Tanam - Somerville

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.

Hello Tanam, my friends and I visited your restaurant yesterday and enjoyed the boxed kamayan food and drinks. Although we had pre-ordered for pick up, we decided to dine in and were pleased with the excellent service and delicious food and drinks. However, we were disappointed with the Halo-halo party mix. We felt misled by the name, thinking it would be a traditional Filipino treat, only to find that it was a poorly executed snack mix with stale and old ingredients. Please ensure the quality of your food items before serving them to customers. We found the small serving size and low-quality contents to be not worth the price of $8+.

I first learned about Tanam from the Eater 'Hot Restaurants ' List and decided to try it out with a friend who was visiting. Located in Bow Market in Somerville, Tanam offers a unique dining experience in an eclectic courtyard filled with various shops. The restaurant is known for its Filipino American cuisine served in a 5-course fixed-price meal. The owner and head chef, Ellie, personally explained the inspiration behind each dish, which often included a blend of Filipino and local New England elements. The atmosphere at Tanam is intimate, with communal seating that encourages diners to engage with one another. The dishes were well-executed and featured ingredients that were new and exciting. The drink menu is also creative, with options like Filipino beer and Ube cocktails. Overall, Tanam offers a one-of-a-kind dining experience that is worth trying for those looking to step out of their comfort zone and enjoy something different from the usual small plates restaurants in the city.

The food received 4 stars for being consistently good, but the overall experience was outstanding with a rating of 5 stars. I highly recommend the communal table experience, especially for larger groups.