Tamarind Tree — Restaurant in Seattle

This restaurant is a hidden hole in the wall. It is the last restaurant inside of a strip mall, obscured by a closed down supermarket. If you’re not looking for it, you might miss it. There are also a lot of businesses and restaurants on this strip mall, so you might even walk into the wrong restaurant! However this place is definitely worth the effort. There is a huge parking lot, so parking shouldn’t be an issue.

This place is definitely bigger inside than what it seems on the outside. Once you step through the doors, it transforms into a very moderately sized restaurant with a bar, plenty of seats and an outdoor patio. The restaurant is very clean with 3-4 staff working during dinner time.

Beef and tendon pho - 3/5 Pho in my opinion is mainly about the broth, so my review on this dish is heavily skewed based on that. The broth tastes good, but it’s missing the umami flavors and the full body savory taste that lingers after you drink the broth. I finished the broth, which is rare for me, so it definitely tastes good, but it didn’t leave any lingering flavors yearning me to have more.

The basil and the limes are pretty fresh.

The beef was ok, it could be sliced just a tad thinner, but this is fine for me.

The noodle is pretty standard.

The tendon did not melt in your mouth. It tasted like it was steamed or boiled in regular hot water, and put into the pho. Good beef tendon is not supposed to be crunch like cartilage (like the crunch similar to eating sliced pigs ear) but instead it is supposed to melt away as you bite it. The tendon should be cooked in the same broth that’s in the pho to enhance the flavors of the broth and the tendon.

I had better pho broth and definitely better beef tendon, so this was very disappointing.

Bun thit nuong cha gio - 6/5 (grilled pork and egg roll noodles)

This dish alone is what is carrying the 5 star rating on food. Specifically the egg roll.

Egg roll The egg roll is made correctly. I’ve been to many pho restaurants and they used the wrong wrapper for the egg roll. If it looks like a vegetable egg roll that you get at a Chinese take out, it’s wrong. It’s is very crunchy after pouring the sauce on it and the filling is really tasty. It also maintains its crunchiness after 15 mins. Very well done

Grilled pork Perfectly marinated and seasoned. It’s grilled pretty well with a bit of char and it’s very juicy. Personally I would like to see a bit more char.

The noodles, salad green onions, peanut and sauce was done pretty well. They are pretty standard, but nothing that jumps out.

TL;DR: definitely a place to visit for authentic Vietnamese food.

It’s semi hidden in the back of the parking lot strip mall, don’t get lost.

Try the egg rolls. They make it...

Nestled in the pocket of the International District & the Central District is this secret oasis.

You are literally walking in from rough streets of Jackson Street in a stripmall that is equally rough. If you're not careful, you'll walk into the other restaurant right next door! But man when you walk in, it feels like you are transported to a place in Vietnam. The location low-key keeps the city feel of the streets out & bring you into the garden surround by running waters, with small details of waves grooved into the cement floors of the outdoor area, & wrapped in greenery that makes you forget where you really are.

And it's not just the atmosphere, the food also is served at the same high level & attention to quality. When you leave here you don't have to wash your clothes or have to wear your "pho" clothes so you don't smell like it all day. The place is CLEAN. They have a lady that goes around & makes sure it stays that way. They are short-staffed but understandably, after covid it is hard to find good service or any service. We didn't get out water refilled or a round of "is everything okay?" & they did give us a box rather than put the to-go food in a box & carrrying bag & it took 2 rounds to ask for hot sauce but the service was friendly & professional. The food was solid. The phó wasn't piping hot but it wasn't oily & the soup had a clean finish. Plenty of green onions & VERY fresh adders if you add bean spouts & thai basil you will be impressed. They really excelled in the vermicelli bowl, (we had the vegetable option) & it was ridiculously good. The grilled tofu is the kicker! The fresh shrimp spring rolls were the best I've ever had. They have a secret crunch in the middle of the roll that no one does. And the peanut dipping sauce is perfectly balanced. The crushed peanuts are not from a can of Mr.Peanut for sure.

Pro Tip: Get the tea. It tells you a lot about the restaurant (if you follow my reviews, I've mentioned this). The tea that served was good, not perfect but good. The pot of tea that they served was for 3-4, so I knew it was gonna be a wait for the food. And likely they didn't want to come filling our pot. Also the tea was hot, not steaming hot but just hot, so I figured it was gonna be a tell for the food. And that is how the phó came out---hot but not steaming hot. The tea leaves were loose, & not from a bag. They pay attention to quality & jasmine tea costs virtually nothing. We left a 25% tip with a smiley face on the receipt.

Midas 5-stars for the secret spring rolls. Midas 4-stars for the slow & basic service. Really wish restaurants would box up the leftovers instead of...

Wow, what an explosion of flavour and range of tastes.

The restaurant is a lovely setting with water burbling outside and small trees in and outside the building.

We arrived to find the restaurant packed, mainly with local people, but we had reserved, so were seated soon after arrival.

My partner decided to try one of the exotic cordials, which was Lime with sugar cane over ice water (Đá chanh), the sharp lime and the sweet sugar worked well for my partner, who had another before the meal was over. Very tasty.

We opted for the menu that my partner had spotted when we first identified this place. It was simply called: Seven Courses of Beef, it was an amazing tour of flavours of Vietnam. I would strongly recommend it.

The meal began with Gỏi Bò - Beef Salad of shredded Cabbage, Carrot, and Green Herbs with House Dressing. This was tasty with a chilli warmth. Even eating noodles with chopsticks, something I've been doing for years, didn't faze my partner, who was new to it, who was committed to make the most of this meal.

Our second course was Bò Nhúng Dấm - Beef Vinegar with thin slices of Beef and Vinegar Broth. The vinegar was sharp and pungent, we cooked our own meat in it, as well as some of the lovely vegetables that formed the Green Vegetables, Herbs, Pickles, Rice Noodles and Roasted Peanuts. plate which was very generous. We may never know if that was what we were supposed to do, but it worked for us, and in such a full resteraunt, nobody else noticed or suggested we were doing it wrong, which made it very relaxing. The rice paper was on the side and we had a bowl of warm water in which this was placed to cook.

The next four items came together: Bò Nướng - Grilled Marinated Beef Slices Rolled with Vietnamese Bacon, delicious. Chả Đùm - Steamed Ground Beef Marinated with Spices, Egg and Vegetables, chunky and lovely. Bò Lá-Lốt - Grilled Marinated Ground Beef wrapped in La-Lot Leaves - crisp and delightful; Bò Mở Chày - Fatty Beef - Grilled Marinated Ground Beef Wrapped in a Thin Sheet of Fat very tasty.

Each dish, though all beef, had a different texture and flavour. My partner preferred the Bò Nướng while my favorite was the Chả Đùm, but they were all very nice indeed.

The meal was brought to a fitting crescendo by the Cháo Bò Beef Rice Soup - Rice Soup made with Ground Beef Broth Topped with coriander, spring onions and pepper.

What a delight of palate pleasers. Many thanks for treating us to...