Tamalli

Last night my mom and I ate at Tamalli. We were very excited about eating there. But first, we had to find it - we nearly walked by as it is an unassuming storefront on Armitage - only the awning tipped us off!

There was only one couple dining when we entered, and while we were there, no other diners came in. As a result, we had very attentive service.

The space felt a little sterile to me, possibly becuase there were so few diners. It's an open space with the tables arranged in rows. The tabels and the walls are bright and cheery colors, as is the artwork on the walls.

I had been expecting a fairly small menu, since the focus is on tamals. But the menu is pretty extensive with a lot of options. We decided that we would order the way we do at Maiz, basically treating the menu as though they are tapas and planning to share each dish. After some debate, we settled on the Tamal De Chorizo En Hoja De Platano and Tamal Nejo al Pastor to start. We also got flavored waters, cucumber and pineapple.

The waters were absolutely delicious and we were tempted to slurp them down, but resisted. The tamals were also excellent - the Nejo was on a fairly flat bed of cornmeal, while the de Chorizo was on a big, thick bed. We both preferred the de Chorizo slightly; my mom liked the thicker bed while I absolutely loved the flavor of the meat.

We got a bit greedy at this point and decided to order tacos. We must have had a taste for beef, as we ordered picadillo and steak marinated with onion. When the tacos arrived, we were surprised that each order consisted of two! The meat fillings were good, but a little salty for my mom's taste. The consensus was that the tacos were decent but we should have stuck to the house specialty, tamals.

All in all, we were pleased with our dinner at Tamalli. The tamals and drinks were excellent, and while the tacos were not quite as delicious they were pretty good. Our total bill was $31, which is not bad for a very appetizing meal for two (and we were stuffed!). I look forward to returning to Tamalli and sampling the rest of the tamals on the menu!