Tamarind Tree

The drink prices here are over the top, $8.00 for a single shot of call liquor. This was a small shot in a small glass with soda and ice. Unfortunately that took away from the over all experience. The food flavors are interesting but don't set the world on fire . Having to prepare your own wraps in a tiny bowl of water and piles of greens, makes for a lot of waste for this diner. The prepared Tamarind wraps (appetizer) are an interesting experince for the palate. Flavors are pretty much the same for each dish. Stick to the food and save your drink money for some other great bar. Pros: Ambiance, Tamarind Rolls Cons: Drink prices way to high more

It what it is! There?s a reason this Vietnamese restaurant is packed tighter than a Tokyo subway with 30 some patrons shoehorned in shoulder to shoulder waiting an hour or more for a table, all while neighboring restaurants serving up similar dishes stand eerily quiet. The food, the drinks, the atmosphere are all spot on IF you know what to expect. I met a bunch of friends there on a Saturday night and frankly eating was not really the primary objective so the whole experience was lively and fun despite the wait. Were I heading out to grab a bite to eat and catch a show, however, this is the last place I?d consider. The wait is terribly long and the fact they don?t take reservations is pretty absurd. Though I can see the advantage from a restaurateurs perspective in making us customers wait. It?s really our choice to hang around up front for an hour and in doing so perpetuates the buzz. Pros: Food, drinks, atmosphere Cons: promt service more

Tamarind Tree is the kind of restaurant that you have to know about to find. Hidden off the road in the... more

Tamarind Tree is the kind of restaurant that you have to know about to find. Hidden off the road in the International District (you'll drive by it... more

All I can say is I'm glad I live within walking distance. I go to Viet Wah market all the time for Asian ingredients but had never tried Tamarind Tree until now. We had a large table (15) and though it was a tight sqeeze at a smaller table initially, the staff warmly accomodated all of us as soon as another table came open. I've heard from others about some dodgy service in the past. Not on this packed Saturday night! The owner seated us and the service was prompt, accurate and friendly all night. Everyone in our party was well cared for. The vermicelli bowls left something to be desired but the green papaya salad with fresh mint was nothing short of amazing. All the fish and sweet sauces, including for the vermicelli bowls were tasty, with just the right amoung of zing and sweetness. A friend ordered the Lemongrass and chili tofu which is totally what I'm getting next time. It's destined to become my new favorite dish and raison d'etre in my kitchen at home. Get ready, the menu is 27 pages long. It took forever to decide. Lots of vegetarian and seafood options. Portions are medium sized, not too big, not too small. Gran an order of anything called ""Tamarind Tree"" *whatever* if you're hungry. Unique flavors and textures await. Everything (except the drinks) at a bargain price. Parking stinks! Carpool or park on the street if you can. I will wave as I walk past on my way home, with a piping hot order of lemongrass chili tofu in the bag. Pros: Beautiful ambience, a wide selection of fresh, unique & flavorful dishes, prompt service, fair prices. Cons: BUSY (good for them but make reservations!), crowded Asian Plaza parking lot more

No surprises here. I heard about this place from my girlfriend, who couldn't stop talking about the food. Since she's Vietnamese and a local I could only assume she knew what she was talking about. After that I read a few reviews on City Search and other community sites. Everyone says the same thing: good atmosphere, decent to good service, and fantastic food. Well I finally went last week I was not let down! If you're new to Vietnamese food I highly recommend the noodle bowls, especially the Tamarind Tree Noddle Bowl. I also had one vegetarian in my party and their dish looked great. The bad part was parking on a Friday night. Pros: Ambience is very nice: classy, but little pretense. Cons: Parking can be crowded during peak hours. more

First off, I would like to comment on all the suspect reviews that are slamming this place. Everyone that slams this place seems to have a grudge against the owner or some other hidden agenda. All these ""reviews"" seems to have intimate knowledge of the owner and her staff. Questionable. All these reviewers also only have ONE review on citysearch and it's only for this restaurant. They also proceed to recommend some other Vietnamese place to eat at. Fishy? I'm sure some are genuine, but all of them? no. Pros: food, ambience Cons: customer service more

