I have experienced Tara's food in a variety of contexts: ala carte at the original Schenectady restaurant, on the generous lunch buffet, and now in the prepared food incarnation at the repurposed Guilderland restaurant which is now primarily for takeout though you can dine in if you like. It's very approachable Mediterranean food: an overused word but the best way to describe it. Tara uses a lot of spices that will be new to many diners, but the results are well balanced and will not turn off people who are afraid of heat or funky smells. I've dined at this location when it was a sit down restaurant and now it is a "Mediterranean market". You can order a/combination meal with an entree and two sides, to eat in or take out b/a variety of specialty prepared dishes which were designed in collaboration with former New World chef Ric Orlando c/snacks such as dolmas, baclava etc d/jarred spices and sauces, made by Tara (they are great) and others. There's also a nice assortment of dishes, famines and coffee urns for sale. I ordered a chicken and spinach taigine with chickpeas and orange plus seasoned rice for my sides and it was a very good and filling meal with generous portions. Also took home several jarred items and a tub of dolmas (great) and baklava (too dry) at $4.95 each. Not a five star meal because the combo order was not heated thoroughly with some cold sections, and the baklava needed some honey syrup or other moisturizer. But very good food and a great resource if you are in the area. read more

I might be the odd one out but I was a little under whelmed by my experience at Tara Kitchen. The food was great, but I wanted more. Literally. This was my first time here so I guess we didn't know what to expect as" Upon entering, it is a nice space, smelled great, comfy seating and nice decor. Our service was great and everything came out quick and fresh. We started out with drinks, wine for me and a Moroccan beer for my date. We were also served hot tea, which tasted exactly like sleepy time tea and honestly I felt really tired by the time I left. We wanted to order the cigars, the restaurant was empty and had just opened for dinner about 30 minutes before we arrived. They were sold out ... okay. We decided to order the Casablanca platter of hummus, olives and pickled vegetables. This large serving of hummus came with 4 small triangles of pita. Not even enough to eat half the hummus, and when we asked for more we were charged. The hummus was delicious and fresh, the olives were an excellent pairing with the hummus and the veggies offered a bright bite as well. It was a great balanced plate to share for a starter. We have been trying to eat lighter so we decided to split the Lamb Tangina, this was not ideal. While there was enough for us both to feel satisfied, the portion for $30 left some to be desired. There were about 5 small pieces of lamb, a few potatoes, and the vessel was mostly filled with (delicious) broth. This was also served with less than 1/4 cup of basmati rice, I am not even joking. It was like a 2oz cup of rice for this brothy dish. We thought it was comical. After saying that, it was so freaking delicious. The lamb melted under the weight of your spoon, the broth flavor was deep with complexity from the smen (fermented butter) and preserved lemon. It was kind of like a soup, I was just eating spoon fulls of the broth. I would definitely come back, and at least we know what to expect as far as serving sizes. It's just pricy for what you actually get, but I suppose the flavors were worth it and I'm glad to have experienced it. read more

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Every time I visit here I am pleasantly surprised with how consistently good it is. Flavors are great and portions are enough. The appetizer needs more bread, however--you run out of dip before pita even with huge bites. It's also decorated nicely and the bathrooms are clean. read more

Husband enjoyed lunch buffet. I ordered from menu, which is limited during the lunch buffet. I loved the orange salad even though i left all the olives on the plate (not a fan of any olives). The pomegranate sauce which i requested only on the side is very sweet and very tart. I loved it. Build your own is wonderful, although pricier than the buffet. Chickpeas, potatoes, almonds in apricot prune sauce was yummy. Loved that they included mixed vegetables and excellent rice. Husband said it was the same mixed vegetables as on the buffet. I would return and try other dishes. The buffet is a bargain, although the selection is limited. But ordering a la carte is affordable too. read more

