Tamarind — Restaurant in Great Britain

My wife and I had the opportunity to come and have a date night at this restaurant on a Monday night. Having been to a significant number of curry houses in a variety of areas, including Birmingham I was interested to see what this one was like. I usually go for things which are run of the mill in curry houses such as madras or a balti. However, on this occasion I decided to go for items on the menu which are unique such as a starter including rainbow trout and a curry involving chicken tikka pieces and minced meat marinated in a bhuna sauce. As always when ordering something I have never tried before, there was a sense of trepidation as to whether I would like it.

I loved every single mouthful. I would happily go again and order the same or order something new again. My wife also enjoyed her meal and she had onion bhajis and Pasanda, both of which I had the opportunity to taste and enjoy.

The service we experienced was above what is expected in a restaurant in England. The restaurant was about a quarter full and we rarely had to wait more than 10-20 minutes for our meals. The staff were very attentive, regularly checking to see if we were okay and if the starters and mains were to our liking. Whilst this type of service is expected in a restaurant, I wasn't expecting them to seem to care about us as customers and this is what seemed to come across during the entirety of our meal.

Near the end of our meal, another customer had lost one of their possessions and came back to look for it. Without disturbing any other customers, they lifted the table away from the floor and looked in minute detail with a pen torch to see if they could find it. No laziness, no excuses saying it must have been elsewhere.

Upon paying the bill, we weren't ushered out but allowed to make an exit when we wanted to. This could possibly be attributed to the fact that the restaurant was not very full but it was nice to be able to relax and leave when we wanted to. When we left, I was helped with my coat and there was someone at the door, thanking us for our custom and opening the door for us to leave.

In short, if you want a very tasty indian meal with good portions, great service and a relaxing time, come here. I cannot say what it would be like on a busy night but I would definitely go again...

Hospitality is an elusive concept when the tamarind is involved. If you wish to be spoken down to by insufferably rude staff plagued by some form of authoritarian personality disorder this is the perfect destination. Me and my partner booked a table forty minutes before arrival, the member of staff we spoke to sounded agitated and unwelcoming. His tone was rather abrupt but we gave the situation the benefit of the doubt as me and my family used to visit this restaurant regularly many years ago and we were never disappointed with the quality of service we received. As a result of traffic we arrived ten minutes late, we were very apologetic but were greeted with an unnecessarily hostile welcome courtesy of the Waiter. "It's 6 pm" he bellowed in front of the other customers which caused us great embarrassment. He informed us our table was no longer available. We tried to explain we'd traveled a great distance hence being ten minutes late, we asked if any other tables were available to which he bluntly replied no. We were quite shocked at how rude the member of staff was to us considering we were potential customers, but considering the conduct of the individual, we had spoken to when making the reservation it should have been expected. I expressed this to the Waiter to which he responded " I was going to get you a table, but now that won't be happening ". Very manipulative behavior considering he'd already explicitly stated none where available. We left and as a result wasted 40 pounds on the taxi fare. We won't be returning, the mint room in Clifton Is far superior and the staff is very welcoming. They all respect social distancing guidelines, unlike the staff at the tamarind who do not...

Just a word of warning to everyone. We booked a table a week ago for tonight, a rare date night for us but unfortunately our child has fallen ill today. So we called at 17.30 when the restaurant opened (table booked for 20.30) to cancel our booking but we wanted to rebook for next week as we were very much looking forward to it. The gentleman was rude and short to my partner and said we should of called earlier and left a voicemail. We'll we didn't know this as their opening time stated 17.30 and we wanted to talk to someone so we could rearrange the date. He then demanded we pay a deposit for the future date and slammed the phone down. I understand times are tough for restaurants but it was a genuine reason. So just a heads up if you cancel and wish to rebook expect to pay a deposit. I have real sympathy with the hospitality industry but life happens, people do cancel for genuine reasons and we shouldn't be guilt tripped into paying deposits...