Tangö Contemporary Café

Went there twice. First time it was good as I guess we were the only ones there so the food came out nice and fresh. Second time was a disaster. Ordered eggs Benedict and a burger bagel. The potatoes on egg Benedict were super old, cold and disgusting. The fruits that they had on the plate were stale and old too. The Benedict was cold. When I told them my potatoes were old and cold, they took my plate away just to bring it back a minutes later with the same potatoes which they just put in a microwave to reheat. Gross and disgusting. Burger bagel was cold as well. Service is very slow and they don’t really seem to care. Sorry, Tango, not coming back.

Boo! I hate being the only square peg trying to fit in with all the other circles! I’m sorry but I tried Tango a long time ago (BIY — before I Unilocaled) and was quite embarrassed by the poor customer service then. At that time I brought family over to dine here (also their first time). You know the feeling, your choice and owning the pitfalls even though in reality you couldn’t control it. Call it guilt. That guilt has kept me away for years. But to summarize that experience — long wait to put in our orders and even a longer wait for the food to arrive with many mistakes that I cannot recall anymore.
So fast forward and I again bring a family member here for breakfast since we both were in the mood for the most important meal of the day, plus I’ve heard the coffee is really good here. Well, call me jinxed! We were 5 minutes past breakfast and they refused to offer any breakfast goodies except coffee and soup (ONION at that) until they opened their lunch menu. Well ok, late is late (I guess) and we could milk the coffee until lunch. Mind you, the breakfast crowd was gone and there were only two tables left finishing up.
We placed our order for our lunch and the restaurant fills up rather quickly with a crowd waiting just outside eager for grub. Tell me why people seated after us were served first. When I asked our waitress she simply replied, «oh I think we’re waiting on french fries.» Well, they must have been waiting for those spuds to mature before plucking, peeling and (p)rying them. I had lost my appetite from the distress of being guilted once again for poor service. I guess my aunt’s sandwich was ok. She must’ve been hungry since she didn’t detest but she also didn’t rave about it either. Our waitress was too busy with all the other patrons that she completely forgot about her first lunch table.
Best thing about the experience: the coffee and easy parking.

As of today this is my top choice for best restaurant for dinner food and value.
It’s ALL good!!!
French Onion soup
Salmon
Bouillabaisse
Tenderloin
Prix Fixe menu A or B
Presentation is excellent, taste was even better.
Will be back soon! As good as it gets!
Only the rib eye was so so…

I’ve only eaten here for breakfast (three times) and it’s amazing. The coffee is freshly brewed each cup! Muesli is super fresh with all the best fruits. Items such as duck confit hash should tell you everything you need to know. Not sure if they match this quality for lunch or dinner but if you’re in Kaka’ako for breakfast, drop in here!

Slow service.
Dirty ceiling vents.
House made ketchup. Not my thing.
Came here before and had a good experience. Kinda bummed with today’s experience. The restaurant had full tables but didn’t seemed too worried about the flow of guests.

Food took super long to come out, and when it did it was just alright. Our service wasn’t the best either…

One of my favorite restaurants when I want a special treat. Love their Hamakua mushroom risotto with shrimp and their blueberry bread pudding. Their two boards (especially the salmon) are great to share as an appetizer.

One of my dining companion’s favorite brunch places, I had never ventured over here despite seeing how cute it looked from afar. I’m so happy she took me! While having one major flaw, I overall really enjoy eating here.
The negative thing is: portion sizes are dainty and not cheap. I’m not a dainty person, especially when it comes to breakfast. This sometimes causes an issue, but it’s more about the quality of the food and experience than getting full.
The positives are plentiful. The restaurant itself is located at the far Diamond Head side of Ward Villages next to a pretty playground and park. There is ample parking in lots and garages around the shopping complex. It’s also easy to walk here from Ala Moana Park and Ala Moana Center. The restaurant is pretty inside: very modern straight lines and stone. It’s also bright with light color choices. I like how most of the restaurant has big windows that let in the bright beautiful days. Seating is not plentiful, so you may have to wait. They have small clean restrooms. The staff has been overwhelming positive; very professional and easy to please.
The food is wonderful. It’s one of my favorite places for eggs benedict, as they have unique takes on it. I’m a ketchup connoisseur as well, and this is one of the only places I know that makes theirs homemade. It’s a wonderful addition to their flavorful eggs. The iced tea is refreshing and delicious. This is a great stop on a sunny weekend morning!