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It has been more than a decade since my last exposure to Moroccan food with a close friend sharing his culture. While I enjoyed those different restaurant visits with him, I definitely stopped after he completed his degree and returned home. I happened to chance upon Tara Kitchen while searching for recommended lunch spots in Albany, where I chose to stop for lunch before continuing my drive to Niagara Falls. It's a cute little place with a small buffet spread for lunch, which I opted for since I wasn't feeling particularly picky and wanted to sample a wider variety of dishes that allows me to better gauge their culinary touch. It was a quiet day and only one other group was in the restaurant. I jumped straight in and grabbed a touch of every hot dish served. The flavor profile was slightly different from what I remembered having with my friend. Don't get me wrong as I'm no expert in Moroccan cuisine. It was just a new experience all over again. The food is good, slightly towards the sweet fruity side, but still balanced. I was more honestly impressed that a buffet was able to serve tender cuts of chicken breast...which usually dries up and dies hard on the hot hold line. I would return again if I'm ever in the area. It's a nice different touch on ingredients we are all familiar with. read more

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The stars finally aligned and I had a day off on a weekday when we could come here for their lunch buffet. When we arrived, only one other table was taken and that pretty much was the theme for the time we were there. Tuesday seemed really slow. The restaurant is nice and broken up by interior walls into several smaller "nooks" which felt intimate to me, though if the place had been packed instead it would have felt cramped. Anyway, the inside was nicely done. The buffet took up two tables and had about 12 items total. The first pan was salad stuff (lettuce, olives, peppers, cucumbers, etc.), and then the next four heating pans were various dishes with lentils, ground lamb, roasted vegetables, rice, and some chicken items. Sadly, nothing was labeled so we couldn't determine exactly what they were (useful for allergies, and also useful if we ever wanted to order them again). All were pretty good, though I really enjoyed the red chicken dish (see, without a description I can't say what it was...). The rice was a bit bland. They brought pita bread to our table. Some warm, sweet tea was also served in really beautiful glasses. For dessert, they had marshmallow brownies that were a bit dense and seemed out of place for this restaurant. Instead, I ordered a plate of baklava which was good but still cold from the fridge. The one waiter was very friendly, and the chef talked to us a bit about the dishes. I can't say I was wowed by anything here but I got to try a bunch of different things for only $15. The buffet menu changes every couple of days, so if I went back I likely would see new stuff. read more

The food here is always fantastic, and our meal tonight didn't disappoint. We ordered the Chraim with fish and the Lamb with green chermoula and tomato jam. Both dishes were delicious! Our server was very attentive and although we asked a few questions that he didn't know the answers to, he happily went and checked for us. Our only complaint was that we would have liked some kind of coffee after dinner, but they didn't have any. Overall everything was great and would highly recommend! read more

Tara Kitchen - Chraim with fish - Moroccan Near Me - Albany, New York

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I love a Mediterranean, home cooked, seafood meal. The nice pita, the veggie spreads, some nice tea. Morocco is the only African country on the Mediterranean Sea, and the spice profile is a beautiful blend of traditional Mediterranean and African spices. For roughly $50 per person, you can have an excellent meal, with top notch service, and a great selection. The inside is very cozy, and comfortable as a single person, as a couple, or as a group. We had a small child in our group, and found that the restaurant accommodated the young one quite well. Overall, we will come back, as often as we can afford to. read more

Tara Kitchen - Appetizer - Moroccan Near Me - Albany, New York

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Perhaps our new favorite spot! Not crowded on the night we went; very friendly and helpful waiter; beautiful decor; comfortable seats; pleasant, peaceful background music; and delicious food. Couldn't really ask for more. read more

Tara Kitchen - Moroccan Near Me - Albany, New York

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I'm updating my review to include information about their lunch buffet, which is available between 11:30-2:00 on weekdays. I enjoyed what was offered. I don't know if the menu changes, but today it was 2 chicken dishes, at least 3 meatless dishes, a small salad bar, toasted pita and rice. A side table has bowls of spices if you wish more spice, fresh fruit, and dessert (brownies today). You also get a small glass of mint tea (they get their tea from nearby Short & Stout). The cost including tax and tip is approximately $20/person. The staff told me that apart from the pita and dessert, everything else on the buffet is gluten-free. This is a great add to lunch options in the area. read more

Tara Kitchen - My lunch from the buffet today - Moroccan Near Me - Albany, New York

The food here is great i love their chicken tikki marsala and the service is wonderful!

