Tamarind Thai Cafe — Restaurant in Three Rivers

Used to live in Ricky about 10 years ago and regularly visited to eat in with family and friends. I’m in the area for work about once/ twice a month and as the other half and I are so fond of Thai, I usually pick up a take-out on my way home.

Positives:

You cannot beat the place for value for money, regardless of whether you’re eating in or taking- away. Tonight’s order with 3 starters, two mains and 2 rices came to just under £50.

Having spent time travelling extensively around Thailand, I echo the majority of comments here that it’s probably the best that I’ve tried outside of Thailand (up until this evening, see below). Every dish we’ve tried on the menu is flavoursome, freshly cooked and entirely authentic.

Having only collected recently and not eaten there, the decor has improved with the multi- coloured chairs and updated tables (used to remind me of my old primary school classroom with the wooden chairs) and to be honest, it’s called a CAFÉ for a reason. You’re paying café prices so don’t expect traditional Thai decorations or tacky frippery!

Niggles:

The web address on their Facebook page leads you to something which is clearly not their website- maybe a generic web hosting platform which develops sites for restaurants? I see from some of the other reviews that this issue was supposed to have been sorted ‘soon’ but that reply was written 2 years ago. If it ain’t working, take it off until it’s fixed or operational.

Management haven’t placed the menu on the Facebook page but seems to rely on customer’s photos of the menu pages? It’d be good to have an up to date menu posted by the establishment so one could be sure that what you’re ordering/ paying is indeed correct. Otherwise a copy of the menu included with your takeaway would be sufficient.

With dishes such as the Moneybags, Satay skewers etc. it would be useful to have on the menu the number of items included in the portions, ensuring that when ordering for a number of people (or my greedy other half with the appetite of a prize stallion) that there’s enough to go around. I can’t be the only person asking this question when ordering, surely?

Maybe it’s just me but I would like to see sticky jasmine rice on the menu rather than just the egg- fried and plain steamed.

Other half wanted a portion of vegetables to accompany his main so I wanted to order the stir fried broccoli and garlic but the side dishes they used to have on the menu have disappeared. Maybe a smaller portion as sides might be an idea?

Negatives: Just to be clear, this is the first time I’ve encountered anything negative with the place so I’m hoping these are just anomalies!

For the first time this evening I ordered the vegetable tempura. Maybe a trained professional might care to say otherwise, however in my experience, tempura batter is supposed to be light and crispy. What I received this evening was more akin to a portion of chicken balls/ pork balls from the local Chinese- with thick, doughy and greasy batter and sadly, meagre vegetables inside (carrot slice, anyone?); sadly not providing a great eating experience and mostly ended up in the bin (see accompanying photo).

Usually the portions are extremely generous, however upon opening my chicken Panang curry, I was a little shocked at the amount of chicken, vegetables, sauce (well, everything) in the container. At almost 10 quid for this dish, I was somewhat disappointed but fortunate that I’d ordered a container of rice for each of us otherwise I think I’d be going to bed hungry tonight (well this morning as it’s now 1:45am). Photo attached.

I did collect at 9:15pm, there was only one table still seated at the restaurant and maybe the kitchen was low on ingredients, but I’m really hoping this was a one- off. I would hate to lose faith in this little gem of a restaurant and stop giving them my custom as I think it’s now more important than ever to support local, independent businesses.

Hopefully management will be able to come back to me on my comments and take on board some of my...

My husband, kids and I, decided to have an impromptu dining experience at tamarind Thai today.

This is a restaurant that has served us reasonably well, and for the last 12 years, we have treated ourselves to specific dishes from there - either as dine in, or take away.

When we arrived The young waitress was really polite, prompt and attentive.

Unfortunately, this is where the good service started and ended.

My ‘usual’ menu choice of vegetable spicy noodles with no egg was ordered, as well as pad Thai for my daughter and the special softshell crab for my son and green Thai prawn curry for my husband was placed together with our starters.