1. VERDICT/​VALUE
Great Swedish breakfast joint reasonably priced with great coffee in the heart of Kaka’ako — recommended!
2. FOOD
It starts with the coffee ($ 2.75). Is it really Illy coffee? Nope — Tango has a fantastic coffee machine that makes Lion coffee taste heavenly… dreamy sigh.
As a sucker for soft, delicate, flaky pastries, the Baked Goods dish ($ 3) is expensive for three small pastries (two apple and one raisin), but it makes a great start to breakfast!
The Fried Rice ($ 8.75) faces a lot of competition in town, but it’s always a good choice here, served with three pieces of Portuguese sausage and one egg your way.
The Loco Moco Benedict ($ 11.50) steps it up a notch, featuring poached eggs with Hollandaise sauce on the double-​delight bed of braised beef and fried rice. Yum… if only they could make it bigger ;)
A single pancake add-​on will set you back $ 3.95, but it’s light and fluffy, served with plenty of butter and syrup.
3. SERVICE
Always good — and theoretically, you only get one free refill of coffee, but the staff are pretty good at sneaking you as many refills as you want :) The place is popular and so can be busy, but the manager/​owner seems to always keep a sharp eye out to keep your wait for a table to a minimum.
4. ATMOSPHERE
This modern, contemporary location accommodates small, intimate groups and large groups easily (call ahead if you have one of those). Parking is usually plentiful in the adjacent covered/​underground parking lot — just get there early to avoid the rush!

Another 5-​star visit. There’s no other so far. We’ve been there lots! Another perfect serving of gravlox again; & again, enough to take home for dinner. My friend had the cheeseburger with bacon and fries and onion
soup. After some serious grinding, bowl & plate were virtually empty… must have been good. Then desserts: crème brûlée for me & brownie ala mode for my friend. Both were ok, however the custard had a «fruity» flavor I didn’t care for. All in all, Tango is still the go to place for me!

Thank you for delicious food and amazing service! Tami, thank you very much for your help!

They would not accommodate my party of 8 and did not even try and the place was empty? We drove all the way fro Mililani? So we ate next door and they treated us with Aloha!

This dining experience started out promising enough. Saw the reviews on Unilocal,and the general good buzz…
Upon arriving at the restaurant, no one greeted us and instead a sign directed us to check in for seating. We wrote our name down and assumed that we would be seated promptly, given the numerous empty tables.
Ten minutes of idle time would pass by before anyone even checked the list… Another five (which I assumed involved an existential crisis as the restaurant staff debated the merits of having a sign in list when no one knew who was supposed to check it), before we were seated.
We were subsequently waited on by a delightful young lady whose smile didn’t extend beyond her teeth, and were treated to some of the most enjoyable re-​heated entrees I have experienced since my amazing time at Buena Sera in Kailua.
The «gravlax» was quite tasty, although it consisted of approximately 1 ounce of actual cured salmon, and roughly enough reheated potatoes to have fed Ireland.
My girlfriend had the «duck confit» and unfortunately, when attempting to give me a taste, she inadvertently gave me all of the duck meat, such was the size of the portions.
Our server never bothered to ask us how the food was, but as opposed to our experience in Buena Sera, I don’t think her lack of questioning was due to embarrassment, but rather apathy with regards to our dining experience.
A bright note to the meal was the home made cream with fruit. Also, the iced tea had UNLIMITED refills.
In their defense, I was hungry and grouchy… And was expecting a good dining experience as opposed to decidedly mediocre one.

Nice atmosphere with trendy decoations. My friends and I were seated once we arrived although we did make reservations because we heard it can be packed. The food was good and flavorful but not out of this world outstanding.
The owner was very sweet and even moved tables/​chairs to hell us get a nice group picture.
Overall a good experience and would recommend for dates or nice get togethers.

AMAZING FOOD! Had the Original Eggs Benedict, to die for! and the Sweedish Pancackes were amazing with the special homemade jam.
LOVED IT!

Ordered takeout for lunch today– chicken salad sandwich with cheddar cheese and French fries ($ 11.50). Called in my order and was told it would take about 15 minutes and sure enough when I walked into the restaurant 15 minutes later, I paid for my food and was ready to go!
Tango is a really cute little restaurant and I always enjoy the food! It’s been awhile since I last ate here but my sandwich today did not disappoint. Will definitely be back again soon!

Very bad and unfortunately rude treatment by (I’m assuming) the owner. I wanted to have a Thanksgiving brunch with my two daughters, so we went to Tango to try their Thanksgiving special today. I usually don’t bother with postings and social media, but our experience today was discriminating, and the worst I’ve experienced.
The first negative was the woman, who I am assuming is an owner, asked us to wait out side. It was windy and rainy and we were the only party that was waiting for one of the three small tables. I politely declined as I wasn’t going to have my two 6 year old daughters wait in the bad weather.
Second negative was that when the table was ready, the same lady told us she to step aside so she could seat a couple that walked in at least 10 minutes after us. With that kind of treatment, I told her never mind and that we’ll just go somewhere else.
I have been having lunch with my daughters on a weekly basis since they were 2. We’ve been every where from Bob’s to Neiman. This is the first time we’ve been so rudely treated. I would not spend a penny at Tango, even if they had good food. Maybe she was afraid I wasn’t her class and couldn’t afford the food because I was wearing a Panerai instead of a Rolex.
Fortunately we went to a better place and had a nice lunch. I would rate Tango zero stars if that was possible.

