Tannourine Restaurant Review, San Mateo

Reviewer: Foodnut.com Tannourine 120 West 25th Ave (Near Flores St) San Mateo, CA 94403 650-638-1960 650-638-2510 (Fax) Tannourine Website Book Reservation

Restaurant.com sells discounted Certificates for this restaurant.

Tannourine restaurant is located in San Mateo’s 25th avenue shopping district, not far from the Fairgrounds and features the cuisine of Lebanon and the Mediterranean. They focus on offering: ” “meze”, “mezza” dining is an experience shared throughout the Mediterranean, where small savory plates of food are enjoyed in a convivial atmosphere, where friends and family join in the sharing of food and drink; in an unrushed, unhurried environment.” Our last meal here was in May 2012.

We ordered their $25 Dinner Special for two, which includes Appetizers, Entree, Desserts. It is available Tuesday through Sunday between 5PM to 6:30PM. Check their website to verify availability, and check Yelp for any specials.

Decor, Vibe – Moderate sized dining room with regional art and paintings on the wall. They have belly dancing on Saturday nights. A blend of races and ages were eating dinner from families to older couples.

Tannourine Menu (Click to zoom into any picture)

Website Tannourine Menu

Picks:

Pita Bread

Complimentary Hot Pita bread with Yogurt, olive oil dipping sauce was excellent. Tangy Greek style yogurt and top notch pita bread had us asking for seconds, thirds.. Can’t over do it before even appetizers!

Fattoush Salad ($5 small) Chopped romaine lettuce hearts, cucumbers, tomatoes, fresh mint, onions, radish, crispy pita, tossed with garlic, fresh lemon juice, olive oil with summak. Strong flavors with a heavy salty sour mix.

$25 Dinner Special Appetizer:

Hummus – A blend of chickpeas with tahini, lemon juice and garlic topped with olive oil was a good sized mixture of the classic.
Baba Ghannouge – Roasted, chopped eggplant with tahini, lemon juice and garlic topped with olive oil was also very good. Perfect for the pita bread.
Tabouleh – Finely chopped fresh parsley, mint, tomatoes, onion, burghul, lemon juice, olive oil and pepper looked fresh and tasted just right.

Two Kebbeh – Fried shell of ground beef and burgul (crushed wheat) stuffed with ground beef, pine nuts and lamb were excellent. Crunchy and very tasty. No need to dip them.
Two Cheese Bourak – Haloumi cheese and fresh mint wrapped in layers of filo dough, almost like an super crispy egg roll and just as good.

Shish Kabab (Mix Grill) Combination of kafta, chicken & beef. Served with rice, bell peppers, grilled tomato. Tons of grilled meat for this special deal. Beef was tough but the chicken and ground lamb were good and flavorful. Lamb lacked strong lamb flavor or gaminess, but tasted almost like a salisbury steak.

Chicken Shawarma ($16) was recommended by the waitress. It consisted of tender chicken, sliced thin and chopped up. A solid dish that came with a lot of rice.

Kafta Meshwi ($16) We decided to just order this dish based on our previous visit. The lamb was tender and juicy, definitely worth ordering.

Mohallabieh – homemade pudding from milk, ground rice, corn flower, pistachios, and honey – finished with coconut powder was good but very sweet. Pudding like texture with a layer of honey on top.

OK:

Samke Harra ($18) Spicy Baked snapper filet, cilantro, tahini, pine nut and spice sauce with a diced onions, bell pepper and garlic was a combination of many mixed flavors. This dish was not that spicy. The fish was on the fishy side indicating its freshness. The kebabs were better.

Pans:
None

Tannourine had fair service with the server pushing items when ordering, asking questions without fully listening, and trying to be nicer when the check arrives. The service falls off when it is busier as they are understaffed. The dinner special is a great deal and the food decent, making it an easy choice if you are nearby. We feel the food at Shalizar in Belmont is superior, but the prices reflect that.
Tannourine has a short wine list with glasses from $5, bottles from $20, $15 Corkage.

Restaurant Map: