An upscale Middle Eastern restaurant and hookah lounge situated in the heart of Providence’s Federal Hill? Nara, you could say, is a foreigner trying to find its way in this Italian food-dominated neighborhood. The menu is littered with promising Lebanese delicacies laced with even more promising exotic spices. And yet, despite a trendy interior consisting of earthy colors and a seemingly can’t-miss menu from Executive Chef Marios Azrak, Nara – from its insipid cocktails (a much-hyped $9.75 peach mojito begs for stronger peach flavor and more mint while a Saucy Mango, consisting of mango-infused tequila, lacks balance and had me wishing I had ordered its spicier version mixed with habanero) to its average cuisine – is merely adequate. If you’re expecting Nara’s cuisine to be on par with Tangierino, a much more accomplished Middle Eastern restaurant in Charlestown, MA, then, in the words of many old school Italians, “Fuhgeddaboudit.”
Let’s start with the one menu item that Nara gets completely right. Thankfully, the restaurant does justice to traditional hummus, which they (no pun intended) beef up by mixing in ground lamb, onions, and toasted almonds. It’s delicious, and the crunchy morsels of lamb in this version, hummus blahmeh ($12), are a welcomed contrast to the smooth, velvety texture of chickpea. While others at the table rave about the baba ghanouj ($9), I found it overwrought with lemon juice, creating an off-putting tartness to the dish. Mini lamb sausages (maaneek, $12) sounded wonderful, cooked with pomegranate molasses, but the dish is an unmitigated disaster due to meat that is overcooked, dry, and a tad salty. Mediterranean sea scallops ($12) are perfectly seared, but where is the intense flavor one would anticipate from sweet pea mousse, fresh orange zest, and white truffle oil?
Sugarcane tenderloin ($13) is oversold on the menu as mouth-watering. Two generous pieces of steak are nicely prepared medium-rare, but are lukewarm and merely sit over a slightly charred fresh slice of pineapple. The meat and fruit tandem should pair nicely, but each component merely dangle on the plate – like two people on a blind date with nothing in common – offering little by way of flavor. A quartet of jumbo mango tiger shrimp ($12) is a slight improvement, drizzled in a refreshing chardonnay-mango reduction. Deep-fried garlic cilantro chicken wings ($12) are meaty and crispy – always a winning combination – but like many dishes on Nara’s menu, they’re lacking that special something in terms of spices – in this instance, not enough cilantro (but in my case, is there ever enough of it?). Bata harra ($9) is Nara’s Lebanese version of Spanish patatas bravas, only in lieu of tomato sauce, the kitchen infuses the potato cubes with cilantro, garlic, and cayenne pepper. Again, what sounds wonderful on paper is merely average in terms of spice execution.
Service is pleasant enough, but plates tend to stack up (fortunately, we place them on the bar just behind us) and a reminder needs to be placed around water refills. For a relatively slow evening, more polish is to be expected from such a seemingly posh establishment.
Like the sweet hookah smoke floating around the restaurant, Nara’s cuisine is harmless and quickly evaporates from one’s memory. Aside from its hip, fun location, there are far better dining alternatives on the Hill to explore. Nara’s all style, but little substance.
Let’s start with the one menu item that Nara gets completely right. Thankfully, the restaurant does justice to traditional hummus, which they (no pun intended) beef up by mixing in ground lamb, onions, and toasted almonds. It’s delicious, and the crunchy morsels of lamb in this version, hummus blahmeh ($12), are a welcomed contrast to the smooth, velvety texture of chickpea. While others at the table rave about the baba ghanouj ($9), I found it overwrought with lemon juice, creating an off-putting tartness to the dish. Mini lamb sausages (maaneek, $12) sounded wonderful, cooked with pomegranate molasses, but the dish is an unmitigated disaster due to meat that is overcooked, dry, and a tad salty. Mediterranean sea scallops ($12) are perfectly seared, but where is the intense flavor one would anticipate from sweet pea mousse, fresh orange zest, and white truffle oil?
Sugarcane tenderloin ($13) is oversold on the menu as mouth-watering. Two generous pieces of steak are nicely prepared medium-rare, but are lukewarm and merely sit over a slightly charred fresh slice of pineapple. The meat and fruit tandem should pair nicely, but each component merely dangle on the plate – like two people on a blind date with nothing in common – offering little by way of flavor. A quartet of jumbo mango tiger shrimp ($12) is a slight improvement, drizzled in a refreshing chardonnay-mango reduction. Deep-fried garlic cilantro chicken wings ($12) are meaty and crispy – always a winning combination – but like many dishes on Nara’s menu, they’re lacking that special something in terms of spices – in this instance, not enough cilantro (but in my case, is there ever enough of it?). Bata harra ($9) is Nara’s Lebanese version of Spanish patatas bravas, only in lieu of tomato sauce, the kitchen infuses the potato cubes with cilantro, garlic, and cayenne pepper. Again, what sounds wonderful on paper is merely average in terms of spice execution.
Service is pleasant enough, but plates tend to stack up (fortunately, we place them on the bar just behind us) and a reminder needs to be placed around water refills. For a relatively slow evening, more polish is to be expected from such a seemingly posh establishment.
Like the sweet hookah smoke floating around the restaurant, Nara’s cuisine is harmless and quickly evaporates from one’s memory. Aside from its hip, fun location, there are far better dining alternatives on the Hill to explore. Nara’s all style, but little substance.
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