Tamarai

Upside: Excellent for taking a date - very romantic lighting. Went there for an early dinner before going to the theatre (Nov 07). The place was empty when we arrived (5.25) and was starting to fill up by the time we left at 7.35. We were all very impressed with the food. Service was good - attentive table service and about right for the money.

Downside: Disappointed with the deserts as they were extremely overpriced. They tasted amazing but the portions were tiny although the presentation was excellent.
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Rachel Stark
Overall rating
Food 10 | Service 8 | Atmosphere 6 | Value for money 5
Monday, November 19, 2007

Oh where to begin.... I booked a table in advance for 9 people for last Saturday evening for my brothers birthday party. We then had an extra guest which i called to add to the table 3 hours before we arrived.

The venue does look like a nightclub that has had a few tables and cushions put in it - it doesn't look quite finished. A faux spotlighted ceiling wouldn't go amiss and the removal of chewing gum on the chairs. There was also no loo paper in the toilets.

We had to have a set menu as we had over 8 guests attending but was told on arrival that people who have set menus's only get the table for 2 hours and then you have to leave as the next sitting will arrive, apart from the fact that the restaurant was half empty I thought that this was absurd as should you be less than 8 (and paying less money) you are able to keep your table for longer. When I complained about the fact that nobody had mentioned this to me even after exchange of several emails when booking, in fairness to Tamarai they did tell me that they would move us to a seated area if we wanted to stay and drink after dinner.

We sat at the table for some 30mins before anyone came to take our drink order and so we got up and ordered our drinks from the bar. When we did finally manage to get our wine and water order in we had to pour it ourselves throughout the evening as we didn't have an assigned waiter to our table.

Our first course arrived before we all had anough plates and cutlery on the table so some of us had to wait before starting the first course. Also the chef hadn't been infomred that there was one extra person at the table, so that poor guest had to eat their starter when everyone else had finished.

The second course was served before the dirty first course plated had been taken away and then there was a mad fumble of waiters trying to pick up the dirty plates whilst putting doen the dishes of food. The waiters also refused to bend over the other side of the table meaning that the guests had to handle the hot plates to their place setting.

I tried to give them the benefit of thinking they may have been short staffed for the evening, however i did notice a lot of there staff standing around near the bar area and when I did try and call them over for service, the English language wasn't there strong point.

Dessert came some 25 minutes after the second course had been cleared away, again without any plates or cutlery.

We weren't offered any tea or coffee, which may have been lucky as they could have expected us to drink out directly out of the tea pots!

At the end we decided not to take up their offer of seating us in another area to continue our evening there!

Overall, the food was good but not outstanding, there is little or no service at all, which reflects badly in the amount of money that is charged for the food!

I am happy to pay that amount if the service had even been normal, I do think that they have some balls to even put the compulsary 12.5% service charge on top of your bill, which we did toy with idea of contesting but all decided that we would never go back again instead.
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Charmaine
Overall rating
Food 7 | Service 0 | Atmosphere 2 | Value for money 2
Monday, November 12, 2007

I review restaurants for a newspaper in a major Southern city, and I speak from my own experience when I say that it takes much more than one bad review to hurt the business at any restaurant. To say that a bad review can hurt, or close a restaurant, also presumes the opposite--that a good review can "make" a restaurant. If this were true, I and every other restaurant critic would have tremendous power to "seed' our cities with exactly the type of restaurants we personally prefer. I was staying in London for the week end and my friend took me to Tamarai. I was more than disappointed with the service the manager could find our reservation we had to wait an hour to get a table and the food was rather average the wine choice was rather short...

And the music very loud making any conversation impossible
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Bonnie Boots
Overall rating
Food 0 | Service 0 | Atmosphere 0 | Value for money 0
Sunday, November 11, 2007

I went to Tamarai for lunch last month and was blown away by the quality of the food. The Dim Sum selection for lunch gives you a generous taste of 5-6 dishes and it is ample. I have since been there at least twice a week and it just gets better. The best was when we went this week on Tuesday and got 50% off with the Tamarai privilege card - worth asking for one.
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James
Overall rating
Food 9 | Service 8 | Atmosphere 9 | Value for money 9
Sunday, November 11, 2007

We went to Tamarai in September, the food was really good, ambiance brilliant although a little dark! The drinks were good although pricey. Again i have to comment on the staff there were loads of staff hanging around the bar but when it came to ordering the food it seemd they had all disapeared eventually we somebody did decide to come over and was quite plesant compared to Sitaray next door!

I would recommend Tamarai, the food was delicious.

I wish the staff would brush up on their staffing skills!
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Dipa
Overall rating
Food 9 | Service 6 | Atmosphere 9 | Value for money 8
Thursday, October 25, 2007

I went there for the second time on Saturday with friends. Both times I have rung on the day and managed to get a table. Albeit a slightly late one. Although the menu is limited, the food is superb. The dishes do appear small but 3 starters and 4 mains between 4 people is definately enough and doesn't make you feel bloated. The music was great and a nice mixed crowd. However, the lights on teh dance floor were strobe like (felt like the 80's!) and made my friend and I feel quite ill so we had to leave. Great shame. Stop the silly lights and you've got a fantastic restaurant/club. Can't believe more people don't know about this place.
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Nisha
Overall rating
Food 10 | Service 9 | Atmosphere 7 | Value for money 9
Monday, August 20, 2007

Food was fantastic, went for chefs tasting menu but be ware, there is a lot of food to get through so make sure you come in with an empty tummy. Service there was excellent. Good range of cocktails and are very nicely done. Would definitely recommend.
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JK
Overall rating
Food 8 | Service 10 | Atmosphere 7 | Value for money 7
Saturday, July 07, 2007

Went here for my mother's birthday and was utterly disappointed with the way we were treated. There was a mix-up with the reservation and instead of being apologetic and trying to resolve the situation the "manager" was argumentative, totally un-accomodating and utterly rude. We were so shocked at the service and their attitude that we left before we had even ordered and managed to get a table at nearby Shanghai Blue. From the little I saw of this place the concept tries to copy renowned restaurants like Hakkasan and Yuautcha. On service and ambience it fails miserably to compete and I am confident had I stayed long enough to try the food it would have been much the same story....
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Overall rating
Food 0 | Service 0 | Atmosphere 0 | Value for money 0
Saturday, July 07, 2007

We went into this restaurant earlier this month for a meal for two (on a Friday night) and really enjoyed the experience. The food was really fantastic - I can recommend the vegetarian options - and the staff were very friendly.

Slightly mixed crowd when we went - mixture of after work cocktail drinkers and tourists - but the music and atmosphere was generally good. Could do with being a bit less smoky but that will happen naturally in July!

The cocktails are also fab and the meal wasn't ridiculously expensive. Id' recommend it.
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J Morgan
Overall rating
Food 8 | Service 7 | Atmosphere 6 | Value for money 7
Friday, April 27, 2007

I would love to have been able to review this restaurant. A group of 10 friends of mine had a table booked (a month in advance) for a renunion dinner.

However... three days before the booking Tamarai rang to cancel as they had "a large group to accommodate", ie they got a better offer. Disgraceful.

So, if it is in anyway important to you that they actually honour your reservation I'd suggest going elsewhere.
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Jon - View all reviews by this user
Overall rating
Food 0 | Service 0 | Atmosphere 0 | Value for money 0
Tuesday, April 24, 2007