Tamarind Tree

I was here on a lunch meeting with a business associate and our request for a large table was not greeted with enthusiasm. The stuffed squid appetizer was overcooked. When we actually ordered our main courses, I had ordered the Special Steamed Rice Rolls - one of my favorites. 15 minutes later, they bring out my colleague's pho. He politely waited for me to be served. 5 minutes later, I'm urging him to eat otherwise his pho would be no good. Still no food for me. I called the waitress - she seemed to have forgotten about my food. She leaves and comes back to tell me that they only had half a portion of the steamed rice rolls and it was not very good so they don't want to serve it. Would I like to substitute with steamed pork rolls instead. Why didn't they know this fifteen minutes ago??? Do I have choice? A few minutes later, she placed a plate in front of me that left me speechless. The plate was covered with grilled pork on one side and cooked beansprouts on the other. On the side was a whole pile of FRENCH FRIES and a lone, grilled shrimp. My first response: ""What the h--- is this on my plate??"" For those who don't know , this dish is suppose to have plump, steamed rice rolls stuffed with a ground pork mixture. It is served with pork roll, steamed bean sprouts, herbs, and fish sauce (dipping sauce). The special may have grilled pork but it must have banh cong ( a deep fried ""shrimp bread""). My rice rolls were flat and there only 3 of them (buried underneath all that other stuff) which would not have satisfied my 5 year-old but more importantly, what the heck was french fries doing on my plate!!!!!! I am sooooo offended I took it all off my plate. Pros: Nice decor Cons: food, service, chipped serviceware more

Bad place, way too expensive, not very good service but food was decent more

After TWO prior bad service experiences, we decided to give this place a third and, as it turned out, final chance. The food is overall good, and we had out-of-town visitors who were craving Vietnamese food. Pros: Food Cons: Service, indifferent management, parking more

We took a chance , the food wasn't that good, service was rude and disrespectful. Overpriced . more

I have been to Tamarind Tree once, long ago to dine in the restaurant. I thought it was good. This posting is for the last time I ordered. Pros: Used to be good Cons: weird stuff in food more

The food here is very overpriced, especially compared to the many fine local Vietnamese places along Jackson St. I lived in Dalat so I know the cuisine and this is not true, authentic Vietnamese food. It is designed to get white people to pay more for something they cannot tell is NOT Vietnamese cuisine. The worst of it all though is the manager who was screaming at the various servers. She was a shrill banshee and her tantrums only spoiled the mood (we speak Viet and she was insulting and cursing her staff for a variety of silly things.) Combine this horrific shreaking with inauthentic Vietnamese food and we were very put off. What a waste! You should avoid this place. DO NOT give this boorish family your money!! Pros: Nothing at all Cons: Inauthrntic food, Owner was cursing her staff throughout the meal! more

Very good, tasty and Fresh. We had quite a sampling of the food and it was all great. Easliy one of out favorites. Try the escargot, the Crepes, and the soups. Entering the place at night is a little scary, it looks like you should not be there, but once inside the ambiance is quite nice. more

we have been here many times and love the food here. Within reasonable price range. They have lots of vegetarian options too. If you get confused with the long menu list, simply ask a server and he will happily assist you. The desserts are great too! Love this place. Pros: tasty food, variety, parking Cons: tables are too close. more

Quick review of the restaurant, I agree with one of the reviewers and how this restaurant now caters to Americans. This is reflected in the price of their dishes and also the majority of patrons that dine there. The pricing for most of the items are about $5-7 more than most Vietnamese restaurants but are cheap in comparison to a American restaurant, i.e. Applebees, Denny's. Many unfamiliar diners will see the price and think wow, cheap for ""authentic"" Vietnamese food. Parking was horrible, I saw critters by a dumpster scavaging for food. I don't know about you but this does not wet my appetite. The place is super busy and way over crowded. Their staff seemed to not know how to handle the situation as they were screaming names of those who opted not to wait the 30 min. We had reservations at 7 and 30 mins later were seated. The food was ok, not worth the additional charge. We ordered a veg. spring roll and the presentation was nice but lacked flavor. My dish also lacked flavor. The chicken in my bun dish was overcooked, the pork stale and the single grilled prawn I had was lacking. The only good thing about the dish was the ground shrimp. This was upsetting because this dish would be around $7 at most Vietnamese restaurants, so for $12 dollars I was expecting something really exceptional. I've had better and most of the surrounding Vietnamese restaurants within the proximity make better dishes. I had to ask 3 times to get a fork for my friends and begged for water. The waitress seemed upset that we were asking for water. Finally, I asked for a pitcher and this helped a little bit. The experience was just not what I expected since the decor was really nice. I still don't understand why it was so busy? My take is that many of the good reviews and patrons there are also the same ones that think Panda Express is authentic Chinese and that Taco Bell is Mexican. I will never eat here again. Once is good enough. Pros: decor Cons: service, parking, long wait, poor communication, bland food, a bit over priced more