Don't be fooled by the decor. For a Vietnamese restuarant, sure Tamarind Tree is above par when it comes to the decor and plate setting. That was one of the reasons I always went here. However, on several past visits, it has me rethinking. On one occassion I came for lunch with my father. My meal came out a good 30 minutes before his meal followed. I took it as a one time thing and still returned. But my last trip has me permanently banning the restuarant. This time I was in with my husband for lunch. We ordered one appetizer to share and 1 entree each. My husband's meal came out first. About 10 minutes later, the appetizer came out placed in front of me with no plates. My entree finally came out another 15 minutes later at which point my husband was pretty much done with his meal. To top it off, when I cut into my chicken, it was uncooked in the center. When I brought it to the attention of my waitor, instead of immediately taking the dish away, I was asked to cut into another piece to see if it was cooked. After complying to the waitor's request, he responded with, ""oh, it looks fine. I'll just have the kitchen reheat the one piece."" The service here definitely does not match its decor. One further note, I checked King County health inspection records to find that Tamarind Tree has been visited about a dozen times in the last year, with one shut down for health reasons in November 2005. Trust me, you're better off hitting up one of the other local Vietnamese spots like Huong Binh or Lemongrass. Pros: decor Cons: parking, service, undercooked food more

My friend and I dined here two days ago. We ordered an appetizer, a ""bon bon"" salad, and we each ordered an entree. It took them approximately 15-18 minutes for the server to notice we are there and another 20 minutes to get our appetizer. By the time our entree arrived at our table we were there over an hour. The portion was super small, the quality is not there, but our total bill was $34.78 not including tip. I wouldn't rate this place is a romantic place because all they did was they dim the light really really dard, to a point you can't even tell if your food was fully cooked. Our our shrimp cake was spoiled so we decided to acknowledge the owner on our way out and her respond was, ""Oh, really!"" and that was it! We will never come back and we DO NOT RECOMMEND this restaurant for anyone! Pros: NOTHING Cons: Super small portion, spoiled food, HORRIBLE service more

This is a difficult review for me to write, as I feel that I've been able to see both sides of the coin on this restaurant. I was very happy when Tamarind Tree came about, as it gave me an opportunity to get some of my friends into eating Vietnamese food--food of which was prepared well and was delicious. I especially love the tamarind tree rolls and think about them often when I am not eating there. However, as it turns out, and old friend of mine had been working there as a server for some time. Because of her, I found that the way the waitstaff was being treated was very unfair. Including, but not limited to having percentages of their tips taken away for the fact that customers would use their charge cards. These weren't small percentages either. Later on, I dined with a server who shared similar stories with me. Sure, this may sound unprofessional, but it didn't come across that way at all. If anything, it sounded like a cry for help! It's difficult for me to dine in a place where I feel that workers are being treated fairly and are being taken care of. I hope that this, and the negative feedback I've read in other reviews sends a message to the management of Tamarind Tree that things need to be changed in this regard. The food is great, but the servers and staff need to be treated fairly. Pros: tamarind tree rolls Cons: poorly treated waitstaff that leaves a burden on your conscience, long waits more

I used to go to Tamarind Tree all the time when it first opened. It was nice to eat decent Vietnamese food outside of my mom's house. The place is well decorated giving it a warm ambience and the price is reasonable. Pros: Good decoration Cons: Terribly rude management in an overcrowded restaurant! more

