Tamarine

Doesn't Recommend

xinaeve

Joined 8 years ago

Don't make the same mistake we did. We went to Tamarine for our anniversary because it was listed as "Romantic" and got good reviews on the food quality and service. The other reviewers must have gone to a different restaurant than we did!!! The tables in the main dining room are packed in so tightly that I was literally sitting closer to the 2 people on either side of me than to may date- even considering the small cramped size of the table between us! Our server could not even fit in between the tables to serve us the food- which was of average quality and extremely overpriced. The acoustics in the restaurant were terrible- I had to lean over the table and shout to be heard by my date. To make matters worse, our server was neither prompt nor informative, and seemed too inexperienced for a restaurant commanding the prices Tamarine does. Overall- extremely disappointing.

Doesn't Recommend

jtcatlin

Joined 8 years ago

My 30th Birthday. Because I'm Vietnamese, my husband took me to this restaurant for my 30th birthday. He made the reservation a month in advance and called in to confirm a day before my birthday. He also clarified that it was for my birthday. When we arrived, we waited for 30 minutes before we were seated. The hotest was clueless and inexperience, unorganized. The waiter never came back to check on us to see what we needed after the main course came out. No much privacy in the restaurant. As a native person, the food is average. NOT RECOMMENDED!

Recommends

mgtulao

Joined 8 years ago

marvelous dining experience. fast, great service..

romantic ambience

superb, tasty food

worth the price

highly recommendable

Recommends

wnderwoman

Joined 8 years ago

Romantic and Fabulous!. We went last night for our anniversary. I booked through Open Table and asked for a romantic table. They did just that. It was very private and we were very well attended to. The service was wonderful and the food not only tasted good, but was artistic in it's presentation. I highly recommend Tamarine for the city feel without having to drive to the city!

Recommends

citybrat

Joined 9 years ago

An absolute delight. Time and again, Tamarine never ceases to delight me. The food is delicious -- try the Tamarine Prawns, Shaking Beef, long beans and coconut rice -- and the service is spot on. Order a lychee martini at that bar and, with a little imagination, you'll be transported to Nobu, New York. The waitstaff are accomodating and gracious, and the decor is hip and funky without looking overdone. A great escape from the 'burbs!

Recommends

thermador

Joined 9 years ago

I liked it. ! I liked it a lot!. On this particular evening, it all worked: the food, the service, and the ambiance. We were originally seated near a large group near the front. I asked to move and we were immediately re-seated in the back (a lot less noisy, fewer tables, excellent mood and lighting). The food on this night was spectacular: the eggplant had a smokey flavor, the beans had a wonderful texture (not overcooked), the sauce used for the tamarine prawns was excellent, the basil tofu had an outstanding flavor (not overpowering), and the flat iron steak was actually tender. The papaya salad was average (I've had better). The service was excellent; we really didn't notice the waitress or the bus boy.

Like many restaurants in the Bay Area, it's all about timing. And on this night, it worked out well.

Doesn't Recommend

buzz71

Joined 9 years ago

OVER RATED!. the meat dishes here are no better than the meals you can get at a regular vietnamese restaurant, they taste just the same, especially the appetizers. some of the other dishes we ordered were bass and flavored rice, i chose the 'red' rice, both of which were very bland. you're better off spending your money elsewhere.

Recommends

johnburns

Joined 9 years ago

Awesome. I read a few reviews here and was told that this was a "Top 100" restaurant so I didn't know what to make of it all. I took an out of town client to Tamarine on a recent Thursday and franky we were blown away. The ambience was nothing like he had ever seen with the art and colors. The service was impeccable (sounds like others didn't have my experience). We had cocktails at the bar, then dinner. Food was Top 100 quality. Like the Slanted Door in S.F.--only better service/ambience. We had the bass, prawns and garlic/crab noodles. They were all great. I certianly will return.

Recommends

tsranga

Joined 9 years ago

Bad Service. We have been regular visitors to this restaurant and the variety and quality of the offerings is wonderful and has remained consistent in quality.

However, the service on my recent visit was particularly bad.

We had confirmed our reservation by phone for 8:15PM and we arrived well in time only to be informed that the reservation was made for 8:30PM. However, we were seated only by 8:45 PM.

There was no attempt made by the staff or management to apologize or compensate for the obvious error in reservation and delay in finding us a table. What really added to our annoyance was the fact that we had two pregnant women in our group who had to stand for the entire 30-40 minutes despite our informing your staff of their predicament.

It was a total letdown on a day that was meant to celebrate a few birthdays.

Doesn't Recommend

rickhkw

Joined 9 years ago

Just another restaurant. My wife and I were finally able to make it here for dinner without reservations, after hearing so much about it for months. We ended up having dinner at the bar and were very disappointed. The bartender never helped us through the menu since we've never been there before, so we just picked items out randomly that sounded nice. She didn't seem as if she even knew what was on the menu, never got back to us, and judging by the looks on the faces of the other customers, we were not alone. She was so messy and loud, we kept feeling the annoying pounding on the bar. She spent more time talking to the employees than to us. The food was very good and so was the wine, but the service was terrible, bad first impression.