Marc M.
Yelp
In a word, frustrating. Frustrating at every turn. Oy veh!
1. I come in at end of dinner rush. One table is empty except for remaining dishes. I'm offered a bar seat. No, I want a chair. Well, a couple at a 2-top wants to move to the currently dirty 4-top (they aren't that big, nor do they have so much food that they actually need a bigger table), so that table's out. What evers. I take their 2-top and wait for it to be cleaned. After I order, waitress asks if I want to move to another table. No, this is fine. Really. Already I don't need any more hassle. Is table hopping a thing here?
2. The menu lists 3 soups daily. Nope, today there's only one. Oh, wait, they just made a second. They bring me about 2 tablespoons of each to sample. I'm not bragging, however I make better lentil & split pea soups than these. The pea soup is thin. Both are lacking in flavor. Of course there's no ham that might have punched up the pea soup, because of course, there's no such thing as kosher ham.
3. Do you have the lamb tajine? I saw a picture online, but I don't see it on the menu. No, that's only tomorrow. Ok, you know what, skip the soup, I'll get the coconut curry, make it medium hot & please put the rice on the side. It comes out after a considerable wait--people are still here but little is coming out of the kitchen.
4. The curry, like the soups, is sadly lacking in flavor and is very pale. It's very creamy, too much so for an Asian dish. I'm thinking it's mostly full-bore cream cheese. No spicy heat. Barely noticeable coconut or curry flavor. It's on a bed of rice, which if you recall from the previous paragraph, I requested on the side. The rice has clearly been out for quite a while. It's room temp and clumpy.
5. The entree comes with a salad. Mmm, I've not had matbucha, so I order that. Oh, no, it is not in the right portion for the entree I'm told. So what can I have? I settle for a very lackluster tossed salad with a corresponding flavorless (yet again!) vinaigrette. It doesn't even taste like plain oil & vinegar. It's barely a handful of lettuce & shredded carrot. They bring me 2 tablespoons of matbucha, which is chilled and tastes more like a sauce than a salad. Glad I didn't get a bigger portion of it. I think the average size piece is about 1/2 teaspoon, so I don't know what the deal is about "right size portion."
6. I'd like another glass of water, but am not asked about it until they bring the check. I was almost ready to walk to the register to request my bill when the waitresses noticed me using my phone, got off their phones, and came over.
7. This is a very loud, small place that only seats 32. Prices are high for what you actually get. Average $17+ for most entrees; $14 for a hamburger--you must be kidding me! The food is not bad; I just can't recommend Aderet on any level for food or service. It did seem to be clean.
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Checking in. Despite the frustrating experience, I had to go back for the lamb tagine.
I went after lunch rush as I suspected they might run out of the tagine. The rice was better this time. Maybe they just cook it once a day? The tagine was so salty I almost couldn't eat it. I'm afraid this wouldn't pass muster in Morocco. There was no hint, either in flavor or texture, of any fruit, sweet/sour combination, or nuts.
The side salad was slightly bigger this time and I got it with the "dijon vinaigrette" which was better than the vinaigrette I had last time, but it just tasted like mayonnaise and dijon mustard.
Yet again, the menu says they have 3 soups daily, but there was only the dilute pea soup. So I skipped that, yet again.
I'm done here. Not worth it.