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Categories: Vietnamese, Caterers [Edit]
Neighborhood: International DistrictMon-Thu. 10:00 a.m. - 10:00 p.m.
Fri-Sat. 10:00 a.m. - 12:00 a.m.
Sun. 10:00 a.m. - 10:00 p.m.
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#2 Best Vietnamese in Seattle (see my Wrap & Roll review for #1)
Very good selection of Traditional & Pan Asian/Fusion foods! Be sure that you ask if the menu item is available as sometimes they are not serving certain items.
And don't let them seat you outside if it is cold or breezy outside. It is worth the wait to sit inside if it is cold outside. On the other hand if it is nice and warm outside then the outside seating is nice.
Prices are fair and establishment is clean. Service is average.
Too many choices. I like choice, and I like Vietnamese food. Seems like this restaurant should be able to make me happy, but the house specialties were lost in the long menu. The entrees ($10-15) were generally too much of the same thing, and the smaller plates were unpredictably massive or tiny. Next time I come I would focus on splitting appetizers ($6-9) and deserts. I was blown away by the rice cakes, but the rest of the menu, while good, I felt I could get elsewhere for cheaper.
Coming here is to pay a premium for ambiance, with friendly but spotty service. Since the service isn't perfect, its hard to recommend the restaurant for upscale gatherings (dates, parents in town, etc).
Yeah, yeah. I'm not Vietnamese. You can take my review with a grain of salt.
I loved paging through the menu! There were so many delicious sounding dishes. I had no idea what to order, and the snob waiter hated it. When I decided (after MAYBE ten minutes) he told me they don't make that dish. What? So draw and X through it! Then he proceeded to push me into ordering Pineapple Seafood - $15. It was okay, lots of pineapple, pretty skimpy on the seafood (probably why pineapple came first in the name).
My sister ordered duck salad, which the menu said was skinless and boneless. There were no bones, but plenty of skin. I probably won't go back. Nothing drives me away from a restaurant like getting the stink eye from the waiter.
I will give Tamarind Tree a big thumbs up for inside ambiance. I will also say it's a big departure for the better compared to the restaurant that used to occupy that space up till Tamarind Tree purchased.
My uncle used to own the market a couple of doors down from the restaurant and I grew up visiting the area every week for 15 years. What I never have been able to get past was the strong aroma that permanents the parking lot, a combination of overflown trash and miscellaneous produce that is overripe.
The outside seating area is adjacent to what used to house a huge dumpster, until it got removed and Tamarind Tree took over part of the space. As for most Asian restaurants, whether it is upscale or not, the service seems to be a challenge for many.
The food is different than what you would typically find in the mom and pop Vietnamese restaurants. When I last visited, it was for a birthday party and we had tofu 12 ways (not a joke). I think some plates were repetitive :)
If you enjoy Vietnamese cuisine and crave something different than your standard Pho soup, then go and try it out.
The parking lot is always jam packed and it seems to attract a lot of bad drivers.
What they do really well is give you plenty of herbs with all your dishes and the food presentation is very nice.
You don't need to be vietnamese to have an opinion on this restaurant...
This place is so good. All of their dishes are really awesome and extremely original. They had a crepe filled with delicious vegetables and meat... who thinks of that? And it was gluten-free!
The waiter also new what to recommend and he was not wrong about anything! It was bomb! The menu is pretty extensive, a lot to sift through. Its nice to have options though.
The atmosphere is family friendly and super modern and fun.
This was really good!
Good Eats.
Forget all the white people reviewing this place; they really just don't know any better. Take it from a Vietnamese person, this is the BEST VIET RESTAURANT IN TOWN (sorry Green Leaf). Yeah yeah, parking sucks, and 75% of the patrons are non-Viet (scary sign), but the food is GREAT!
When I moved to Seattle 3 years ago, I kept asking every Viet person I know what is the best Viet place in town, and they all pointed me here (even the FOBs in the hair salons nearby told me this). I was like, "Huh? Seriously? That place looks so Americanized." So a friend dragged me here one day, and at first, I thought the food was good, but nothing to write home about. Then by the 2nd or 3rd time, you realize that it really is good.
