Tap'd Out

Tazia

by David Snyder

If you're one of the innumerable venues entering Philly's small-plates fray, you better be the best, or you better be different. Unfortunately, Tazia is neither.

Ly Michael’s former owner, Buu Ly, recently turned his Chinatown biz over to Melissa Palabay, who renamed the 120-seat space Tazia. They pitch the food as "dim sum meets tapas," broken down into "taste" and "bite" sections (shrunken versions of apps and entrées), as well as selections of flatbreads, salads, soups, sashimi and a raw bar. The result is a dizzying array of offerings representing roughly half a dozen cuisines, including Thai, Indian, American, Chinese, Vietnamese and Japanese. They seem to want to cook something for everyone, perhaps motivated by the diverse clientele milling about the nearby Convention Center, but this blanket approach stifles Tazia’s identity.

Many problems lie in execution. Prosciutto-wrapped wild boar was unbearably tough, as was the mini-rack of lamb lollipops, which I had to butcher myself. Both the duck confit and the General's Chicken were unpleasantly dry. I caught an errant scale and too many bones in the crispy sea bass, which was cleaned in-house.

Elsewhere, offerings are dumbed down in an attempt at mass appeal. The gaminess I hoped to get out of a Siamese boar stir-fry was masked by a sweet sauce, and a similar problem plagued pad Thai. Flatbread pizzas were abysmal — the red sauce on the three-cheese version was grade-school sweet, and the steak chimichurri rendition came out slathered with the same sugary gravy instead of the promised Argentinian sauce. A touch of potent heat barely rescued an otherwise cloying tom yum chicken soup.

There are some bright spots here. Though it doesn’t fit with the Asian theme, the best dish here is the rich, creamy house-made crab ravioli drizzled with a subtle roasted red pepper sauce. It needed more punch, but the chicken roti, made from Ly’s mother-in-law’s curry stew recipe, was deep and comforting.

Tazia's strength right now is their bars, both liquid and raw. Palabay’s smooth, refreshing "sake-tini" combines clear Gekkeikan sake and vodka with cucumber and mint. Sweet Chincoteague oysters are a steal at a buck each during happy hour, which runs from 3:30 to 6:30 p.m. daily and 10 p.m. to midnight Sunday to Thursday.

If Tazia refocuses its efforts on fewer cuisines instead of merely catering to the perceived tastes of the Convention Center crowd, it could carve out its own niche in the tapas-sphere.

(david.snyder@citypaper.net)

Tazia | 101 N. 11th St., 215-922-2688, taziarestaurant.com. Mon.-Thu., 3 p.m.-1 a.m.; Fri.-Sun., 3 p.m.-2 a.m. Smaller plates, $3.50-$7; flatbreads, salads, soups, $5-$7; larger plates, $8-$14.