Last night we went to Tamarine to celebrate my son and MIL's birthdays. We were very excited because my wife's last visit was phenomenal.

We enjoyed the claypot cod and vegan avocado spring rolls. However, most other dishes were underwhelming. Our least favorite was the chicken meatball which although cooked smelled like undercooked chicken. The Ha Long Bay soup was served lukewarm. The food appears to have dropped significantly in quality since August 2022 although reviews here suggest otherwise. We felt like it lacked both the presentation and flavor that we came to expect from a fine dining restaurant.

It would have still been a 3 star experience had the service been good. Unfortunately, our waitress made an already bad experience terrible. She seemed disinterested in serving us. She tried to upsell us sparkling water and wine right after introducing herself. During the rest of the meal, she was inattentive to our needs. For example, we ordered two drinks. We only got one. When we asked for the second drink after 10 minutes when the food had arrived, she got us the drink and offered to comp it. Yet, she proceeded to add it to our tab.

She didn't enquire about our food preferences at any point or offer us any useful recommendations. All we got were half-hearted platitudes and insincere remarks that made us cringe. After the entrees came out she disappeared completely. I get that it was a busy night but at no point did we feel like she made the slightest effort to make us feel welcome or comfortable. We waited for a long time before flagging down another server to ask for our waters to be refilled. We also had to wait a while to flag her down for our check.

We weren't asked about desserts. Not that we could give how slow the service was and it was bedtime for my son. When we made the reservation and mentioned the occasion we were told that they offered chocolate lava cakes celebrate birthdays. She offered a weak and insincere apology when we mentioned that we weren't offered the lava cake we were promised. She offered to get it for us after we paid the bill, almost out of pity. "We can get one if you like.. there is a dessert menu and that sort of a thing... I can still get it.. Do you want it?".

To make things worse, we were slapped with a 20% gratuity (+ 4% employer mandate) for a table of 4 adults (bill attached) for this travesty of a service. The menu mentions a mandatory 20% gratuity for a table 5 and over. I don't know if infants count. Our bills shows that we were a table of 4. It's possible that the reservation indicated we were a table of 5, but a diligent waitress would have checked it first.We were at our wits end and in no mood to discuss this with her.

We were extremely disappointed. Especially since my wife's last experience was nothing short of stellar. What should have been a celebration was marred by sub par food and very poor service. My in-laws had flown in from out of town to celebrate with us and the evening was an absolute trainwreck.

I would not recommend Tamarine to anyone or dare to return.