My favorite dishes are the "goi cuon thit nuong" which are the spring rolls with grilled pork. I don't know if Green Leaf opened up after Tamarind tree, but they straight jacked this menu item. But the dish to get is the "hu thieu bo kho" which is the stewed beef in vermicelli noodle soup. I swear it's the best in town. Even my mom, who visited me from Houston, thought it was great, and you know when Momma, who comes from the Motherland, says something is good, she means it!
So if you're on a date or have out of town friends in town, and you want a nice classy relatively cheap Asian or Viet restaurant to go to, take them here. Just come early or go late (the wait sucks). By the way, this reminds me of the "Slanted Door" in San Fran, except it's a lot cheaper than SD.
It was much better before!
This is not your typical hole in the wall Vietnamese eatery with the really good egg rolls, but I really believe the food was better before. I went out to eat there recently and was a little disappointed with the food and the service. It wasn't terrible as some of you said, but just marginal. I usually have the "fresh roll tray"(thit nuang tray), and I swear more of the authentic pickled vegetables used to come out, but didn't. The spicy beef soup(bun' bo) which is a good substitute to your pho didn't have that spicy, rich and the soothing taste. It was actually pretty bland and much too sweet. Although, the fried spring rolls which had the flaky coating was delicious!
It's sad, how many restaurants become so commercialized. I kind of got the feeling that some of the patrons are there more for the chic atmosphere than wanting to eat some quality Asian cusine. I started going there even way before it was the "Tamarind tree" and right when it opened. And as I said, I liked it better before.
I mean don't get me wrong. You should go check it out especially if you're on a date or you want to eat some where pretty and stylish. Just get ready to deal with the awesome parking lot and the wonderful drivers! Enjoy
Wait, what? Try something besides pho? I'll admit, that's a stretch for me. I mean, I pride myself on being an adventurous eater, but girlfriend can throw down some pho.
The food is delish, and there are about 100 menu items- WOW! Highlights included cinnamon pork rice balls (totally different and a taste sensation!), Tamarind Tree Noodles, and the Central Broken Rice Crackers. I wasn't a big fan of the stuffed squid, it was a little too chewy.
The atmosphere is fine, I sat outside both times and they sure make it cute out there. The heat lamps can be a little too toasty though. I'll admit, my favorite part about Tamarind Tree is the location! They are in the corner of a strip mall, next to stinky dumpters and have managed to make it super cute! Might take you awhile to find the first time.
I love tamarind tree. Yes, the parking sucks, the service sucks too, but the food is solid and it's so pretty inside.
When I first came here I was afraid that it was going to be super expensive because the interior looks amazing (I am used to very badly decorated Asian restaurants) but the prices are fair (actually, it's pretty cheap). I like getting their soups: Shrimp patty noodles, Chicken noodles, and Hue spicy noodles. Their salads are always so good, love their mango salad, papaya salad and the Fresh lemongrass scallop salad. They have another dish that I really love too, don't remember the number but it's spicy lemongrass beef with rice noodles and fresh vegetables. The beef is yummy! I LOVE their Tamarind Tree soup, it's amazing. Comes with lots of fresh seafood in a kinda sweet and sour broth with tomato and pineapple. Sounds weird, but it's awesome. You eat this dish with rice.
I have also tried their 7 course beef, and it was very fun to try. Yummy too.
The tricky thing about this place is that they do have bad dishes (as with any other restaurants), so you kind of have to know what to order- which is hard if you are not similar with Vietnamese food. I recommend ordering their salads, it's pretty safe. Their rice dishes are safe too. The specialty soups are a hit or miss though, and people who do not like "exotic" food may not like it.
I took a star off because the service here can vary A LOT. I have been here many times, and they usually threat us very well. But one time I was there, they seated us, 2 minutes later, asked us to move to a different table, we did, then they asked us to move again, at this point I was pissed and left the restaurant.
Oh, another thing that bothers me is that their lunch/dinner prices are different (more expensive during diner) but the portion are the same. wth?
My friend who is Vietnamese brought me here for lunch yesterday. We arrived for a late lunch and were seated easily. The menu was overwhelming. There were too many things to choose from so I let my friend decide. We had the shrimp baguette as an appetizer and the 7 course beef to share. Her boyfriend had the Vietnamese pancake as his entree. First of all, the shrimp baguette were pieces of baguette topped with shrimp and sauce then deep fried. It was tasty, but little greasy.
