Tamarind Bay

I have a friend who refuses to participate in any kind of social media, so I’m writing this review for him. He loves Tamarind Bay, but never goes there because he can’t get anyone to go with him. There are reasons for that.
First, the basement location of this restaurant, and its layout, make it almost unbearable for me to be in. Low ceilings, squished together, elbow to elbow with your neighbor, but with a pretense to «fine dining». I didn’t know fine dining meant bumping elbows with the person squeezed next to you in the banquette (who isn’t your friend, but a stranger).
Some of the food was tasty, particularly the surprisingly good Faldhari Kofta. But, the portions were tiny, and the rest of the food was unremarkable.
Admittedly, I haven’t been to this restaurant in years, because I couldn’t stand to go back, so I can’t comment on the current quality. Every claustrophobic fiber in my body says, «Stay away! Stay away!». So, I’m splitting the difference in this review for my friend: 5 stars for him and 1 star for me.

I am being generous with the two stars here, people. I went here on a week day for the lunch buffet. In all honesty, it’s the single worse Indian buffet I’ve ever had, on either coast. Why didn’t I like it?
1. The food was not hot. It was all lukewarm. I guess they don’t actually heat it once they put it out?
2. Shrimp Korma that was shrimp in a flavorless white sauce. I’m not talking «delicately flavored», I’m talking Bechamel-​from-​a-​mix flavored.
3. Tandoori chicken that was caked with «raw» spices — they did not taste cooked — and did not appear to have been cooked in a tandoori oven. Instead of having that classic spicy outside and juicy inside, this was like Indian shake-​n-​bake; it appeared to have been baked in an oven. Also, there were *parts* of bones in the thigh I had.
4. Uninspired other flavors. The Chicken Butter was bland, the lentils were bland; I overheard two different groups asking people if it was too spicy — I have no idea what they were experiencing, because I found almost nothing «spicy» about this food.
5. General cleanliness. You call it «cozy» or «charming» — I call it unswept. There were all sorts of things under the tables and benches. While I was there, a server dropped an entire pan of cauliflower on the floor. What was left in the pan was carried away back to the kitchen, and I became honestly concerned they were going to wait a few minutes and then take it out to serve it. I’m not saying they did, I’m saying the general sense of unkempt-​ness of the place made me feel uncomfortable about what might happen next.
As someone else has said, Kebab Factory is not all that far away. It’s the *best* Indian buffet I’ve ever had, and well worth the walk. It’ll cost you an extra dollar over Tamarind Bay, but it’s WELL worth it. Don’t waste money on this stuff.

Finding this place is a challenge, it’s tucked away in a side street and is not immediately obvious however it’s a hidden gem of a restaurant. So far in all my travels in the USA this is the best indian food I’ve had, not that that would be a difficult accolade however.
The other diners were quite young and from the looks of them mostly students, it was quite fun to think that we might be sitting amongst the people to develop the next Google or Instagram!
To start, we had the chicken tikka, a firm fav of mine and it was delicious. It was also a good portion instead of the 3 cubes of chicken you normally get at indian places in New York. As a main course, we opted for the Chicken Tikka Masala and Chicken Korma. We also ordered the bread basket which had a selection of indian breads, now that’s a good idea and was very tasty. The Tikka Masala was pretty good especially with the breads and tasted more like what I’m accustomed to in the UK. (I’ve never seen this dish on any menu in India!) The Korma had a bit of an odd taste to it, like they’d used soured cream or maybe creamed cheese in it or something.
If I was in Boston and fancied some Indian food then I would return for sure.

Tucked away on a side street in Harvard Square at basement level, Tamarind Bay is an unpretentious way to start your venture into un-​Americanized Northern Indian cuisine.
Offering many different dishes including the ever so lovely tandoori and lots of vegetarian options, and on the cheap. But having said that, there was something lacking from the dishes; the POW factor of Indian flavoring. Albeit tatsy, they fell all sorts of flat.
I definitely wouldn’t go out of my way to this spot, but if you’re like me and must try every damn naan this side of the USA, give it a nibble.

This place used to be pretty good, but keeps getting worse as the years go by.
I would avoid this place if I were you… and this is coming from someone who has tried 75% of the Indian restaurants in the Boston area.

Great buffet.
The flavors were all very subtle with nice spice. A good number of veggie options. This is the 4^th indian buffet I’ve hit in Cambridge area and easily the best so far.

This is a decent North Indian restaurant, though it doesn’t go out of its way to cater to vegans, sadly (I had heard they used to have a vegan buffet, though that might be at their other branch).
I normally hate Indian buffets, but they had some decent vegan dishes in their lunch lineup (~$ 13). I enjoyed the rajmah (red beans) which is a traditional dish that you don’t see often. The aloo channa was also solid, as was the mixed peas with corn and carrots. All of the dishes were hearty and unabashedly spicy, which I respected.
They gave me naan instead of roti, which is a shame, as naan is not vegan, and it’s also made with pathetic white flour. You can order roti separately, but they charge you extra for it, which is ridiculous in my opinion. They should allow customers to choose between roti and naan.
They also don’t offer brown rice, which is also a shame, though the odds of finding an Indian restaurant with brown rice is slim to begin with.
Lastly, there are no vegan desserts, which is also not surprising, given that this is an Indian restaurant. But couldn’t they experiment and come up with some newer, interesting dishes to cater to the smarter, edgier demographics of Cambridge?