We went to Saturday Brunch and had Salmon Eggs Benedict and Traditional Eggs Benedict. Both were so good. Eggs were cooked perfect! Coffee is sooooo good! We ordered Blueberry Bread Pudding to go, they came with yummy vanilla bean sauce.
We love this restaurant!
Marimekko fabrics and wooden table and stylish plates made us feel like being in Finland!

Many improvements in the past couple years!
Love this place for lunch – they have an array of sandwiches and salads along with a few more heavier dishes like risotto. The menu is very good, there’s something for everyone.
I recently had the roasted beet salad, and it was amazing. Like I can’t stop thinking about it. I must go back as soon as possible just to have that salad again. The house ketchup that they serve with fries is super tasty too.
Good coffee (used to be even better when they served Illy, but it is still good), refreshing iced tea and Italian sodas. Ohh and yummy desserts! The cinnamon gelato is still my fave.

I came here for the first time to try to their brunch menu. We arrived around 9:30am and there was a wait but we opted to sit at the bar so we got seated right away. Yay! Little did we know… sitting on the counter is a bit odd because you are staring at a wall and the counter isn’t that big. My friend couldn’t even cross her legs under the counter so she sat sideways. I suggest you just wait a little while longer to get a table.
I ordered the Crab Eggs Benedict and my friend ordered the Corn Beef Hash with eggs. A friend of mine was working and she gave us the day’s pastries! They were apple, guava, and cinnamon raisin. I liked the guava the best! It had a strong guava flavor but wasn’t too overly sweet.
My Crab Eggs Bene was delicious! I loved that the bread was crispy and not soggy from the hollandaise sauce. The crab was a crab cake and it was really good! It had just the right amount of crab flavor and wasn’t fishy. The potatoes it came with were also flavorful. I’m not sure what it was glazed with but it was delicious! I loooove ketchup and I actually didn’t have to put that much on because the potatoes itself were flavorful.
My friend said she enjoyed her Corn Beef Hash. She had a mound of corn beef chunks mixed with potato chunks with 2 fluffy scrambled eggs on top. No complaints at all so I assume it was yummy!
What my friend couldn’t stop raving about was the coffee. They serve Lion’s Coffee but what made it over the top was how they made it. There was foam in every cup of coffee she drank. She said it was the best coffee she’s ever drank and she drinks alot of coffee!
The service was just okay for me. Think I expected more from this place because it’s supposed to be a little more upscale, not just another breakfast diner. We were only checked on a couple times during our meal. He brought us condiments but didn’t explain what they were. We asked for ketchup and he brought us two different ones. We didn’t know what the other was and again, he never really checked on us so we didn’t get a chance to ask. Since we were facing the wall, we didn’t want to turn around and look for our waiter so we just left it alone. It was only after we were halfway through our meal and needed more ketchup did I ask what the other sauce was. He told us that it was their homemade ketchup. Omg! If you make your own ketchup, I would think the workers would be required to explain it or say something about it. He simply said it’s homemade ketchup and walked away.
Overall, I thought the food was good, but the service, not so much. While we were leaving the parking structure, the lady taking tickets mentioned their loco moco bene was the best loco moco she’s ever eaten! I’m pretty interested in coming back just to try that! Tango, you just earned yourself a repeat customer thanks to your friendly parking attendant.

The fried rice was really nicely seasoned with lots of small diced veggies, bits of char siu.
Our waiter Reuben was really nice and patient, especially considering how indecisive I am!
Parking is free on Saturday and Sunday! Would I return? Yes!

It was Okay.
The environment is nice. But it took awhile for the one of the servers to greet us, although it is a very small restaurant, they are definitely not in a hurry to seat their customers. We didn’t like to stand by the door for too long waiting for a seat. It gave out a cold vibe.
The food was ok, they are too salty for me. The food also took a long time to arrive. Just the free bread and dipping oil alone took about 15 minutes. The charcuterie took 25 minutes. We were just sitting with water for a while. Perhaps the restaurant doesn’t want customer to finish their free bread and dipping, and ask for more, since the dishes were slow coming.
We ordered the grass beef with ham wrapped prawns, and the duck leg confit and breasts. The beef was good, and the duck was OK. While in Paris, Duck leg confit was my favorite dish at Brasserie Lipp, I have been looking for this dish for a long time in Honolulu. Finally found it there at Tango. Sadly, it wasn’t even comparable.
Overall, the restaurant was OK, but probably will not remain on our memories for too long. Might not come back again because it isn’t too attractive to us.