Go in and count how many white people are inside versus the number of asians. You have hyour answer. This place does not serve asian food - this is Vietnamese food for white people. If you want Asian food then go to one of the other real authentic vietnamese places all over Jackson Street. This is like going to Panda Express only with Panda Express you are in a mall or airport. Here you walk through a garbage dump to get inside a ""fancy"" bistro. Puuuhleeeeze! This ain't Asian food - just to let all you white folks know. You want Asian? Try any of the other places cuz this place ain't serving Vietnamese food! Cons: This is NOT Asian food - it's designed for Gwei Lo more

We had dinner here and the service was awful, simply awful. The manager was shouting at the staff for a variety of things but we couldn't understand since it was in Vietnamese. We thought this was really terrible but then she came over to a table and began yelling at a customer! Her behavior really spoiled the atmosphere. That wasn't the worst of it. The food was ok - average at best. We thought we had an average meal that was made a lot worse by the manager's behavior but then we ended up sitting on the toilet all night. The shrimp or chicken must have been off because we had severe stomach distress all night long. I must have gone 10 times while my wife was camped out in the guest toilet for several hours. That awful woman who oversees this dump should be made to eat her tainted food and suffer as we were made to suffer. Cons: we were sick to our stomachs with really bad diarreah more

I love to eat out, and Tamarind Tree is my favorite place to go. From the outside it's unimpressive, but the inside is upscale, trendy, and has great lighting. When you walk in it feels like you've found a hidden treasure. The atmosphere is comfortable and bustling, but the best part is the food. Everything I've tried has been superb, but please don't leave without eating the spring rolls, yellowfish, garlic green beans, and the grilled banana cake. I promise, you'll dream about this food at night! Pros: the grilled banana cake! Cons: sometimes you have to wait a while to get in more

Warning to those who have a peanut or any other kind of allergies. I told the waiter, specifically about my deadly allergy and he assured me that no peanuts or peanut product of any kind would be in my order. Well disguised in my last bite was a bunch of peanuts, i had to leave the restaurant immediately to get medical treatment. Watch out! more

You know what they say: You can tell the authenticity of an ethnic restaurant's food just by looking at the ethnicity of the patrons. Tamarind's patrons are mostly white. Need I say more? Pros: Nice interior Cons: Food, location, slow service, parking more

We have dined at this restaurant for years and have never been disappointed. We've brought squeamish out of town guests who were terrified to try anything new or different. Tamarind tree, even when busy has never disappointed us. Be sure to order the Tamarind Tree rolls, they are incredible. Pros: amazing food Cons: hard to read the menu, fine light print more

I've been to this place a few times and every time i keep expecting the service to be better but it never is. I went there today just for a pick-up order and the lady was extreemely rude at the counter. The food is average but the service is what will keep me away in the future!!! Cons: Terrible service more

Start with the overpowering SMELL OF FECAL MATTER emanating from the men's room. Add in POOR QUALITY FOOD - bland food, overcooked noodles, limited amount of meat . Add a dash of HAIR IN SOUP for flavor. Let customer simmer for more than 30 minutes while waiting for food to arrive, ensure wait staff ignore all attempts at inquiry. Allow customer to come to boil then ignore once again. There you have your Tamarind Tree experience. The food is not that good but the staff is completely aloof and beyond caring. No, this is a dodgy place serving up mediocre fare at inflated prices with atrocious service Cons: You could smell customer's feces more

The food was not good, the service was lousy, and the ambiance was tinged by the smell of feces. But that's not the worst of it. I had the raging hershey squirts last night after eating at this place. I thought the worst thing was when a burly dude goes into the gents and unleashes the mother of all corn fed wrinkle neck brown trout. The smell of feces saturated the dining room. We were actually laughing because it was so bizarre. We couldn't eat because of the stink but that was ok since the food was served to us cold. The real ordeal came later when all that curry came howling out my backside. I had the raging squirts all night. Do not eat at this place. Cons: I got severe diarreah from eating the shite at this dump - DONT EAT HERE! more

There were five of us. This place is not set up for anything more than four so we waited almost an hour. We watched the staff clear tables but not set up a five top then seat others who came in after us. asked the manager if we could be seated and she just walked away. When we were finally seated it took more than 25 minutes to get our starters. We ordered 4 starters and five main courses. Let me just summarize by saying the food was lean on meat and the temperature went from blazing hot cold in a matter of minutes -p a sure sign of nuked out of the cooler rather than freshly made. We brought this to the server's attention but she ignored us. I sought out the manager who screamed that we were rude and pushy! Unbelieveable! We did nothing wrong, certainly nothing to warrant such a reaction. We will never return and you should avoid this awful place! Cons: Terrible service, uncouth manager, reheated food more

This is the best vietnamese food I've had in Seattle. A friend who spent a month in Vietnam turned me on to this place and I go at least twice a month. Even though I try to switch it up a bit, there are several dishes that are hard not to order. The papaya salad is a great summer dish. The Tamarind Tree rolls are delicious and fresh. There's something crispy in the center that takes care of that usually boring texture of fresh rolls. The tofu satay will make a believer out of the strongest anti-tofu person out there. It tastes like it came off of a backyard grill. Smoky, firm, delicious. The best part is the price. Two people can over order, stuff themselves, drink a bottle of wine, take home leftovers, and get out of there for less than $60 with tip. more