Tangata offers (to quote the menu) “Pacific Rim cuisine which combines Pacific Island food, California freshness, Asian cooking techniques and ingredients from Japan, China, Thailand, Korea, Philippines, New Zealand, Australia, United States, Mexico, and south America.” The menu is small but has a nice variety of sandwiches and salads and a few light entrees. I attended part 4 of the Art and the City lecture series today and then met my friend Harriet at Tangata for lunch.

I ordered the sourdough Tuna Melt with cabbage and apple sauerkraut, tartar aioli and emmental cheese. Harriet had the Braised Kurobuta Pork Sliders with smoked gouda cheese, publano cream, and pico de gallo on Hawaiian rolls. Accompanied by crispy sweet potato fries, my sandwich tasted yummy and Harriet’s sure looked good. She is a light eater but there was nothing left on her plate. Service was good, the restaurant atmosphere is bright and pleasantly contemporary. There is also outdoor seating with a view of the museum entrance and garden.

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Eating at Tangata does not require museum admission but why not visit as long as you are there. The current exhibition is “Virgin of Guadalupe: Images I Colonial Mexico”. That may not sound appealing  to some but I found it very interesting. The 10-minute film previewing the exhibit was full of amazing facts about this legend.

The other thing – Tangata now has a coffee bar. They serve coffees and organic teas by Intelligentsia. I tasted their cappuccino last week and didn’t even have to add sugar.

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