Took a very good friend for Father’s Day since his kids were out of town. He had the scallops, came with three and they were huge! I had the braised beef and it was very tender. And the bottle wine went very well with both dishes. As for dessert, we had the Cream brûlée and I think it was Strawberry Apple crumbs.
Overall this place is great! I’m only giving it a four stars because they ran out of brownies with ice cream :-(

Breakfast coffee with one friend turned into more of a brunch thing waiting for a friend to show up but anyhow, I normally drink Starbucks iced caramel macchiato’s so I figured why not try one here since its early in the morning & I’m a bit tired. Omg! I loved it! I wanted to get another but that would be dangerous since I’m sensation to caffeine. I had previously looked online at the menu & was set on getting the smoked salmon bagel. Got there & looked at the menu, didn’t see any so I said I hope I can get the risotto. It’s very rare that you find risotto on a menu anywhere. Wait for the food wasn’t that long, ordered it with chicken… should have ordered it with shrimp instead. Everything was good except the chicken, it was on the dry side. But no big deal just ate a couple of pieces.
For some reason or another, my crazy friends decided to order desserts at like 9:30 am… For the crème brûlée which was amazing & the strawberry mango crumble? I’m allergic to fresh mango so I had a taste of it, that too was pretty amazing! Overall I’d come back for the coffee & to try other items on the menu.

I ate at Tango for brunch today & tried their Swedish pancakes, after reading Emi’s review & recommendation. I was not disappointed — the Swedish pancakes are accompanied by fresh berries and a slightly tart berry compote and a side of fresh whipped cream. It was light & flavorful. I ordered a half order of Muesli of oats & honey, which came with walnuts, fresh strawberries & blueberries and petite pieces of honeydew & cantaloupe, and very filling.
Service is prompt & friendly. I didn’t make a brunch reservation, but if you have a group, I would recommend it.

I’ve always liked the ambiance of this little café, but nothing about the food was calling me to return. That is, until I heard they were serving brunch on the weekends. The next chance I got, I rounded up the family and made a reservation for a Saturday morning. We were not disappointed. The extensive brunch menu offers a great selection that ensures there is something for everyone in your party. And it’s affordable.
I loved my bagel burger ($ 11.50) and the Swedish pancakes ($ 8.75) were very delicious without being too sweet. My family had the shredded duck confit hash ($ 9.75), original Pytt I Panna — Swedish for stuff in a pan ($ 9.50), country style corned beef hash ($ 9.50) and Hamakua mushroom frittata ($ 12.50). We ordered ala carte for the little ones: bacon ($ 3.75) and 2 eggs ($ 3.25) We ended the meal with affogato di gelato ($ 6.50). It was excellent and I liked that they could do decaf espresso shots for my pregnant sister.
With its affordable prices and bright ambiance, this place is perfect to host a celebration if you have a small group of about 20 or less. There are 3 rectangular tables that line one of the walls which can seat 6 – 8 people each.
Will definitely be back!

Oh Hurricane Iselle… I am thankful that you hardly hit Oahu. And thanks for causing me to have a day off of work ;) However, everything was closed that Friday! RAWR. Trying to find a place to eat was difficult =_​_​=
THANK GOODNESS TANGO WAS OPEN~!
I been to Tango once for dinner a couple years back. I never tried their lunch menu, so I was excited to get to try something new.
When we arrived at Tango, we were seated immediately. It wasn’t busy, and I’m guessing that’s because a lot of people were unaware that they were open.
The server was super nice and attentive. He went over the specials of the day and recommended a lot of good dishes.
The Grub.
[[ GRAVLAX SANDWICH $ 12.50 ]]
This is Chef Goran’s signature. This delish sandwich comes with boursin cheese, sliced hard boiled egg, tomato, cucumber, and mustard dill sauce. This wasn’t your typical sandwich you eat between two slices of bread. The presentation was beautifully arranged with all the yummy toppings on top of one slice of bread. So this is more of a fork and knife kind of deal.
[[ CRAB CAKE SANDWICH $ 15.50 ]]
Decided to try this because it was the Friday daily special. I mean how could you say no to Dungeness crab cake sandwich with avocado and nori bun! :D
Overall I thought this place was great~! The server was attentive and the food was good. I found out that they serve breakfast here too, so I definitely want to come back to check that out! :3

Great loco moco!