people who think they are doing you a favor by waiting on you.

by Peter K.

Hookahs, live entertainment and an excuse to go out (friend's birthday) was sufficient to come here on a Thursday night in June. The food was good. I did have one of the worst glasses of red wine of all time... BLECH! I had to send it back, since it was metallic tasting... it was probably a bad bottle. I ran to the sangria... very pedestrian.We ordered apple and mango flavored hookahs. Since I am a retired cigarette smoker, it was interesting. The belly dancing was entertaining and this different venue provided us a refreshing change of pace, yet a good time.IFHTP 1

by Lisa B.

Tagine has the benefit of being a restaurant, hookah bar and live music/performance venue.  I've been there a couple of times and enjoyed myself both times.Tony, the proprietor of the establishment is a very cool lady.  My friend knows her, so we stopped by in the late afternoon to have a glass of wine and hummus.The food which is very tapas-like is authentic and above-average.  She gets her olives from Atlantic Avenue and they are amazing.  I can go either way on the belly dancing...it's a little corny to me, but I'm sure a lot of people enjoy it.  They also have live bands...sometimes Jazz, sometimes Middle Eastern...she mixes it up.They have a little, cozy booth cabana in the front for hanging out and hitting the hookah (high-quality, consistently good hookah).  The rest of the space consists of table set up in a family style configuration and a bar in the back.