Tamarind Thai Cusine

Some of the best food I’ve ever eaten. Really. Absolutely delicious. Great atmosphere and the service is excellent. Highly recommended.

We went here for lunch on Saturday. The interior looks very nice considering it’s in a strip mall, but the menu was definitely pricey. I’m also suspicious of restaurants with 10 pages of menu items, even though, in this case it also included lunch. Since it was a weekend, we couldn’t order off of the lunch menu, unfortunately, but we decided to give it a try anyway. The steamed dumplings were okay, but nothing to write home about. I got Pad Thai at their spiciest and my husband got Pad Woon Sen at a medium heat. I’m not sure where they found the meat, but I just had to assume that it was actually beef. My husband said the same of his pork. I was quite happy with the heat level of mine, especially since that seemed to be the only flavor the dish had. My husband was wishing for more heat on his since it was pretty bland otherwise. The bean sprouts were mixed in with the noodles when it arrived and there were a ton of them. Apparently they also mixed in some green onions too, but I only found two pieces of that. There was a bit of egg, some peanuts and lime on the side, and that was it. If the flavor had been there, I wouldn’t have had such a problem, but when I’m paying $ 12 for a lunch dish I tend to expect a bit more in terms of presentation, flavor, and ingredients. My husband’s Pad Woon Sen was similar. I’m surprised to see so many good reviews, so maybe we were there on a very, very off day. However, I don’t think we’ll be going back to find out. In its favor, the service was pleasant.

Food itself is pretty good. Had the fried tofu as an appetizer — nice texture and good crunch, good sauce. Also had the basil rolls — lots of lettuce, but very fresh. The spicy noodles were pretty average — not bad, not great. Would have loved to have gotten utensils with my to go order. Also my to go diet Pepsi was pretty much all ice. Is go back; probably wouldn’t do take out again.

My fella commutes from out of town and is always asking if we can go here for the Pineapple Fried Rice. It’s not hard to twist my arm because I love their curries. I’ve tried them all and I don’t have a favorite since they are all good. We’ve had their Crab Rangoon several times and it’s fun to try new things off their sushi menu. Never had a problem with their wait staff and it’s usually not too busy inside since there are so many restaurants to compete with them.

Great food! I always get their Pad Thai and coconut rice, although they have raised their prices a bit too high!

Some friends had recommended Tamarind Thai in Arden, near the Asheville Regional Airport, so we decided to try it. After we got there, we realized we already had eaten here some years ago, but for some reason never went back.
Our reaction to Tamarind Thai this time was that it is a pleasant little restaurant in a strip mall, with very friendly service and pretty good Thai food, but that it’s not much different or better than other Thai restaurants in the Asheville area such as Thai Orchid in Asheville or Soba in Weaverville. It’s probably closest in style to Soba in that it also serves sushi and some other Asian dishes, in addition to Thai, although it is a little more expensive than Soba. Prices are probably about the same as Thai Orchid, though we usually order takeout at Thai Orchid from the lunch menu, which is much less pricey than dinner.
We started with the fried calamari appetizer with the standard sweet chili sauce ($ 6.95), which was okay, though not up to the calamari at places like Chestnut or Reza. We also had the Ginger Peanut Salad ($ 8.95) with ground pork, which at most Thai places is called Nam Sod. This was excellent.
For entrees we had the Pad Thai with chicken ($ 11.95), which we ordered 2 on a scale of 4, and the Eggplant Basil with pork ($ 12.95), which we ordered 3 hot.
Unlike some others we thought none of the dishes was even close to being Thai hot, and if we go back will probably order at least some dishes 4 hot. We asked for Sriracha sauce to spice up the food a little.
Tamarind Thai has a small selection of bottled beers including Singha ($ 3.75), but no local craft beers, and a few plum wine and sake options. Cocktails aren’t available here.
With two appetizers, two entrees and a total of three Singha beers, our bill came to about $ 56 before 20% tip.
Bottom: It’s a pleasant, friendly Thai spot with pretty good food, but it’s far from exceptional and not much different from several other Thai restaurants in the area. We may go back when in Arden but probably wouldn’t make another special trip.

I had dinner here with some friends on a Friday night. They eat lunch here quite often and praised Tamarind very highly; unfortunately our dinner experience wasn’t amazing, but my friends were very adamant that it was an abnormal experience. Service was slow (practically nonexistent, really) but the restaurant was pretty busy.
I had the Pad Thai with tofu and it was delicious, which is pretty much the only reason why I’m rating this restaurant three stars instead of two. However I hope to go back when they’re maybe not as busy.

So sad they aren’t open on Monday’s. But that’s really no reason to demote them in their stars. Especially since their service is always good.
I usually shy away from the multi Asian style restaurants. But since moving to Asheville I’ve had to become less particular about my Asian cuisine expectations. Their food is consistent and I can say I’ve never had a bad meal. The Nam Sod is my favorite dish they make. My second favorite menu item would be the pineapple fried rice.