I struggled between a 4 and 5 review - more of a 4.5 review. Everything we had here was fantastic. We got: - the sampler platter trio (harissa, olive, eggplant dip) and all were amazing. The pita was fresh, warm and fluffy - the honey apricot and prune lamb; I'm relatively new to Moroccan food so this food combo threw me off (sweet when I'm used to savory lamb), but ultimately this was the most unique dish and the star of the meal - the lemon chicken; flavor was good and actually helped balance the lamb... chicken itself however was dry - baklava; warm, crispy, sticky, GIANT pieces enough for 3 of us to share - cheesecake; tart sauce was a great compliment Would come back to try other dishes for sure. read more

Tara Kitchen - Chicken olive and lemon dish - Moroccan Near Me - Albany, New York

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My husband and I went to the lunch "buffet" today and to call it a buffet is honestly disrespectful. There were two types of chicken, both were sweet and not our cup of tea. We prefer our chicken to be savory. The fish dish wasn't terrible but definitely needed a lot of salt added to it. There was rice, again sweet and needed salt, and cous cous (neither of us tried it). The two sautés vegetable dishes again had no taste and needed salt. My favorite part was probably the naan with some olives and harissa dip. It was a very underwhelming experience and we definitely won't be back. The tea they had at the table tasted like chamomile and I personally don't like it at all. They were also playing desi music which is a bit confusing since it was a Moroccan restaurant? But I guess their usually crowd of customers wouldn't know the difference since it's just a different language to them either or way. Unfortunately a very disappointing experience and waste of $35 to leave dissatisfied and feeling nauseous/sick. read more

Items you must order: - chicken tagine with tomato harissa - lamb tagine with honey - Moroccan cigars The tagines come with rice. The appetizer dip sampler was meh and our takeout order didn't come with pita or any dipping bread. The restaurant is open limited hours but so delicious! read more

Oh the Aroma when you walk in! Yum. This is a casual, welcoming restaurant on busy western Ave, very close to the colossal Crossgates mall. Hopefully people will come here to explore this flavorful menu. Wonderful flavor profiles here that you won't find anywhere else. Ranging from salty and tangy to warm and richly spiced, but not spicy Portions are big, leftovers will go home with you! Food comes out fast and is so delicious. Try something new: a Moroccan wine. If you like baklava, order it up. They serve it warm. read more

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Really amazing food and nice atmosphere. I had the Lamb Tagine with Potato, Saffron, Smen, and Preserved Lemons. The smell was amazing and the taste was even better. Highly looking forward to coming back some day. The Baklava was also really tasty and warm. One serving was plenty for two! read more

Tara Kitchen - Lamb Tagine (Stew) with Potato, Smen, Saffron, and Preserved Lemons, an order of Cabbage Rolls, and sides of Pita Bread and Rice. - Moroccan Near Me - Albany, New York

Drove by this place and it looked interesting, which made us decide to give this place a try. First Impression, you could tell its a very small family restaurant which has many variety of moroccan food. The beautiful atmosphere made us want to sit down and order food. The staff were very friendly and helped us along finding the right food. They give you free tea which is refreshing. I personally thought the menu was way overpriced for what they offered. They offer free rice and pita with most entrees. The main dish itself is really flavorful. However, the portions for the sides rather lacking. The portion for main food was much more than I expected but it still didn't feel like it was worth 25+ for just one entree. read more

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A gem of a restaurant, beautifully decorated in a calm, low-key relaxing vibe that enables you to partake deeply of the culinary delights they have on their menu. I had the Fish in Spicy Date Sauce with Seasoned Rice and Vegetables. From the first bite I could sense this is something extraordinary- the fish perfectly cooked, soft and flaky, and the sauce had a deep heat which brought out the flavors in a profoundly satisfying manner. Even though it was a very hot day, my wife tried the Chicken Soup with Chickpeas and Vegetables ... its depth of flavors was the perfect antidote for the weather :-)! Our server (and chef!) Txito turned out to be the perfect host, with a warm pleasing personality and prompt, efficient service. All in all, a true find for this New Yorker out and about in Albany :-)! read more