If you are getting the 7 course beef, then getting an appetizer is not recommended. They give you a LOT of food. The beef salad was extremely delicious. I really don't like anything that resembles coleslaw or pickled things, but this salad was amazing. It had shredded cabbage with pickled onions and chilled sweet beef. Yummy, Yummy. Nice refreshing clean flavors.
They also gave us a lot of wrapping sides. Herbs and greens, vegetables, fruit, chilled noodles, and spring roll wraps.
It also comes with thinly slices of beef and a broth to cook it in. It reminded me of japanese shabu shabu. I really liked all the grilled beef dishes, but did not like the meatball. The meatball was too dry. Lastly, beef congee, but I didn't get to try it because we were packed up and ready to go before it showed up. We had a LOT of leftovers.
Surprisingly, my favorite dish, was the Vietnamese pancake, which I only got to try a bite of, but it was awesome. It was also very big, so maybe if I had one to myself, it would have been overwhelming. Pleasant experience and would go back with friends.
I came here often when it first opened, but stopped after the place got too crowded and and Green Leaf Restaurant opened.
PROS:
--Food is consistently good and has a wide variety of dishes. Very flavorful compared to other Vietnamese restaurants who can only do one or two good dishes and the rest are bland--hoping to fool non-Vietnamese diners.
--Lovely outdoor seating in the summer and nice interior.
CONS:
--Service is very slow and bad when the place is busy (which is pretty much all the time).
--The place can get so dark that I can't see what I'm eating (what if the plates are dirty or there's a bug in my food??)
--Pricey compared to all the other Vietnamese places. (Hint: think of family-owned or less fancy places with just as great food with lower prices).
--Parking is terrible.
Every time I come to Tamarind Tree, this is what happens (I kid you not.)
I find parking near a smelly dumpster and encounter 2 rats on my trek up a hill to the restaurant.
Then I'll give my name to the snooty hostess who will quickly tell me she has no idea how long the wait will be. Then I'll stand around and wait and ringing in my ear is said hostess and her remarks regarding the non Vietnamese patrons.
The food is good, I will admit, but what you get is not always what you ordered, and sometimes you only get half your meal. One time I got pho, and 25 minutes after I got the bowl and finished eating, they brought out my veggies (after asking 4 times, I just gave up and ate my pho veggie-less).
Don't waste your time here. Go to Greenleaf, or even better, Wrap Roll (they have free parking, yay!)
Drove down to Seattle from Vancouver for the Mariners vs. Yankees game at Safeco field, and saw that this place had pretty good reviews. Also, 7 course beef!
We had never tried beef that many times in one sitting before, and the restaurant is pretty close to the field, so off we went. It was kind of hard to find because it was tucked behind a strip mall in the corner of a parking lot, but the inside was very nicely decorated. Also a nice part of the ambiance: knowing that we wouldn't leave smelling strongly of pho (which I love, but when a place is looking fancy I don't like to smell like my food).
The courses came out pretty quickly. My special friend was quickly overwhelmed by the amount of wrapping that he was about to undertake, which I was feeling thankful that I often happily wrap spring rolls at parties with friends.
The salad was a refreshing start to the meal. My boyfriend found some of the greens to be too bitter but I like vegetables and didn't mind so much. Courses 2-6 are meant to be wrapped up in the rice paper and stuffed with vermicelli and vegetables, which arrived bountifully.
They give you LOTS of different herbs and veggies, and even some slices of fruits like plantains to put into your wrap.
The beef itself was pretty good. I enjoyed the grilled ones the best, and the beef ball the least, because it was more dry.
Course 7 was beef congee. Pretty tasty congee though. They almost forgot about it...and sort of brought our plates back to the table after they had taken them away? That was confusing.
Service was fast for the most part. Sometimes we had some issues flagging down someone, but we were in and out relatively quick [given the do-it-yourself nature of the meal] and maybe only missed the start of the first inning?
$33 for two [about $40 after tip and tax], and we were stuffed. Not bad!
I had the worst Vietnamese soup. It was a seafood dish with pork. It tasted like cat food.
We went on a Friday night. I ordered wine and waited 20 minutes. After appetizers, the waiter said they were out if the 2 top white wines.
Then came the cat food soup. I told the waiter it was horrible and he looked st me and said it is probably only suitable for Vietnamese who are familiar with the particular taste. Thanks for the warning.
No apology or swap out. So much for his tip.