How this place ever managed to garner a «Best of Boston» accolade is beyond me. Hell, it’s not even the best Indian place within a two-​mile radius. Not with The Kebab Factory nestled comfortably nearby on Washington Street.
A lot of the buffet fare is dry and flavorless, which, for an Indian restaurant, is truly unforgiveable. I do enjoy their vermicelli kheer, however. Not enough reason to come back, but if you find yourself in the area and are craving Indian desperately (which, if you’re anything like me, is more than likely) and can’t be bothered to walk another 10 minutes to the Kebab Factory, then feel free to skip straight to dessert.

Mmm, I am a big fan of Indian Food and generally go for TB over Bombay across the street. This place is kind of weird cause it’s underground and it’s always SUPER quiet. Usually NO music and I swear you can hear everything everyone is saying and the waiters are perching over your shoulder. Definitely not a deal-​breaker, but just know that going in…
The naan they serve is really good and serves more people than you think, so save room for the food.
The chicken korma is pretty good and the tikka masala was tasty too. Nothing mind blowing, but not bad at all.
My one concern was pricing… kind of expensive for casual Indian food. I mean it didn’t break the bank, but maybe about $ 2 – 5 more than I expected to pay per dish.

I love seafood. One of the BESTest is this one.
This is a typical Harvard square restaurant situated in a homely construction with underground low clearance place. Don’t go on a ambience.
Shrimp is their speciality. Try any menu item and you won’t be disappointed. Achari Jhinga, Murg Khurchan, Rashmi Kabab are delicious item that are MUST in your visit.
They serve «Bread Basket» which comes with Garlic Naan, Roti and paratha more than enough to feed 3 people.
Money: Depends on how much seafood lover you are. 2 appetizers, 3 Entrees, 2 Beers, 2 Bread basket can cost avg $ 45-​$ 50 per person between 3 people.
Caution: Servers are smart. They talk very nice, make you feel comfortable and serve with candid-​formal manner … You are flattered with their service. BUT, when you get a cheque make sure you check it well. I have been at this place zillion number of times and every now on then i either run into a discrepancy with over charging or charged with 18% gratuity even though i visit in party of 3 or 4. Menu clearly mentions that gratuity is for party of 5 and more.
Caution doesn’t bother me anymore because i am cautious now AND they do it the best what matters the most… THE FOOD.

I’m a fan of the Tamarind in Brookline, so when we were in Harvard looking for somewhere to grab lunch, this was a natural choice.
The place is pretty small and subterranean, but cozy and relatively clean with attentive and friendly service. The spread for the $ 10 Sunday buffet was excellent, with choices ranging from puffed rice with condiments to veggie to meat, spicy to mild. I especially enjoyed the dal and the shrimp dish (udina shrimp?) they had out there today, but one of the standouts of the meal was the fresh naan they brought over (included in the buffet)… I’ve never really had a bad naan but it usually never sticks out in my mind either, but Tamarind’s version was hot, fresh, a bit crispy on the outside and soft inside. Delicious.
The quality of the food is high (no gristly meat, really flavorful dishes, varied choices, fresh and constantly turned over) and $ 10 is definitely worth it IMO. I’d definitely come back for their weekend buffet.

Went for the lunch buffet for a change of pace — I’d already tried most of the Indian places in the Square, but missed this one (maybe because of the off-​street entrance). Indian buffets can be pretty predictable, but this one was a cut above average. I particularly appreciated the kofta dish and the delicious fried onion-​thing. The naan was pretty poor, though.

It’s a different kind of Indian restaurant, no doubt. Better, more attentive service than most other places in the Central/​Harvard Sq area. Subterranean, casually elegant décor. Coastal cuisine, according to my expert Indian friend, as opposed to the usual Punjabi selections (though they do have some of those).
But the food was just not that impressive. I decided to go vegetarian in companionship with my vegetarian friend. We had the Peshawri Chole (chickpeas cooked with ginger and onions in cilantro sauce) and the Nezami Handi (mixed vegetables with spinach sauce) with a side of roti.
The Chole was fantastic – spicy, spiced and flavorful. The Nezami was good at first but then got too rich and creamy for me. And considering I could eat tubs of butter chicken, that’s saying something. The roti was a definite disappointment. It was as thick as and looked just like naan. So much so that when the guy brought it out, we asked if there was a mistake because we’d ordered roti. He was like, «This is roti». Um… What? Roti is thin and crêpe-​like, with crispy little fried parts! This is not roti! I’m pretty sure we were lied to.
Also not a fan of paying extra for rice. Maybe Harvard Sq rent is too expensive, but for $ 16 an entrée PLUS another couple for rice, I expect a lot better.