Pros: Great menu choices Cons: Parking when busy, parking lot trash more

I have gone here before, but wanted so badly to have a good experience. I am Vietnamese and want to support the community. Parking is horrible with spaces made for bicycles used for SUV's. The restaurant is nice walking in, but soon realized you are in for a wait. I'm okay with that, but as the owner's sister is yelling at the staff and telling them how she will make them pay, the nightmare starts. We are seated too closely to the next table, the drinks are weak and overpriced. The wait staff continues to get yelled at and the food then comes as westernized as a taco bell is to Mexican food. The entrees soon follow with a version of bun thit nuong I will not soon forget. The meat was horrible, dry and salty, I thought they had used beef jerky instead of grilled pork. The vermicelli was over cooked and gummy. The vegetables were incorrect. Lots of iceberg lettuce instead of green leaf lettuce and other herbs. I was most disappointed as I feel mislead by users of Citysearch and the editors. If you do not know much about Vietnamese cuisine, please do NOT act like you do. I will not be back and hopefully the editors of Citysearch will not recommend this as the best place for Vietnamese in Seattle. Are the editors of CitySearch new to ""exotic"" cuisine? Did they pick a place with nice decor over food? As for the reasonable prices, NO, they are not reasonable. Go next door to Vietnam House and compare. Please eat more than just PHO, before proclaiming your expertise. I hope PF Chang's is not recommended as the best Chinese food in Seattle. That would be the final straw. Pros: Decor, place settings Cons: Food, parking, management more

The food is not worth the terrible service. I can't believe citysearch gives this restaurant such high ratings. This is the most disorganized place I've ever been to and the bland to mediocore food that came out of the kitchen after an hour and a half wait did not make up for it. Starters and entrees were forgotten and drinks had to be asked for at least twice. more

Fabulous, especially for the price. It was about $7 a dish and the setting is beautiful, romantic with a waterfall and fireplaces outside, in the winter there are heatlamps!!! GREAT!!! Pros: Beautiful, Great price, Excellent food Cons: Sketchy neighborhood at night more

This is some of the best food I have had. They have the best eggrolls in the world. It is a really hidden find. I haven't had anything that I did not like. Friendly and helpful staff and everything is a great price. Check it out! Pros: Mindblowing food, ambience for the price, price Cons: Service not so good when busy more

As a Vienamese person who loves his culture and cuisine, I am sadden to see this place rated by staff members of Citysearch as being the best. The food is of poor quality and not authentic. What is worst is how the owners treat and talk to there staff. I can understand them when they yell at the workers in foul / slang language. The patrons of this place then support this behavior. They reinforce it with the owners and citysearch also is part of that. Please go else where for good vietnamese food, and support people who deserve your patronage. Pros: Nice decor Cons: Management, food. more

It's absurd to give this place any reviews higher than Below Average. First, the unprofessionalism of the wait staff was laughable. The place may look nice, but the service is Chinatown service. However, you can't blame the wait staff for being so high strung and rushing, because the owner talks to them like they were slave. I am a vietnamese patron, and I overheard the manager telling the server that she had to pay for the dish that my girlfriend didn't eat because her chicken was RAW! I would give this place a Not Recommended rating, but I really think people should see it for themselves at least once, just be careful about ordering anything soupy..... Pros: Ambience, Nice decor for a place in Chi-Town Cons: Under/Over-cooked food, Pretentious atmosphere, Staff and management incompetence more

maximizing its bottom LINE at the expense of its EMPLOYEES and CUSTOMER SERVICE. Pros: Nothing to write home about Cons: Tam & his sister berate their employees in front of customers more

My friends were raving about this place, so I went to dinner there the other night. The atmosphere is nice, light dimmed, candles...It looked like a nice place compared to all the resturants in the ID district! I had the braised fish, which came out in a tiny little hotpot and was 70% smaller than I thought it would have been. It was good but wasn't anything to rave about. I also sampled a tamarind martini, which I wasn't too impressed with. The Lemongrass martini was better. The reason why I gave this place a little higher than average is because of the desert. We had the grilled banana rice cake, I loved it. I'd go again, but it is not high on my list for vietnamese list. Pros: Nice atmosphere, close to Downtown, the Desert was great! Cons: I heard during dinner time the resturant gets packed quickly and there is a long wait. Food was just ok. more