tamatanga — Restaurant in Birmingham

I have visited Tamatanga Birmingham multiple times. However, my recent visit on Saturday evening left me deeply disappointed and frustrated.

I had booked a table for 9:30 PM for myself, my mum, and my aunty, hoping for a relaxed evening with good food. Unfortunately, the experience was anything but enjoyable. Upon being seated, we were immediately pressured to place our order for starters. While I understand it was a busy Saturday night, just 2 weeks before Christmas, the service was shockingly poor. We ordered 3/4 dishes, but instead of being served together, they arrived one by one within five minutes. This left us awkwardly waiting for the rest of the food to arrive, which was frustrating given that we were sharing.

As soon as we finished one plate, it was hurriedly removed from the table, and the staff insisted we place our main order. It felt incredibly rushed, and we hadn’t even had a chance to properly look at the menu. This pressure to order food escalated by 9:55 PM, I finally placed our order, after being approached at least 8–9 times by the waitress and once by the manager.

When the mains arrived, they too came out one by one, and the entire meal was served by 10:05 PM. We finished eating and by 10:25 PM, the waitress brought the bill and informed us that the table was needed, and that it was time for us to leave.

The entire experience felt like we were being shoved out of the door as quickly as possible. This was particularly disappointing given that we had travelled a long way to enjoy what we hoped would be a pleasant meal. Instead, we were made to feel unwelcome, hurried, and ultimately dissatisfied.

The food, which I usually enjoy, was also not up to its usual standard. If we had been given the opportunity to relax and enjoy our time, we would likely have ordered more food and drinks. Instead, the rushed and impersonal service left a sour taste in our mouths.

I doubt I will be returning to the Birmingham branch; we were better of...

Service was excellent; we were able to order drinks within minutes. We had 15 minutes before the 2-4-1 cocktail offer was over so we went to town & ordered 4 each. The staff had no problem with this at all. 👍🏽 It’s 2-4-1 every day until 7pm! 👏🏽 👏🏽

The cocktails were thoroughly enjoyable & felt potent 🥴 there’s a broad selection of spirits & flavours so something for everyone. We loved the Vanilla Velvet & Amaretto Colada 🍹

We ordered the Tamatanga Thali. You get salad, poppadums & chutney, 2 veg dishes, daal of the day, raita, rice, a naan or roti & 2 curries of your choice - £19.95 👏🏽

Who doesn’t ♥️ a pick’n’mix dinner? We had ours with: 🌶 Garlic chilli chicken 🌶 Railway cabin lamb x2 🌶 Lamb chettinad

The lamb was cooked very well & it was quite lean. All of the curries we chose were labelled as hot/spicy, but for us they weren’t. They were however really flavoursome & totally delicious. As they were small & part of a bigger selection this was fine, but maybe if they’d been ordered as mains we’d have been disappointed. The garlic chilli chicken is a garlic lovers dream! So full of flavour & the chicken was juicy & moreish. We’d definitely order this as a main dish!

The accompaniments were decent & a nice variety. We expected the naan to be too big, but it was perfectly sized. Luke went for a coriander one and loved it! 🫓

The only thing that let it down for us was the dahl. It was total slop!

Overall the Thali was good & an excellent choice if it’s your first visit as you get to try lots of things. We’d advise this dish if you don’t plan on doing anything afterwards & can pop your trousers open in the comfort of your own home. 🤰🏽

We’d go again, but we’d try a proper...

Been a few times & overall the food has never disappointed. If you haven't been please do try (if you like the dishes listed). It will be pointed out to you if you order the traditional starter & main that the courses arrive once ready rather than in the order you want them to be delivered; first time of visiting it was a disappointing experience but exactly as described. Just left tonight's visit and I am provoked into a review - should have done so before but do so now to assist future patrons. No starters, just a couple of mains plus 3 sides plus a bottle of plonk. Great repartee with the staff taking our order and when it was served, different story when it came to paying the bill. The restaurant was slowly emptying from it's peak time when we were approached for desserts; " no thanks, just finishing the wine". Same response given 5 minutes later to the same member of staff who had asked if we wanted "anything else". Realising it was time to drink up and vacate the half-full restaurant we asked for the bill. The same disillusioned (with life) member of staff presented the bill: "£80, is it a split bill", as a couple of old friends meeting up on our biannual get-together we said "yes" but I decided to ask for a receipt. Surprise but no surprise, the bill was actually £73 including an "OPTIONAL" 10% tip we hadn't been told about. Perhaps a mistake but most likely not! We were charged £73 split 2 ways. Sad to say that the whole attitude of the member of staff presenting the bill meant we split approx £7 as a tip (the 10% we weren't told about other than perhaps some small print on the menu) whereas we had both already agreed to put a 'tenner' down. Oh well, you reap...