Normally very good. Lesson learned- if you are not familiar with the dish's the waiter if a westerner would find this generally acceptable- hard without sounding inexperienced.
Will come again!
My favourite Vietnamese restaurant of all time.
The menu is A+
Skip desert, you're better off at a small pho restaurant for desert.
The rice dishes are superior to all Vietnamese restaurants. ALL.
Broken rice is where the party is at.
I like the food in this place, it's quite unique... I think all Vietnamese restaurant should serve their food like this. I was tired of just pho and dry vermicelli. This place has a new range of menu and ambiance. I love their vegetarian crepe.
This place was sooo good! I loved the ambiance, the presentation, and the food! Seriously, this little place is a hidden Oasis. I was so surprised how great everything was including the prices! So worth every bite!
Love this place~!
Good:
-presentation of food
-unique menu items
-lots of vegetarian options
-pleasant decor
-great intro Viet restaurant for people who are hesitant to try new things
Not So Good:
-regularly packed to the gills
-some meat dishes aren't quite as tasty as the veggie ones (so sayeth my dining partner)
-noise level is pretty high for intimate convo
-parking on a busy night. oi vey hello door dings.
As a lover of Vietnamese food, living in the Bay Area, I am somewhat picky. A large group of us had made arrangements to have dinner here and part of the patio was to be reserved for us. When w showed up, the person who took the reservation had neglected to inform others. So we waited in the lovely strip mall parking lot for an hour.
We had a family style fixed dinner. The cha gio was tasty and served with nuoc mam. The goi cuon was fresh but had no dipping sauce whatsoever. We also had lemongrass chicken which had a very unbalanced flavor--way too much lemongrass. (And I love spicy, pungent flavors.) There was some white fish in stewed seaweed or other greens with a heavy sea flavor. Also garlic string beans--sounds Chinese, if you ask me. I'm not really sure what the rest was. But all in all it was more Fusion than Vietnamese.
Service was very pleasant. It got a little chilly as half the gas heaters were broken and taped up with duct tape.
But we did all have a good time. It's the company that counts.
I went here for Saturday lunch with some friends and the service was very attentive. Tasty appetizers and entrees, generous portions! One star down because the parking is kind of chaotic and another star down because the restroom needed some attending. I have yet to try their cocktails and desserts, check them out, they look great!
Oh, and who knew tamarind grew on trees?! I felt like I was in a fancy Vietnamese jungle :)
Have been back about six times.........still great!!
Try the Lemongrass scallop salad!!! Awesome!!! Also love the Lemongrass beef salad rolls!!
I guess I must love Lemongrass!!!
I have been passing by this place for about two years. A couple of weeks ago I stepped in just to… Read more »
My rating reflects my experience overall. The food quality at times has been simply...mediocre to alright. I've gotten meals at the vietnamese deli up the street which were better than the meals I've paid twice as much for as Tamarind Tree.
Other options are best sought out in the neighborhood. The food has never been bad for me, however, with so many restaurants in the ID there's no way I would simply default to TT for my meals.
The parking is somewhat accessible and the ambiance is just about right (a little crowded indoors). Service has always been a little of a sore topic with me. TT isn't a bad restaurant but it just misses the mark in almost every category while charging more than some of its competitors.
I love the food and the ambiance! Tamarind tree rolls are delicious, pomegrante martinis are refreshing, and I love the Bún chay c bit--noodles and fresh herbs and vegetables with faux prawns, shiitake mushrooms, lemongrass tofu, and okra and a greasy eggroll served with rice paper wrappers. I could eat this everyday. It's hard to find parking, I've seen the rats at the dumpster in the parking lot, and you often have to wait. But it's so worth it!
My first Vietnamese meal was at "A Little Bit of Saigon" which later turned into Tamarind Tree.
I know many people love this restaurant. It has a lot of appeal to mainstream Seattleites who aren't familiar with Vietnamese cuisine. For such people, I recommend you try Tamarind Tree. Once hooked on Vietnamese flavors, you'll eventually want to graduate elsewhere.
I'll go here with friends not used to Asian or Vietnamese restaurants. And the interior is nice.
I love the atmosphere here. Food is great and they have an exceptional staff! I highly recommend this restaurant to everyone.
This is my favorite place in Seattle for lunch!!!