Chicken Tagine with mixed vegetables in an apricot and prune sauce . So yum. Chicken perfectly cooked; sauce delectable. Fluffy pita and rice on the side . I could show you the trio of tapenades (eggplant, olive, and parsley ) we had and the spicy grilled shrimp appetizer except we scarfed them down. Service stellar as well. Tara's has got to be one of the best restaurants if not the best in this area . read more

Tara Kitchen - Chicken with mixed vegetables in apricot and prune sauce Tagine - Moroccan Near Me - Albany, New York

After hearing great review from work about Tara's, I gave them a try for takeout on this past Thursday. Immediately upon entering I was greeted by very friendly staff, who addressed be by my first name and were very courteous. My order wasn't quite ready and the person that greeted me offered me some free tea, which i declined but offered to try next time. The seating area was very well layed out and i was impressed how serene and low key it was. I ordered the chicken soup (Harira) , chicken picatta and baklava. The chicken pikatta was flavorful,a bit too lemony, but delicious still with fresh meaty chicken, artichoke and capers. The chicken soup (Harira) was flavorful and sweet dates, chickpeas, lentils, rice & tomatoes. This was new to me and very tasty. The baklava was awesome, very light honey, pastry and chopped nuts perfectly blended together. I was impressed how much attention to detail they were even packing up my lunch, which was very neatly packed to not crush the contents of the lunch. I will return to sample other items from the menu and maybe some nice flavorful tea as well. Very well done! read more

The new king of restaurants in Guilderland. We have had a number of their tagines and they are all fabulous. The harissa is too much for me but had great flavor. Sublime flavors in complex well balanced dishes. read more

Overall I enjoyed my experience at Tara Kitchen. I ordered the appetizer EGGPLANT TAPENADE and SHRIMP WITH SPINACH, PRUNES, TOMATO JAM & HARISSA. Each had the perfect balance of a sweet and savory flavor profile. I would have liked twice as much rice to accompany the large portion of the tagine cooked entree because the small dish of rice wasn't nearly enough. Service wise, I was disappointed with the longer than usual wait to be seated in a near empty restaurant. Additionally, the server seemed young and inexperienced. For example, if a food item she's serving falls off the plate and on to the table, one would expect an apology and reassurance that it would be replaced. But no biggie right? Five second rule? I'm sure the table was clean ‍ I have been a fan of Tara Kitchen and the family behind its origin since the days of the Schenectady farmers market years and years ago. Outstanding food! read more

Tara Kitchen - SHRIMP WITH SPINACH, PRUNES, TOMATO JAM & HARISSA - Moroccan Near Me - Albany, New York

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Cute little place in downtown Schenectady New York. Portions are very big so I ordered the kids meal. I had the lamb meatball spaghetti. The best was the grilled fish appetizer. It was so delicious. I also had the cigar rolls filled with lamb. Customer service was good. read more

As a previous customer and fan, I came in for lunch at the Guilderland shop on Feb 2 and unfortunately was disappointed. I ordered Harira Chicken Soup and entree Sweet and Sour Chicken. The soup was like puree, the chicken barely detectable (perhaps that's as intended?). But the chicken in the entree dish was the real prob: it was tough if not old. Seasoning was unremarkable. I didn't complete my portion. Perhaps for the Capital District, the menu would pass as "adequate" for Moroccan food - but it's otherwise distant from the real thing! Would have to conclude - with regret - OVERATED and OVERPRICED! Sorry! read more

Update is that health department visited after I called them and found too much bleach was being used so the owner did say he wanted to make things right. I haven't been back to see yet though . read more

