Tamarind Restaurant — Restaurant in Cairns City

🚨Tamarind – Nowhere Near the Standard It Claims 👎🏼

We came to Tamarind with high expectations. Being an awarded restaurant with two chefs hats. We opted for the degustation menu, expecting a flavourful journey. Unfortunately, what we got was a deeply underwhelming and inconsistent experience.

The food

In short: bland, dull, and flat. Not even imbalanced – just lacking any real flavour and contrast. Most dishes suffered from poor seasoning and minimal texture or acidity. The only partial redeeming elements were the dessert and the pork trio. The pork loin was perfectly cooked and the consistency of the pork confit was great, then finally a sauce with a little flavor to it – but who can go wrong with hoi sin and soy after no salt in the previous dishes. However even the pork trio and the dessert felt more “acceptable” than impressive.

The meal was supposed to be concluded with petit fours, but we only received one «petit four» (singular) it was a chocolate and not a small pastry baked in a little oven (as it actually means). It was served on some nice stones that we for a second mistook for the rest of the small pasteries.

The service

If we had to sum it up in one word: awkward. The wine pairings were consistently served long after the food – course after course – until we finally pointed it out. They managed to fix it once, for the pork dish, but the problem returned with dessert. It actually came so late we could easily finished the dish before the wine was poured.

There were also issues around allergy adjustments. They said as you know this is very difficult to adjust for and asked how allergic the guest was, not to ensure traces wasn’t an issue but because they couldn’t adjust for it. Visiting numerous Michelin restaurants this has never been a problem as long as one gives a heads up before. They did however make some changes to accommodate the allergy, but it was unclear what had actually been modified – because no one explained the dishes when they were served. In fact, there was no presentation, just stating the main ingredient as the printed menu (identical to the one available online). Even when we asked directly about components in the dishes, the answers were vague or seemed inaccurate.

As for the wine pairing, it lacked both curation and clarity. The servers could rarely explain what we were drinking, and in one case even got the grape variety completely wrong. It didn’t seem like guided pairing.

Bottom line

Tamarind may carry Chef’s Hat, but this experience was miles below what that recognition should represent. Sloppy execution, lack of communication, and uninspired food made this one of the most disappointing meals we’ve had...

Edit: Contrary to the manager's statements below, I was NOT offered the option to have the jus served on the side or omitted altogether. I would have 100% taken up this option if it was offered. Further to what was stated below, I was offered two or three gf main options by the waitress when I told her I was gf. I was also served by another waiter and neither of them told me that any of their other dishes were able to be modified. Shame on Tamarind and their staff for trying to change the story to make themselves look better. 1000% will never dine here and will tell everyone else visiting to avoid this place as well.

Would give zero stars if I could. I am actually so surprised this restaurant is rated so highly - maybe their food is good (we left before we even ordered anything!) or maybe it used to be good a few years ago, but their customer service and atmosphere was terrible. The whole experience didn't start well, as we waited a very long time to be seated and were left standing right next to a noisy private function (that actually could be heard throughout the whole restaurant). When a waiter came to take our food and drink order, I mentioned I was gluten free and the waiter pointed out the (very limited!!!) gf options. I had looked at their menu beforehand, but there were no gf choices noted (although they did note vegan and vegetarian options). I didn't think this would be a problem as the descriptions of the meals didn't seem to indicate that they contained gluten. I have been gluten free for years and am pretty good at picking out what I can and can't eat, so this usually isn't an issue. Also most restaurants are really happy to adjust meals for dietaries. Unfortunately, Tamarind was not one of them. As I didn't feel like eating either of the gf options (duck or a root vegetable curry), I asked the waiter if something could be removed from one non gf option and was told the sauce also contained gluten and the waiter shrugged his shoulders and said 'so it's up to you'. At that point, where it was obvious that there was no desire to work with me (a paying customer!!), we got up and left to dine elsewhere. The next restaurant had several gf options and were happy to adjust anything I needed (even offering to boil gf pasta in a separate vat of water!). Basically, if you have any kind of dietary - but especially if you are gluten free or coealic - do not even bother going here. There are so many other nicer dining options in Cairns. Tamarind - the least you can do is at least display which meals are gluten free on your menu beforehand. So glad we didn't spend any of our...

This place has the potential to be 5 stars. A lot of good points. But also some not so much. The service is 10/10. Amazing, friendly, always near by if needed. We don't head out for dinner often, but when we do we like to treat ourselves. The price would not be a problem if the food matched the price. However, our entrees weren't horrible but they absolutely weren't 5 star. 3 coconut prawns were just as good as any pub meal like they were pulled out of a packet and deep fried. That's ok if it's a pub meal. The civeche was pretty yummy but very standard nothing that made me sing. The main meal was a highlight, rump was cooked perfectly as requested, bone marrow delicious. But again for 5 stars I expect something a little more then a steak and a little carrot on top. Desert was the worst out of the 3 meals. The cheese platter was almost inedible, and the Davidson plumb dish was hard to swallow. Considering it boasts local produce we were shocked to find the cheese tasted like it came out of a packet from the supermarket. Blue cheese was fine but what ever the other cheese was, was like eating straight peppercorns. Couple of grapes and cheap wafer biscuits. After eating at places like NOA, Ochre, Dundee's, Ozmosis, that are half the price with the food locally sorced and made from scratch, leaves you wanting to go back for more and more then to go here expecting mind blowing food we were very disappointed that this restraunt did not meet our expectations. It's a lovely restaurant with lovely staff. But the menu definitely needs adjusting so people walk out the doors wanting more. We most likely won't be back, when so many other restaurants offer better food at a...