Everything I've had is so scrumptious! I am especially crazy for the shrimp cooked around a hunk of sugar cane and the green mango salad. The food is super affordable, especially considering the generous servings, quality ingredients, and beautiful presentation.
If I had to say something less than glowing about this place, it would be that sometimes the waitstaff gets distracted and disappears for a while. I've never been abandoned, but on a few occasions, I've found myself wishing I could get someone's attention for a condiment/check/drink order.
I don't eat here as often because my friends and I always seem to come at the wrong times. Every time I've been here, parking was always an issue. Once in, we always had to wait 15+ minutes in a cramped waiting area (thank goodness they got rid of that huge display case that used to be on the wall!). The only good thing about waiting is that you get a chance to look over their gigantic menu and decide on what you want, because you will be starving once finally get seated at a table.
The food is okay, but the service is definitely a miss. After they take your order, they disappear on you and never return. I want to visit during the slower hours. I will definitely update my review when I do.
Faves: hai nan chicken rice pot, pork chop rice with shredded pork, spring rolls, pandan ice cream, coconut dessert, decor
Misses: parking, service
Food is yummy but I usually stick to my faves so I know they're good. The parking is a zoo though - need a bigger lot. The waiter are kind of hit and miss. Sometimes really good and sometimes nonexistent. The bussers are there but don't understand English. Make reservations on line. In the winter its super nice to sit next to the fire pit. Love the interior. The exterior and location is a little shady...
Tamarind Tree has a stylish interior and a pleasant (and packed around lunch time on a Friday) patio. The menu is large and I had a difficult time flipping though the various sections, taking note of the vegetarian options. I settled on the Vegetarian Tamarind Tree rice which was described as having grilled tofu, mushroom, okra, fake prawns and an eggroll. My companions got the Lotus Root Salad and the Tamarind Tree Rolls.
While everything had good flavor, my dish came with 2 pieces each of the above items (2 pieces of okra, 2 strips of tofu, 2 fake prawns etc) on a massive bed of plain rice that could have fed at least four people. Plain rice. I guess something about the restaurant's name, the dish's name etc. made me expect something more from one of their more expensive* dishes than a few bites of food piled on top of a massive mound of unsauced, unseasoned rice.
Otherwise, like I said, the flavors were certainly good. The Lemongrass Tofu Satay that came with one of the salads was excellent. They do have a full bar, so the selection of alcohol is good, if a bit overpriced. Service was good at the beginning but it became difficult to get attention towards the end of the meal. I can't imagine that I would be back unless I worked in the neighborhood.
* compared to the rest of the menu, it was still under $10
Best spring rolls ever!!
It looks ghetto on the outside...but so nice on the inside. Definitely a place to impress the ladies, oh yeah.
I especially liked the little outdoor seating area.
Please go if you can find the place.
i had a pleasant dinning experience here.. there was a wait when i came which was about 20-30 minutes, but it was well worth it. pretty much everything i got to try was delicious. Tamarind is definitely a lot better then all the other Vietnamese restaurants I tried in Seattle so far
Tamarind Tree is a very well decorated Vietnamese restaurant tugged into the little strip mall corner of 12th and Jackson. Its elegant look from the outside contrasted greatly with the Viet-Wah Asian market and other surrounding businesses.
The food was served in generous portion and I enjoyed my vermicelli with grilled pork meat balls greatly. The meat balls were very well made: crispy on the outside and juicy on the inside. My friends shared the seven courses of beef. It is very interesting and they seem to have enjoyed it. I didn't really eat any due to my resistance to cilantro (also generously served in all 7 courses).
The restaurant was very busy even when we waltzed in around 9 pm. The waiter service in general is not as attentive as we would have liked, and we noticed that a few of the waiters busying themselves flirting with a pretty customer (until her date came back from the bathroom).
Even though the area has its own parking lot, most spots are designated to specific businesses (whether or not it's during their business hours). We ended up parking on the far end of the lot.
I always have a great experience here. The staff is great, and the non-soup dishes are consistently excellent. The lemongrass beef and noodles is a consistently solid choice. However, if you're looking for Americanized Pho, look elsewhere - bones, cartlidge and skin abound in the dish and my partner was more than a little turned off. Usually I would give this 5 stars, but the soup, brings it down to 4. Again, parking is terrible in this part of the ID.
