Foodies on foot: What did I make of these four dishes from Tahini in Dundee?

By Mariam Okhai

October 7 2022, 5:20pm

What did I think of Tahini?

If you’re in Dundee and fancy Mediterranean food on-the-go one of the most popular places to get just that is Tahini.

Based on Bank Street, the restaurant is normally quite busy during the evenings, however when I popped in for lunch the other day it was only half full.

I assumed this was due to most people ordering food for takeaway to enjoy during their lunch break and was intrigued to see how the dishes would be if I decided to eat Mediterranean cuisine on-the-go.

In this week’s episode of Foodies on Foot I tried four dishes from Tahini which included the stuffed vine leaves, falafel, vegetable samosas and a laffa chicken shawarma with added chips.

The order at Tahini:

Verdict: Stuffed vine leaves

Having tried vine leaves before I was both excited and intrigued to try the dish and find out what the offering from Tahini was like.

The box came with lemons on top, which I assumed were for squeezing all over before I ate the dish.

When I bit into it the vine leaf it had a sticky texture which got stuck on my teeth making it difficult to chew.

I found the inside filling of rice, herd and spices to be quite soft and more like what you’d expect if you were to mash aubergine.

I also found the flavours to be quite lemony both before, and then moreso after, I’d added the lemon which, in the end, I did not enjoy as much. While the vine leaves looking quite appetising I wasn’t overly sold on the overall flavour.

Presentation: 3/5

Taste: 1.5/5

Verdict: Falafel

Moving onto the second course, I received five falafels balls in a box for £4.40 which I thought was quite reasonable for a hot meze dish.

I believe that a good Mediterranean place is only as good as their falafel and from first glance, I was impressed by the colour and look of them.

As I tucked into the dish the falafel had a nice smooth texture with a crispy outside. It was exactly what a good falafel should be like with regards to consistency.

Unfortunately the tasty flavour was masked by the large amount of salt used in the falafel mix, which was a real shame as I had high hopes for this dish, especially because I do love good falafel.

I felt that the saltiness was very overpowering and ruined my overall enjoyment of the dish which left me rather disappointed.

Presentation: 2/5

Taste: 2/5

Verdict: Vegetable samosa

As I moved onto the vegetable samosa I have to admit my hopes of finding a dish I was going to love from Tahini were dwindling.

Similarly to the falafel, I found five samosas in my box which, again, I thought was a good amount for a hot mezze starter.

I was pleasantly surprised by the crispiness of the samosa pastry despite the amount of time I had waited before trying it. I thought it may not have been near as crispy as it was the third dish I got to when reviewing.

Inside there was a potato filling which had been cooked in tomatoes and spices. They were packed with flavour and not too spicy, despite the slight hint of heat I could taste from the spices.

This was by far my favourite dish of the order and I would definitely go back again to order these on-the-go, or in the restaurant.

Presentation: 3/5

Taste: 4/5

Verdict: Laffa chicken shawarma and chips

Last on my list was the laffa chicken shawarma which is quite literally grilled chicken strips wrapped in a shawarma bread.

As I opened the wrapping of the foil I saw the sauce from the chicken oozing out of the tinfoil it was wrapped in and was very excited to try it. I was hoping that I had just found a new local favourite.

Although the flavours of the yoghurt marinade which had chilli, turmeric, cloves, coriander and cumin were nice, there must have been a lot of cloves used in it as I got a real heavy taste of them more than anything which was quite overbearing.

The filling was also over salted which ruined the shawarma flavour for me, although the lettuce and tomatoes did add some texture.

I added some chips on the side which were soft but, unlike the shawarma, were not salted at all.