Tango, Durham

Tango sits nestled in to the side of Elvet bridge in Durham and comes from the same stable as The Townhouse and Zen Thai. Both stalwarts on the Durham scene. We had previously heard a few shaky reviews of Tango when it first opened but decided to give it a go to see for ourselves. Boy are we glad we did.

Arriving at noon on a Saturday, we had our choice of seats, which was a good thing as by 1pm, every seat in the room was taken. In a city centre, to be full an hour after opening seems like a stellar accomplishment.

Settling down to eat, we ordered the AC/DC Best of both (£12.50) sharing starter between us. Smoked chorizo and peppers, calamari, fish cake and duck spring rolls were a great mixture of tastes and textures all executed well. Knowing how good this is, I would have no problem order this as a main dish for lunch as it has everything. Delicious!

A bit fuller than we had expected to be, we moved on to mains. A Diablo Burger + Fries (£8.50) was ordered with a cautionary double check from our waitress. It is meant to be HOT. When the burger arrived, the patty was well cooked and hand formed, cooked nicely to a medium well finish – my dining companions preference. The toppings brought the heat to the burger and it skirted on that fine line between too hot and spicy perfection, the Harrogate Blue cheese was a nice match. For us, it didn’t want to be any hotter as it would have spoiled the dish. We like hot food but if you have a higher tolerance than us, they will gladly whack more heat on for you! The crispy well cooked fries were just the icing on the cake. The dish did look a little underwhelming when it arrived, the “in” stark presentation isn’t our favourite for first impressions. Even a gherkin would have helped!

To try and maintain a bit of a healthy choice, the Hens Hanging with Saucy Satay (£12.50) was the order of the day for me. With a sister restaurant focusing on Thai food, you could tell the satay sauce was more authentic than the usual mass produced attempts which suited me down to the ground. Arriving on a loaded metal tray, I was spoiled with a tortilla wrap, fresh salsa relish, crispy fries, salad and an in-house relish with baby sweetcorn. Of course, the huge amount of chicken was also present, served still on the skewer with handy tongs for removal. No messy fingers here! The selection of accompaniments were so fresh and tasty, when places like The Botanist serve a small skewer with fries for £10, this just blows it out of the water. No questions asked. We can’t wait to try the other flavours of skewers!

Since our visit, we have sung praises and a lot of people have enjoyed a visit after they too were dubious about previous word of mouth. We cannot wait to return and try more from the wide and varied Tango menu.