In Training

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go fish: TangoÍs grilled ahi tuna over baby bok choy with wasabi soy glaze and sticky rice timbale. michael t. regan

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underthetable
-Marc Kravitz

April 18-24, 2002

food

In Training

go fish: TangoÍs grilled ahi tuna over baby bok choy with wasabi soy glaze and sticky rice timbale. michael t. regan

Tango shows promise, but its location -- Bryn Mawr station -- is more inspiring than its menu.

by Maxine Keyser

Tango39 Morris Ave., Bryn Mawr, 610-526-9500.

Lunch, Mon.-Thu., 11:30 a.m.-3 p.m., Fri., 11:30 a.m- 3 p.m., Sat., noon-3 p.m.; abridged menu, Mon-Sat., 3-5 p.m.; dinner, Mon.-Thu., 5-10 p.m., Fri.-Sat., 5-11 p.m., Sun., 4-9 p.m.

Wheelchair accessible. Reservations suggested. All major credit cards.

³Something there is that doesn’t love a train” (apologies to Robert Frost), but it seems to be true. Trains spell adventure -- the stranger in the compartment, the landscape flashing by, the night whistle touching the lonely spots in all of us. A train station is an ideal spot for a restaurant, and at the Bryn Mawr station there has been a number of them. The latest one, only a year old, is Tango, and it seems to have holding power, although by definition it is a fairly characterless spot. Joe Baldino, Marty Grimes, executive chef Sam Sheridan and Scott Morrison, all owners, and the latter who also has Basil in Paoli, have created a front barroom that is lively and a great meeting place. But when you walk back to the restaurant part, things quiet down.

Although weekends and lunch are very busy, on this particular weeknight the place is quiet. Seated in booths next to curtained windows and looking out on the desolate tracks, we feel like we are in a Hopper painting. Although the opposite wall is stone punctuated by brightly printed banquettes, and there are red velvet draperies to soften things up, I can't shake the feeling that this is a train going nowhere. A Grey Goose martini ($8) helps, and we excuse the surly waitress who flings the basket of bread and olive oil on the table because her successor is so pleasant (although we never do get the water we request throughout the meal).

When I say characterless, I mean that the menu has very little direction except to be like all the others around town. The Stilton and poached pear salad, warm frisée salad, Nicoise salad, fried calamari, steamed mussels, even that old standby, the spinach and artichoke dip with Parmesan cheese -- it's a wee bit tired. Still, we note that there are quite a lot of heart-healthy dishes mentioned, so they obviously care about their clients, who are drawn mostly from the older, affluent suburbs.

After we order a warm frisée salad with pancetta, crispy potatoes and Gorgonzola ($7), I start to study the wine list, and I'm pleasantly surprised. It's a fine list, with many bottles within reach and lots by the glass. For example: a $27 French Viognier, $6 for a glass; or a $55 bottle of Joseph Drouhin Premier Cru Chablis, $11 for a glass. We try the Viognier, which goes fairly well with the salad's salty notes and especially well with a meaty crab cocktail with a tangy tequila mango salsa ($12). Crab is a natural with tropical fruit, and the wine emphasizes that. Disregard the four grilled shrimp that surround the crab -- they are burnt to the consistency of plastic.

Nibbling on the thyme-y focaccia that comes in the bread basket, we survey the entree choices and come up with the same feeling. There's much to choose from, but nothing new or different. Steaks, duck breast, roasted chicken, veal meatloaf -- if they are aiming for comfort foods, where does panko-crusted shrimp mousse jumbo crab cakes with chipotle remoulade ($19) come from? We try it, and though it looks exactly as described, the remoulade is spicy and the cakes are oddly light, as if they have too much mousse and not enough crab. I have swordfish with a lemon beurre blanc and a side of black-eyed peas ($17) -- perhaps we'll call it Southern-French -- that tastes pretty good, but the fish is too mushy. A steamed mix of cauliflower, squash and shredded carrots that comes with both platters is just banal. I have managed a glass of Bogle Petite Sirah ($6) but from the high end I could have had a glass of Silver Oak Cabernet Sauvignon for $22, $110 for the bottle. Everything appears to be available by the glass, no matter the cost. One could do some enjoyable tasting here!

Things are brighter when desserts ($7) come. A pecan chocolate tart is crunchy and combines the two flavors well, like a giant Turtle. A frangipane tart, rich with almond flavor, dotted with big Bing cherries, is a delicious take on a clafouti (a French fruit-filled pancake).

I note that the lunch menu lists many of the dinner dishes, but has a multitude of interesting sandwiches and pastas. It doesn't seem to try as hard as the dinner menu, and it ends up being more attractive. They tell me that they are extending the outdoor area, so come May, I am looking forward to sitting there on a warm day, perhaps with a crab club sandwich with guacamole and playing around with the wine list. Hopefully, the chef will lighten up a bit and find a clear path, and the help will be more attentive by then. After all, it takes more than two to tango.




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