Food

We went to Taranta in the North End last night, expecting a superlative meal. What we got was -- well, far less. North End, why must you continue to disappoint me? Do you get some perverse thrill? (I'm shaking my fist at the angry sky now.) My friend K. was inspired (or, rather, irked) enough to post a user review on Boston.com. I think she's got a future in this thing -- next stop, The Phantom Gourmet? Oh wait . . . the Phantom liked Taranta. That's why we went there in the first place. Gourmet Greatness? I think not. I would like to add to this that not only was our waiter a discredit to his profession, he looked like a cartoon. Not that there's anything wrong with that, but still.

Anyway, here's what K. had to say:

" . . . We went with another couple on a quiet Wednesday night. The service was atrocious and the food underwhelming at best. Taranta gave us no reason to want to come back. Our waiter was: 1) practially invisible and had to be summoned by the bus boy after 20 minutes of waiting to place a drink order; 2) when present he was rude and aloof -- he literally grabbed a menu out of our friend's hands while he was still deciding what to order; and 3) he was also forgetful -- had to be asked twice for a glass of wine and forgot one of our desserts, and no apologies to be heard.

Not considering ourselves picky, we hoped that the food would compensate for the lack of hospitality. Wrong. The mini calzone appetizer was one of the only really delicious items we had. The mussels were good, but nothing special. The tilapia was chewy and dry. The filet was good, but its accompanying sweet potato puree -- yuck. Like baby food without any flavor. The lamb casserole was very tender and pretty good, but the sauce lacked some flavor. I ordered the pork chop with sugarcane glaze because it sounded so delicious on the menu and the Phantom Gourmet had raved about it. As the hostess placed it before me (not the waiter) she pronounced "this is the most popular entree in the city". Wow -- talk about hype. Sadly, this dish fell far short. They get points for the large size of the thick chop. But i would rather have a smaller piece of meat that was more tender and with flavor. The chop was chewy, dry and lacked flavor. In fact, most of the meal tasted like a low-sodium diet. The sugary sauce was just that -- far too sweet. It begged for a hint of acidity or depth or -- again -- salt. The exotic-sounding "giant Peruvian corn" on the plate was totally unpleasant. Dry, chewy and flavorless. The best part of the dish was the spinach and carmelized onions and the delicious yucca (potato like) cake.

There are so many better places to spend your money in Boston. I had a pork chop at Bambara that was incredibly tender and outrageously delicious. Maybe the whole staff at Taranta had the day-after-Valentine's blues, but whatever the reason, we sure did too after we emptied our wallets for a big disappointment."

It was a huge letdown. We won't be going there again -- but I haven't given up on the North End yet. Any recommendations?