The starters were a tad salty (I had the Tom ka vegetable soup), but reasonably pleasant. Then came the mains.

To call my vegetable spicy noodles ‘burnt’ - would be an understatement. I had 2 forkfuls and asked my husband to try it too because I couldn’t believe my eyes, tastebuds or sense of smell and needed his help to validate it. He had 1 forkful, and asked me to send it back.

I politely flagged the young waitress to articulate my issue. Essentially, my food was inedible. I mentioned this to the young lady, who took one look at my food, gave me a knowing look, and walked back to the kitchen with the smell of burning following after her. There was never any doubt about what was wrong with this meal - you could see it, you could smell it, you could taste it.

This dish, is one I have ordered at least 10 times from tamarind Thai over the years. I know what I should expect to receive, and the charred carbon texture or soot like elements of the spices, slathered in some equally incinerated lubricant is not something i, or anyone in their right mind would consume - let alone pay for. As a fair person, I expected the patrons to either a) offer to remake my meal or b) give me the opportunity to order something else if this dish was falling outside the remit of the current chef’s abilities.

Instead, I had the lady at the desk walk back the meal to me, to say it’s the wok that gets ‘very hot’ - it is not burnt - she said.

To patronise me like that obviously did not sit well with me. I politely pointed out that this was a meal I had ordered several times in the past, and this fell far below the standard anyone would reasonably expect for food. I told her I would not be eating that food, and she could take my food. Service in other areas would have included a basic level of customer service - ie, taking my feedback on board, and or offering to improve our dining experience in some way. This did not happen.

Fast forward to bill paying time - and an argument within earshot of other diners ensued between my husband and the lady at the payment desk. We could not reasonably be expected to pay for a meal I didn’t eat - not because I misordered, but because it was inedible. She then launched into a monologue about how we don’t know Thai food (husband has lived in Thailand before, and we have all been there) and that it wasn’t that burnt, we would eat it at home if we burnt the food slightly etc etc. We had to put our foot down to avoid this extra charge (although I couldn’t tell you exactly what we paid for as nothing is itemised at bill paying time).

All in all, food was less than the usual standard we had come to expect from thamarind. Some of it was sickly sweet (pad Thai) and some of it too salty (Tom ka). The vegetables (spring onion, herbs and chillis specifically) were also not fresh either. The rest was somewhere around average, with the service falling far short of any basic standard by the lady at the desk, vs very good and professional by the young waitress.

I am not a person who returns food, is unconstructive, lacks empathy or leaves bad reviews. I am a massive proponent of supporting smaller businesses, going local and just generally being good person. To this end, I do hope tamarind use this as a learning opportunity to do better. While the pricing is extremely favourable, more candor and appreciation of your patrons would...

My expectations when I dine out in a Thai place are step in and find a place which makes me forget the outside. The environment, atmosphere, adornments and even lights lead me to Thailand in one way or another. However, this wasn't the case at all.

As you are inside Tamarind you notice it looks like any other cafe bar in England where you can order breakfast. Empty tables and whites walls don't help you think you are in a Thai place, but an ordinary bar. There is no Thai decorations or something which catches your eyes.

I've been in many Thai restaurants which helped me learn they look after every single detail, that is they usually bring the food in a hot plate or bowl which keeps the food warm for longer. As I could guess before hand, they didn't do it, the meal was served as any other place. Nevertheless, the price was quite considerable. Taking the big amount of food, the price didn't went high up.

About the staff, not a single bad word could come out. The service was super. They were obliging, helpful and friendly which makes your time better. Yet, the person in charge had a ugly gesture when it comes to pay the bill. We split the bill, so if the price was X.95 or X.50, she forced us to round off to the higher value which is uncomfortable and awkward.

On the whole, this Tamarind Thai Cafe didn't live up to my expectations at all. I usually get fascinated with Thai food and places, but this time it disappointed me. As I always write on my review, this is my personal view, please, don't get me wrong. Every place is worthwhile to try. However, I...