Tamarind Tree is one of the most interesting places I've ever gone to eat - not just in Seattle but on the planet. It *is* Vietnamese cuisine, but not the typical pho in a plaza mall. The menu has an amazing (and overwhelming) selection of meats, fruits, and vegetables - some I have never even heard of before Tamarind Tree. It is an adventure with every excursion. I've taken quite a few friends there, and each has been impressed by how much you can sample for so little. The plates are cheap - a friend and I once ordered about 6 plates and our bill was around $30!
The decor is gorgeous - I love the colors on the walls, and the colorful square ceramic plates and teacups (which they also retail) add a nice touch. It is ALWAYS crowded - I've run across enough people who were Tamarind Tree virgins, but apparently the secret is out...They don't take reservations for 2 people, so you may have to wait. The hostesses are usually harried and not super friendly, but the service is fine once you are seated.
My second visit has proved once again, how much I enjoy this hidden gem. Hidden because it is located in the back of dingy strip mall on Jackson Ave. Where the neighboring grocery store has a huge mountain of disgusting garbage taking over the parking lot. But don't worry, once you step inside, all of the horrendous scenes of the outside melt away and out bursts that gem I was talking about.
The menu is enormous and includes anything your heart desires. From fresh spring rolls (made in heaven I am sure) to their 7 courses of beef. You simply cannot go wrong. Just thinking about the spring rolls makes my stomach growl. Not only do the spring rolls have veggies, noodles, shrimp, and pork... there are tasty fried and crunchy surprises inside too.
The service was also very pleasant. Our server seemed to be a laid back surfer, ripped right off the beaches of Maui. He had this calm and helpful demeanor. Checked in on us at the right times and even guessed what we wanted to eat. (He said he had a feeling we would want to order the item... ) Amazing! I know what I like to eat, but for a server who has never met me before to know... well that is talent.
Even though we walked in about 30 minutes before closing (we didn't know they closed at 10 pm) they didn't rush us or make us feel as if we needed to hurry up. Though we respected their hours and tried to eat as fast as we could.
I definitely recommend this hidden gem!
Tamarind Tree is an OK, but not great, place. I got a fairly generous pour of Crown Royal, so I'm disinclined to trash TT too aggressively. They were "out" of pickled mustard green soup. I can only presume that the recommended substitute, tamarind tree soup, was proposed because of its $15.50 tag. It wasn't particularly flavorful and the seafood was tough. As is often the case, papaya salad was sodden, though not with particular flavor.
This is an international district gem. 4 stars for Seattle, but definitely tops for the international district.
I was surprised to find such a nice dining experience in the back of a dirty-looking strip mall (you've probably driven by it, the one at the corner of 12th and Jackson).
We arrived at 5:45pm on a Saturday. In Seattle, I don't even think of making a reservation, but there was already about 6 people waiting. We opted to be seated outside immediately and did not regret it - even on a cold evening, the heater jungle was a pleasure. It felt like sitting in front of 3-4 fireplaces at once.
The menu is extensive and hard to navigate. However, it seems just about everything is good. We started with a seasonal winter melon prawn soup, which had a delicous light broth and plenty of large pressed prawns. For our first entree, we had the Tamarind Tree Crepe ($12); it was more like a rice omellette loaded with shrimp, pork, and sprouts. Second, we had the Chicken Ginger Vodka ($10), a large portion of chicken soaked overnight in vodka infused ginger. It was elegantly presented, and darn good. Even the plain white rice was perfect. Ugh, I'm getting hungry just thinking about it.
Warning: the portions are huge. Three dishes for two people was way too much. We got a doggy bag, and it was massive, feeding us both again the next night.
When we left at 7PM, there were at least 30 people waiting to be seated. Why didn't anyone tell me about this place earlier?
The alcoholic beverages are a little pricey, averaging about $8, but they are excellent, and particularly strong (one martini did the trick for me).
Tips:
1) Make a reservation
2) Don't be afraid of sitting outside
3) Order 1 dish per person tops, or expect to take a lot home.
Enjoy!
As a tourist, we only had so many meals we could fit into our week in Seattle. I was torn between Green Leaf and this place, and somehow ended up at Tamarind, which is amazing because it is very hard to find. Thank goodness for the street address and a sign way up on a wall....I knew it was there somewhere. But why are they so hidden in the back corner with no arrows or signs pointing the way?