Food was delicious. That being said, do NOT order tea. I asked for a cup of Moroccan brewed tea. The waitress said it was no longer complimentary and i told her that was fine. BUT what she brought me for $3 was a small white mug of hot water with a stash tea bag in it ... for $3! Awful and disappointing. BUT food did make up for it! Would recommend otherwise! read more

I was excited about trying this restaurant and splurged because the US Mens National Soccer Team was playing Morocco tonight. So disappointed. The food (what there is of it tastes ok, but the portions are skimpy and overpriced.) The appetizer sampler consists of 2 TB each of 3 different dips, and some pita, all scooped into a single plastic container with no dividers. They were all mixed together. They tasted good, pita was good. But for $13.50, I expected a little more. The entres are small-medium sized portions with one pint container of rice for both. They were pretty busy, took a full hour after I placed my order online for the food to be ready. I'm hoping I hit them on a bad day. But I won't spend almost $100 with tip again to find out. read more

The food was so good and our server was so adorable! Family operated restaurant, modern and tasteful decor. We got a variety of food and were delighted with all of it. Most dishes were new to us and based on this experience, we'll be back to try more new dishes. read more

Excellent Moroccan food that is unique and delicious! I especially liked the tangines. There's kabobs of all kinds, salads, homemade hummus and desserts. read more

I placed a very large order online with Tara Kitchen in Guilderland today and was very pleased to say the least. There were 11 separate orders for my office and they marked each item with my employee's name as I had asked. Every order was correct and they delivered ahead of schedule. Very pleased! read more

Just had lunch. The food was fabulous. The service was wonderful. This is definitely going to become one of my favorite places to eat. read more

Tara Kitchen - Lentils with artichoke hearts, tomatoes and olives. - Moroccan Near Me - Albany, New York

Ordered take-out on the first night of this location opening - let me say the food as always was amazing, the service was insanely fast, and it was wonderful like all their locations. I'm so happy they now have a third location and will continue to support this fantastic restaurant and wonderful family. read more

No opportunity to request moderate spice level. We couldn't eat salad, rest was good if dipped in our own yogurt sauce. Rodger read more

Wonderful food, and hospitality. Went here for the first time for lunch with a friend. Glenn was our waiter. Efficient and friendly. Sixto, the chef, also attended to us. He was personable and very enthusiastic about the restaurant and menu. The food was fresh, tasty and good size portions! I will go back often. read more

Every time we go to Tara Kitchen we are impressed with their portion size, quality ingredients and friendly service. Our last visit was with a large group who had lots of questions and they were very accommodating and patient. Great service and nice atmosphere. Looking forward to our next dinner at Tara Kitchen. read more

Excellent service and food. We enjoyed our visit very much. Wait staff and chef were outstanding.

The food was good though the service could really stand to improve. Our server approached the table several times to inquire about whether we needed boxes, mind you I was eating while she asked and had just gotten my food. From there she hovered in the wait station watching us. It was evident that they were ready to close but we arrived with plenty of time before closing. Service goes further than the food for me. I'll plan for take out next time. read more

In town for a family function and wanted some good food. I researched restaurants before the trip and was not disappointed. The minute you open the door, the smell is divine! We did get take-away and ate back at the hotel 15 minutes away. The food here is super delicious! My SIL and I had a "make your own" tangine and another SIL had a chicken one. Mine had parsley chermoula, brown lentils, eggplant and artichoke hearts. The other one was chickpea, parsley chermoula, prunes and eggplant. Everyone enjoyed their meal very much. The rice that comes with it, is to die for as was the pita bread. Definitely would return if I was ever in the area again. read more

Food is excellent and service is attentive Location is convenient with off street parking

First time trying Moroccan food in the Albany area...and it was DELICIOUS!! We had the Rfissa chicken plate and mixed vegetable tagine. Highly recommend this restaurant. There are plenty of vegetarian and meat options...sure to meet various dietary restrictions if your group has any. To be honest, was a bit surprised to find that the taste was more than comparable to the amazing food we had in Morocco (and that we could find it in Albany)!! read more