![\"tiqa\"](\"http:\/\/www.portlandmonthly.com\/portmag\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/03\/tiqa.jpg\")
<\/a>With 300 seats, extraordinary TIQA<\/b> in the new Marriott Hotel on Commercial Street has just sailed into port with an exotic odyssey for a menu. The faraway flavors would do Ulysses proud.<\/p>\nTraveling first to Lebanon, we\u2019re dazzled by a puree of red lentils ($6) gorgeously garnished with a crunchy celery root salad. Complimentary house-made pita, served with bowls of olive oil and za\u2019atar spice mixture, could not be a better accompaniment to this satisfying dish.<\/p>\n
Next is Portugal, for the beautiful Bacalao ($12), luscious cream-braised salt cod whipped with potatoes and olive oil, and topped with the most tender calamari we have ever, ever encountered.<\/p>\n
A friendly debate ensues over our next destination: Africa or Palestine? The latter wins, although the Chicharr\u00f3n ($12)\u2013chorizo cured pork belly with fried jalapenos and raisin vinaigrette\u2013is hard to forgo. Ah, but the Kibbeh Nayyeh ($12), a round mound of richly seasoned ground raw beef and lamb, served with toasted za\u2019atar crisps, is the stuff dreams are made of.<\/p>\n
Tunisia follows with Harissa Lamb ($16), a skewer of five good chunks of char-grilled meat. The tender lamb\u2019s flavors are enhanced by perfectly seared squares of marinated eggplant, tomatoes, and green onions.<\/p>\n
We land at our next haven, Sicily. Here we discover Coda Brasto Del Libano ($22), a heavenly mixture of sumac-braised beef with pappardelle seasoned with turmeric and topped with dukkah, a crumbly nut and spice mix. The pasta is divine\u2013the dish works like a charm.<\/p>\n
Our voyage finishes on a bright note with Knafeh ($7), a savory Palestinian cheese custard wrapped in crispy kataifi\u2013perfect with our last sips of a full-bodied Whiplash Zinfandel from Lodi, ($26). May the gods be not too jealous, we think as we depart.<\/p>\n
TIQA, 327 Commercial St, Portland, Mon-Wed, 11am-11pm; Thurs-Fri, 11am-1am, Sat, 10am-1am, Sun, 10am-11pm. Free valet service, 808-8840 or\u00a0tiqapm.com<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
April 2015
\nMarriott treats with distant shores, transpontine allure.
\nWith 300 seats, extraordinary TIQA in the new Marriott Hotel on Commercial Street has just sailed into port with an exotic\u2026<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":10522,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[91],"class_list":["post-10497","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-reviews","tag-april-2015"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.portlandmonthly.com\/portmag\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10497","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.portlandmonthly.com\/portmag\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.portlandmonthly.com\/portmag\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.portlandmonthly.com\/portmag\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.portlandmonthly.com\/portmag\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10497"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/www.portlandmonthly.com\/portmag\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10497\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":10893,"href":"https:\/\/www.portlandmonthly.com\/portmag\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10497\/revisions\/10893"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.portlandmonthly.com\/portmag\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/10522"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.portlandmonthly.com\/portmag\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10497"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.portlandmonthly.com\/portmag\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10497"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.portlandmonthly.com\/portmag\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=10497"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}