Teranga - don't waste your money
I had been looking forward to trying Teranga, based on my love of Senegalese cuisine, having grown up eating Thiéboudienne (national dish) and dibi, the ubiquitous grilled lamb chops of Senegal.
We started with Accara, black-eyed-pea fritters, as an appetizer (see photo #1). The accara had zero taste. We were warned by the server that the accompanying sauce would be extremely hot, and why don't we try a milder sauce instead. We opted for the spicy sauce. The fritters finally came, and they were just hot oily pads of flavorless crunch. "Fried things," as my DC described them. The supposedly "extremely hot" sauce was oily and peppery, without much taste dimension. For a tasty version of black-eyed-pea fritters, I recommend ordering a plate of accara/accra at any decent Haitian restaurant.
The Thiéboudienne/"National Dish" ($15) was on the lower end of mediocre. It arrived on a trendy South-End-pretentious square-shaped ruffled plate, and its components were alarmingly separated, as if it were some sort of "deconstructed" dish (see photo #2). Thiéboudienne is supposed to be a hearty, homey casserole that exhibits a tamed but harmonic balance of tomato sauce, peanut oil, rice, tender fish pieces, carrots and yucca. Teranga's version is not this.
The fish itself was a dry, overcooked, mealy hunk of flesh, with an oddly machine-pressed shape, sadly, too much like the sole of a flip-flop. The manioc bits were mealy as well, and didn't take on any of the rich tomato-y garlic-y goodness that this dish is supposed to impart. Overall, dry, mealy and unsatisfying.
DC ordered the Djibi ($17). The lamb chops were nice: thin, chewy and fatty, with a pronounced 'lamb' flavor (see photo #3). However, they got a bit dry toward the end, and could have used more of the traditional honey mustard/onion sauce that usually comes slathered over djibi. The accompanying sweet potato fries could have been fried better; they were just oily limp sticks.
I had the ginger juice, which was just 'fine' in my opinion. Not gingery enough, and a tad too sweet and was reminiscent of bubble gum flavors.
It's too bad this place hasn't gotten it quite right. I love most any dish made with lamb. The maffe (lamb stew) had gotten favorable reviews; it's too bad I won't be back to try it. The Djibi were good but not great, and "National Dish" is certainly not a good representation of this warm, home-style comfort dish.
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Teranga
1746 Washington Street, Boston, MA
By Prav
on Oct 18, 2009 01:57 PM
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" . . . too much like the sole of a flip-flop"
One of my favorite lines from any review.
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Bummer, having spent a month in Senegal myself, it was on my "try it soon" list.
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I was the DC. We looked at eachother at the end of the meal and I said "I wonder if we just ordered wrong? Maybe the mafe is the way to go? Sad to say we'll never know."
It was one of those meals where you wanted it to be enough to pull you back for more exploration but after a quick dabble in what they are turning out, there are a million other places that leapfrog it on my list. Shame because I want to like African cuisine. So far I'm 0 for 2 -- don't love Ethiopian and didn't like Senegalese. Next?
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Prav - That's a big bummer because I trust your taste, bu are they titrating their flavors/spices (a la Yoma in Allston)? Give them a chance before you write them off with such a statement as "don't waste your money." Of course, I'm not excusing bad food coming out of the kitchen...That's inexcusable.
For example, Korean restaurants in Boston always disappoint me (I'm Korean), but I'm happy that there are enough of them around so I can kind of pick and choose. Maybe some gentle and constructive commentary might help Terenga out? Your review won't deter me from trying them out, as I love W. African food.
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digs -- you're sweet, but it wasn't good. Not to say it isn't ever good, it just wasn't good last night.
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Looking at the picture of the fish... ugh. It was an abomination the way it was cooked to within an inch of its life. So hard, so chalky, so poor. In all fairness, the lambchops were much better but not worth returning for on their own.
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I have to say I'm surprised. I had such a different experience the week before. I avoided ordering the fish; Kingfish, according to the server..which I've never enjoyed; unless super fresh..and my hot sauce which I requested extra spicy was.
I'm inexperienced with Senegalese but I enjoyed the flavors on my plate. Maybe I just got lucky or you were unlucky or some combination.
I certainly wouldn't return if I had an experience as you described. Sorry you had such a poor meal.
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