My follow-up review for this restaurant. Read my previous review for this restaurant here

Great drinks, appetizers, salads, entrees, price, quality and ambience

Wow, what a find. Chique, sleek, classy, inexpensive, great variety.
Food was excellent, staff was a little over taxed with the benefit in the main dining room, although the girl at the front desk was a sparkling professional, hospitable , commendable and great.
Got a seat in the outside dining area and got waves of cigarette smoke from the waiting patrons by the front door, that was the only down side.(a big one!)
The menu jacket and drink menu was cool metal covered and radiated class. The content was very reasonably priced, really creative variety and made it tough to choose.
We ordered a Sake, menu price $9. which came on the bill for $12, which no one told us they had to sustitute.
Very small criticiisms in the scope of the experience.
Loved the food, ,service, price, atmosphere…and leftovers

Tamarind Tree is the kind of restaurant that you have to know about to find. Hidden off the road in the International District (you’ll drive by it two or three times before you actually see it), it’s nonetheless pretty slammed even on weeknights.

It looks out of place. It’s jammed between strip malls, so you’d expect that a tiny little junky restaurant. What you find is a tastefully decorated restaurant with (non-tacky) water art, nice table settings, and cozy outdoor seating (they’ve co-opted some of the parking lot and managed to wall it off in a way that doesn’t feel like you’re eating in a parking lot).

It’s a tug-of-war of expectation setting. You start off confident that the place is going to be easy on the wallet. When you see the interior (and the crowds), your expectations change. Happily, when you see the prices on the menu, you’ll see that you can have an app and entree for under $15 (though you’ll certainly not have room for both).

Note, there’s also a unique cocktails menu (with prices that are more in line with the rest of the world).

Similar to what most other reviews say, this place is tough to find, as it’s located deep in the back corner of an very unassuming strip mall in the I-District. On a weekend evening, you can identify the restaurant in the strip mall by spotting the large crowd waiting outside, drinks in hand. The restaurant gets packed, but at least you can order drinks to whet your appetite (har har) while you’re waiting outside.

Service was reasonable, especially given the crowdedness of the restaurant. The ambiance and decor was dim and stylish, with tealight candles on every table, and would make a good date spot, excluding the fact that the tables are pretty tightly packed.

The menu was incredibly varied, and it was tough to make our choices for food. On the whole, the dishes had solid flavor and portions, and we were beyond stuffed after the meal – the extra rice portion we ordered was totally unnecessary.

Overall, I’ll definitely come back to Tamarind Tree. You can find equally tasty and authentic Vietnamese food elsewhere in the I-District, but it’s the ambiance and selection that makes Tamarand Tree unique and worth returning to.

If John weren’t the one who picked the place, I would have really worried about where we were going as it is located in a not-very-impressive location. But, it’s a gem hidden amongst strip malls.

While we waited for our table (surprisingly busy on a Thursday night), we got to pick some nice exotic drinks. You gotta try the Rasberry Mojito! The host at the door was extremely nice and tried to do as much as he could to make the wait bearable.

So when we finally sat down, we got the menu which was like a novel! So many dishes to choose from!!! I was intrigued by the variety and will have to come back if I’m in the area and do their special “7 course beef” menu.

Overall, this has a very nice ambiance; it feels modern but not stuffy. And the food and drinks are good and not too pricey. I’d definitely recommend it.

Nice water feature at the front of the restaurant gives it a rather tropical feel. There’s also a nice al fresco dining area in the front. The menu here is extensive. A little too much for us to choose from. But that’s not really a complaint, just that I don’t know where to start. All in all, a thoroughly savoury fare.

I like the Tamarind Tree rolls best

This is one of my all time favourite restaurants in terms of price and quality of food!

We went here on a Monday night and really enjoyed the food and atmosphere.
The highlights were:
- Thang Long Yellow Fish
- Green Papaya salad
- Bột chiên (Pan fried rice cake)
- DURIAN ICE CREAM! (Finally! A place that has this!)
- Grilled Banana Cake

Cocktails looked really tasty (and pretty) but we did not partake in any on this visit. Next time!

“The Seattle Pho-Natics” club!!! Our club arrived at Tamarind Tree in the afternoon. Parking was a bit of a struggle. Here is what we thought of this restaurant:
Interior: The inside of Tamarind Tree was VERY clean, modern and plenty of seating. They have an INCREDIBLE outside area where you can sit as well, even for larger groups. They have a “wall of water” outside which is very cool! Check out the picture of our club posted on here! The bathrooms were very clean as well! The building is air conditioned which is great when having a bowl of hot Pho! They do have a full bar as well which served great drinks including multiple martinis, a lychee martini, and a killer mojito!
Service: The service was slow, and this is one of the reasons our club decided to only give 4/5 stars. It took a really long time to even get our drink orders. The staff was friendly. We had 10 people, but the service could of been alittle quicker.
Broth: The broth was very good! Not too salty, just the right amount of condiments such as Thai basil, lime, sprouts and jalapeno.
Selection: The menu is amazing. Not only can you have pho, but there are a lot of items listed on their menu. Their appetizers are very good. The Tamarind Tree Rolls were a big hit with all of us! There is a great selection of Pho as well. They have everything including Tofu, and also a chicken Pho which was really good and not dry at all! The dessert menu was fantastic! The “Coconut gelatin” dessert was really good! It was coconut juice gelatin that was served inside a whole coconut shell! Very nice presentation and great taste!
Price: 2 sizes, small and large. $6.50 and $7.50. They take credit too.
Location: In the International District of Seattle. The parking was really bad. A very small area, for a fairly large restaurant.
Score: Based on our club, we give Tamarind Tree a 8/10. The two reasons: 1. bad parking 2. slow service. Otherwise we will definately come back to Tamarind Tree! Great place, we would recommend this restaurant to anyone! Remember to check out our photos listed on here! Sean Hoops The Seattle Pho-Natics.

The place looks very nice for being located in a dirty corner off of Jackson. The service is TERRIBLE. They kept bringing us the wrong dishes and it took them almost an hour to make a steamed chicken. DO NOT TRY this restaurant. They have been cited multiple times from the Public Health Department for improper food handling!!