Great Thai food and delicious sushi. Also try the miso soup. I’m a fan of their pad Thai but I have never had a bad meal here.

We have been searching for good thai food in asheville, and still have yet to find it. We ordered the steamed dumplings, tom yum and tom kha soups, and green curry with chicken. The «steamed dumplings» ended up being frozen shu mai that were microwaved (bits of wonton were crunchy). The soups were spicy but without enough flavor. The green curry was good, it was more of a 4 star dish. Soup and entrée had a good amount of chicken. Decent prices, but probably will not be returning.

Nice upscale atmosphere. Best crab ragoons I’ve had! Fried rice dishes are good. Green curry w tofu– the tofu was kind of bulky. Thai iced tea… do it!

I love this place. The sushi is great, the appetizers are fantastic, the noodles are definitely above average, and there are great lunch deals. I have been here at least a dozen times and have always had wonderful service and loved the food.

I was amazed at how good our food was! This is definitely a gem. From the California roll, crab Rangoon, cashew chicken and pad Thai everything was great! I have a favorite place in another city and didn’t think I’d be able to replicate it– this place is it! I could eat here everyday.

Great food. Great atmosphere. Great service. Boom!

GRRRR I always end up there on a Monday, when they’re close … beware ’cause after the second time it gets really annoying! I finally made it for dinner on 2÷12÷13. This was my 3^rd time for dinner and I’ve never had a bad meal. The service and the quality of food is consistently great. This time was odd and I detected the smell of bleach when I first walked in … not a great way to start a meal but I let that slide because I knew that I was in for some good food. The décor is fairly intimate and pleasing.
I had a sensational sushi roll and a seaweed salad for apps. and for the main couse I tried the Ba Mee noodles with crispy duck. The sauce for the noodle dish was a wonderfuly sweet soy sauce and it coated the noodles and duck very nicely. I have to admitt, that parts of the duck came out dry and a bit tough to chew though. The tenderness and moistness of the duck slices more than made up for the tough pieces and I would definitely get this dish again.

I had a pleasurable experience here when we were here in Asheville visiting the Biltmoore Estate. Our family friend took us here to eat. Their Thai food is very delicious. We had their crispy tofu as appetizers with a sweet Thai chili sauce. Amazing. For the entrée I had shrimp pad Thai and my wife had the spicy noodles. Although the pad Thai tasted like the ones in any other Thai restaurant this restaurant actually accommodated my request of making my dish super spicy. I was sweating bullets and that’s the way I like it. My wife’s spicy noodles were also extra spicy and we thoroughly enjoyed it. Definitely worth a visit.

This was a great find, and I wish it was a little closer to our house. Every bit as good as Thai Basil, with FAR better service. We hit it up on a Saturday afternoon (they only do the dinner menu on weekends now, so no lunch prices on Saturday). I got my old standby, Pad See Ew, to compare with other places, and it was delicious. They say they’ll make anything except the curries from 0 to 4 on the spice meter. I got a 3, and they delivered.
My wife’s «2» was not spicy at all, however, so I’m not sure how consistent that is. Both dishes were $ 11 each, and we split a delicious sushi roll (they have a sushi bar) as an appetizer.
My only suggestion is that there be a little more meat with the dishes. My wife only had a few pieces of duck in her dish (although admittedly, it’s awesome to have duck as an option alongside chicken and beef).
Overall, delicious, quick, and very friendly. We will certainly go back.

What a find! On a friend’s recommendation we stopped by for dinner. Wedged in between a cheesy Mexican place and Carrabba’s — my first impression was to keep driving — GLAD I stopped!
Good service, very authentic Thai food — best I have found in the Asheville area. I ordered a 3 (out of 4) on the hot scale and received a 1, but the food was very tasty and arrived quickly.
I’ll be back, and soon!!!

This place is the perfect example of the three times rule. If you love a place the first time… and it’s still great the second time… the third time will bite you in the ass.
That’s what happened with Tamarind. We LOVED this place. The first time we went, we got the Thai basil crispy catfish and the Pad Thai. It was wonderful at Thai hot (even though it was NOT Thai hot)…the second time about a month later was still pretty good but the quality was not what it was when they first opened… maybe they got a new cook.
The last time about 6 months later… the Pad thai was inedible and the crispy catfish was NOT catfish… if you put a gun to my head, I’d have to say it was Talapia or some other mostly flavorless fish. After moving to New Orleans, we learned that Thai was indeed amazing and much more flavorful than what is available in NC…

A gem in Arden, this place consistently delivers the best Thai in Asheville. Their recent addition of a sushi bar confused me, but after tasting the goods, I am sold. The curry sauces here are very solid. Not as good as you would find in a bigger city, or say… Bangkok, but very respectable. Service is always good, although lags a little at peak of lunch rush. The servers are a friendly bunch who always have a smile and handshake for their regulars.
The Thai fried rice is also highly recommended.