T.A. RESTAURANT,

Going out for dinner is often a mini-excursion into a different culture. Not only does the Fall River restaurant known as T.A. (Tabacaria Açoreana) occupy a space between a Portuguese grocery and a Portuguese gift shop, with a Portuguese bakery, baby shop, and fish market just down the street. But you-hear the shushing glide and falling lilt of the language the minute you step through the door: from the staff, a TV tuned to a Portuguese-language station, and a group of seven or eight men near the bar who stopped by on their way home from work. Even the menu has a full-page listing dinner choices in Portuguese. But for us non-native speakers, most of the menu is in English, with helpful notes following the title of a dish. A good example is in the listings for shrimp and littleneck appetizers. The shrimp ($6.95 and $8.75) can be ordered alhinho, Mozambique, or "T.A. style," which are respectively garlic, hot sauce and garlic, or tomato sauce and garlic. Littlenecks ($5.95 or $7.95) are offered Azorean (onions and wine), Spanish-style (tomato and onions), or bulhao pato (beer and garlic). Our waiter helpfully pointed out that-alhinho has the most garlic, and we dove for that, along with Azorean littlenecks, both in "small" portions.

Full review.