Tamarind Indian Cuisine — Restaurant in Winter Park

Consistently among the absolute worst service I've had at an Indian restaurant in Orlando, and this is the third time I've been here. I'm not sure if the manager is the one running the dining room or if there's a head waiter, but he is by far one of the most inattentive and uncourteous waiters I've ever had at an Indian restaurant. We never received plates despite ordering an appetizer, we didn't receive chutneys either. I assumed they just didn't give chutneys until I saw two other guests get seated and immediately be given water, plates, and chutneys. I'm not sure if it's because my party was Indian and they were giving preferential treatment to people of other demographics, but it sure felt that way. We also didn't receive a bottle of water to refill out own glasses until after we requested the check. Other tables had bottles of water.

The food we ordered wasn't prepared properly, either. I ordered a regular portion/entrée instead of the lunch special/thali and I received the thali anyway. There was no apology for this mistake either. Each person in my party ordered our meals to be spicy, with mine ordered as extra spicy or "Indian hot". Between the two variations of chicken tikka masala I ordered, one had absolutely no flavor at all and the other barely had flavor aside from ginger. One member of my party doesn't butter and specified when ordering that they did not want butter on their naan. To no one's surprise, the naan came almost saturated with butter. No apologies were given for this either.

Perhaps the waiter taking orders might benefit from writing them down or making use of a mobile POS system so that there's no issue in communication between the customer placing the order and actually receiving what they ordered. The wait staff might also benefit from staying off of their phones while in the dining room and taking the airpods out of their ears. Maybe the manager or head waiter could tell them to stop doing so instead of joining in as well.

No one enjoyed their meal. Nothing was prepared correctly. The waiter didn't thank us or acknowledge us at all when picking up the check from our table. He maneuvered around my party to pick up the check and rifled through it as soon as he did. I guess he was worried we wouldn't pay after the service we received. I would not have given a tip at all for this service as it was appalling and shameful. However, someone else in the party insisted on doing so.

There is no excuse for...

Excellent venue for Indian food! We’ve been to many in the area, this one is our favorite so far. When we had some as takeout it was ok at best, but when we ate at the restaurant it was a very different experience. There is ample parking as it is at a strip mall. The restaurant was clean and nicely decorated. The staff promptly addressed us, and seated us along with providing a booster chair for our toddler. The aroma from the spices in the air was wonderful. The waitress proceeded excellent recommendations that exceeded our expectations. We immediately noticed that their menu included curries that we simply have never seen before at Indian restaurants in the area. We tried two of them, which were Fish Hyderabadi and chicken Kadhai, and both were absolutely amazing. We had chicken Biryani which is fairly ubiquitous at Indian venues, but they did a good job with it. The tandoori stuffed mushrooms are definitely recommended. We appreciated that their samosa aren’t dry, and had excellent flavor. They also carry Indian beer, which I’m not a big fan of, but whatever. My complaints are the following: limited staff, which isn’t a big issue unless it gets busy, but wasn’t too bad for us. We are Thai, and when we say extra extra spicy we aren’t kidding, and I think the chef took us lightly, and did not put any heat in our food, which was quite disappointing. I know Indians know what spicy means, as they have ghost peppers (which I eat whole) so hopefully they actually make it spicy next time. Price: it is winter park Fl, and they make excellent food, so I expect to pay a certain premium. I would say the price is a little over what is expected for what we get, but regardless, we will be back again. If you have a limited budget however, this venue might be a little high for a regular night out, so please keep that in mind. What you see in my photos is all we got (plus two nan) and it cost...

I know a thing or two about good Indian food: I lived in London for 10 years, and ate at loads of authentic places. And this, folks, is really, really good Indian food--if there's better in Orlando, I'd love to find it. But until I discover that elusive spot, I'll continue to be a regular at Tamarind.

Some people have pointed out that the menu is not as large as at some Indian restaurants. This is true. You won't find the same variety that you might at some places. However, what they do is done very well indeed. And there is enough variety to keep you from getting bored.

It's not exactly cheap either--but it's fairly priced, as the portions are quite large. I'm a big eater, and every time I've had dinner there, I've had to take half of my meal home for lunch the next day. But I didn't mind at all, as that meant I got to enjoy everything again!

Service is excellent and very professional. Efficient, observant, quick, unobtrusive and adult--not the fake, overattentive friendliness you get at a lot of American (corporate) places, just top notch wait service.

The lunch specials are a fantastic deal, too--I've only been once (I've dined in several times for dinner), but I'll be going back soon as I get an opportunity.

The place is also very clean, tastefully decorated and discreetly lit. All in all, a very good, tasty, great value for money dining experience. Highly...