I had high expectations going into this restaurant from all the awards this place won, and I’d have to say, those expectations definitely weren’t met. Don’t get me wrong, this place wasn’t bad at all. It just didn’t live up to the hype.
The chicken tikka masala was a pretty standard dish and didn’t really stand out. We got the eggplant curry and we didn’t finish it because of the strange texture to the eggplants and the creaminess of the curry. The naan was good though. However… When the waiter came to pick up our finished dishes, he dropped a nice on the table that nearly splattered sauce onto my date.
All in all, a pretty average Indian restaurant.

Who charges extra for rice?! Are you kidding me? And the rice isn’t even good! It came out in hard, cold clumps…
Well I will probably never come again on my own will and dime. It’s expensive for what it is and not that great. I got the Coconut Fish Curry (the seasonal fish was haddock) and it’s was a whopping $ 17 (and don’t forget, a bowl of rice is an additional $ 1.50!). I understand seafood is generally expensive but it’s just a normal white-​fish and the sauce was literally just coconut milk with some turmeric. It didn’t have any depth of flavor, it was just bland and dizzying with fat and cream! Do not order this if you go!
The only thing keeping me from giving this place 1 star is that there is bound to be something decent on the menu (they even offer to make more traditional, mainstream Indian dishes that aren’t listed on the menu) and I may have just ordered the wrong thing. They try to make inventive Indian food but I don’t think they need to charge as much as they do for substituting an ingredient here or there.

This place is so good that I can’t afford to come here that often.
Let me explain. I’m giving Tamarind Bay ⁴⁄₅ stars for 2 reasons: first, they use a poor choice of fonts on their sign, so I thought it was called Tamarind Boy for the first couple of years I lived here. Implies a whole different sort of joint. Second, they’re kind of expensive. I know this because every time my wife and I go here for dinner, she ends up ordering 2 entrees. I only order 1, and I leave full, but she seems to find room.
The food is right delicious, and pretty spicy compared to some of the other Indian restaurants in town. In particular I’m a sucker for the lamb saag. The service is good, and the bathroom is tiny but charming.

I really liked this place — Upscalish fun Indian! My friends know the chef personally and he made us a wonderful variety of food. Everything tasted great — from the tender lamb to the CTM to the sweet mango lassi. I liked the cavernous atmosphere. I can’t wait to return!

I’ve been back to Tamarind Bay three times since my last review, and nothing has lived up to the first visit.
Some of my reaction has to do with aesthetics — it’s unbelievably hot when you first walk into TB (the foyer isn’t air conditioned) and it smells bad. Like a bathroom. Luckily the dining room is air conditioned (and pleasant smelling) but that initial moment is just unpleasant.
The service has really been poor lately– we asked our server a simple question, if she could direct us to dishes that have less or no dairy– and she was perplexed and offered no information. On our next trip, we saw this same server spill a beverage on a customer, repeatedly forget to fill customers’ water glasses, etc. All of the small touches that I used to love about TB-​including good service– seem gone.
And my most recent meal here was unremarkable — they were, apparently, out of the chicken kabobs we normally get, so this time we had the tandoori murgh. Flavorful but the chicken was a bit tough and slightly overcooked. The peshawri chole was unbelievably spicy, which made the dal the highlight of the meal (the poori was good too, though). I think my real sadness about TB is that it used to feel like a nice evening out — a quiet, chic space — and now it feels slightly run-​down.

I went here on 24 May 09 at around 6:30p with two other people. As with everyone else the hostess made a two top fit more than two people. The décor was bland and the bathroom may be the smallest ever.
Service was adequate. Nothing special.
Mango Lassies were very good. A starter of potato and cheese chutney with mint were OK. The description in the menu definitely was not what we saw on our table. Bread from the bread basket was served warm and delicious.
Starters consisted of chicken tikka masala, wok seared lamb with coriander and a dish similar to tikka malasa but creamed based along with lemon rice (sorry I forget the names). All were good curries. The lemon rice was very good. Portions were small, which mean really just means they were a proper size for each individual person.
If this restaurant lacks anything its something in its food to make it stand out from other venues. I was going here for the food, not the décor or service. I will be back to to Tamarind Bay again to see how consistent the food is (and I have yet to find other good Indian restaurants in the Boston area)

Food is at least as good as Guru (hmmm — Unilocal doesn’t provide links) and you can sit down at Tamarind Bay. Going there frequently for 3 years, I never had a bad dish. I love prefer the spicy dishes and add some Kashmiri occasionally. Okay, it isn’t cheap, but it always delicious and the portions are big. This past Sunday three of us shared: MURGH MALAI PALAK, TURUSHI CALAMARI, DUM ALOO BHOJPURI, LALLA MUSSA DAL, RICE and BREAD BASKET. It went down smoothly with some King Fisher, but we still had left-​overs.
The rice is very good, but I rarely eat much as their nan is so good and filling.
The place is tiny, but it is never uncomfortable — if you can get seated. Service has always been friendly and efficient.