First, the unappealing...you have to walk by what seems like a garbage area to a very ugly entry to get into the restaurant. We almost turned around and left before opening the door, but luckily, we gave it a chance. Once inside, it's really nice. Just accept that it's not pretty getting there. I'm also not a huge fan of menus that are overwhelmingly large, as this one was. And the tables are all butted up against each other, so conversations can be awkward. Let's just say this, I learned some things about 2 families in Seattle that I really didn't want to know, but couldn't avoid overhearing since we were only separated by a plant and two inches.
The food was hit and miss. I'm sure once you've been a few times, you'd figure out the best items for your tastes and the place would rock. That's how it is for me at home in San Jose. Here though, as a tourist, they only had one chance to win me over...so ended up with 3 stars, which is fine.
The egg rolls were quite good and I love the fish sauce. Surprised they were not served with the lettuce wraps, mint leaves, etc. as they do at other Vietnamese restaurants. We also tried the cinnamon pork rice balls. I was trying to pick items my daughter would willingly share with me. First bite, the cinnamon was overwhelming. But I gotta admit it got better with each bite of the deep fried balls. Knowing that everything deep fried tastes better, the egg rolls and these balls were what we ended up liking most.
I normally love vermicelli salad bowls with either pork, beef, egg rolls, or shrimp. Combined with fish sauce, mint leaves, pickled carrots, and bean sprouts, it's one of my favorite dishes back home. Here though, the Tamarind Tree Noodle bowl just didn't work. Needed way more fish sauce and the shrimp and meat toppings just weren't good to us. We left most of it behind. I wouldn't order it again.
Ditto for the stuffed tofu dish we tried. It was bland.
So a likable place and if local, I'd try it again and just figure out what dishes work best for me.
Best looking restaurant within the block. But looks aren't everything.
I made a mistake of ordering a recommendation made by the waiter. I'm a pretty picky eater, so I generally do much better by choosing after carefully reviewing the descriptions. It also didn't help that he made a blind recommendation and did not ask me about the type of food I typically like. He recommended the Tamarind Roll (appetizer) and Tamarind Crepe, which I assume is the standard recommendation he makes to everyone. Also, it was an unsolicited recommendation after I mentioned that it was my first time at that restaurant. Tamarind Crepe was a bit greasy, but edible.
I ordered the three bean dessert. Based on the description, it seemed like a flavor of shaved ice. When I got it, I noticed that (despite the description) there was minimal shaved/crushed ice because most of them have been refrozen into two big chunks of ice. The only saving grace was that it was only $3.
I have observed the other dishes they were bringing out to other customers. By the looks of it, I probably would have enjoyed one of their rice plates much better. They seemed better than those of average Vietnamese restaurants. If I'm in the neighborhood, I would give it another chance and try a different dish.
Service was pretty good, but my ratings are mostly about the goodness of the food. I would say 2.5 stars for the food for now, though it might get upgraded after my next visit. I will round up to three for good service.
I've been to many Vietnamese restaurants in my day, but none quite like Tamarind Tree. If you're looking for the typical cheap Vietnamese restaurant, this isn't it. I guess you could call it Vietnamese-French fusion? Either way, they have some interesting dishes on the menu, things you haven't seen before. Everything is pretty safe, there's nothing overly exotic or strange either, so order whatever catches your eye.
One of the items I like is the crepe, which should be shared between at least two people. You'll get tired of it if you try to eat an entire one yourself. My favorite is probably the chili beef lemongrass, which goes so well with rice. Avoid it if you have heartburn issues, since it is pretty oily.
Whether you go with a date or a group of friends, it's best to eat family style here. Order several dishes and share them amongst yourselves so you get to sample a variety of flavors/textures, and don't tire of just one entree to yourself.
Overall, I like the decor, and even the bathroom is clean. The only annoyance is if you happen to get one of the small tables next to the tall leafy plants, as they droop right onto your table, or into your field of vision. Hopefully they've done something about that since I was last there. Parking here is also a pain.
10% Off H&H Catering!
Neighborhood: Downtown
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Seattle, WA
Neighborhood: International District
Category: Vietnamese
Neighborhood: International District
Category: Vietnamese
Neighborhood: International District
Category: Vietnamese
Neighborhood: International District
Category: Asian Fusion
Neighborhood: International District
Category: Delis
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