Tamarind

Extremely well done Michelin starred Indian cuisine — I was very happy on almost every level.
My girlfriend and I made a late arrival into London and were extremely fortunate that our reservation at Tamarind was held despite it being a Friday night reservation (and what we saw was a full house).
The hostess (Natalia) was very kind and guided us to our table where we were served by what looks like Indian mafia bosses as waiters. We ordered the following:
1) Papdi Chaat — Surprisingly light for a street food appetizer dish like this and full of flavor
2) Lobster Masala — Lobster tail meat, surprisingly a good portion. For some reason, the sauce didn’t do a whole lot for me but the meat was great.
3) Murgh Makhani — You can’t go wrong with this butter chicken dish. Excellent curry.
4) Prawn with Coconut Curry (forgot the exact name for this curry) — Highly recommend this one. The curry was also very very VERY good.
5) Plain naan of course which was good
6) Kulfi (both pistachio and mango) — Surprisingly a bit let down by these BUT worth a shot. Maybe do the gulab jaman instead!
With Indian food, I always do Old Fashioned cocktails as it pairs very well for me and I gotta say… they make an AWESOME Old Fashioned here.
The space is great, service is class, and you walk away with a full stomach guaranteed.
Highly recommend!

One of our favorite Indian restaurants in London– the service and food are great! It’s on the nicer side but still very comfortable with very accommodating staff. Their gluten free options are exceptional and they made sure to tell me when they brought food to the table if something wasn’t GF.

This place is excellent.
Had a wonderful dinner here. Was in a party of three. We got the group menu (£72 per person). Obviously that’s not cheap, but the food was outstanding and the portions voluminous; we had quite a bit left over, and we were completely stuffed.
What I liked about the food is that it wasn’t over-​engineered or anything. It was classic, hearty and delicious. I think the other set menu (‘tasting menu’) was more high-​end and painstakingly presented, but the stuff we got was straightforward.
There’s an exhaustive wine list, but we just kept it to a couple rounds of Cobra (priced at a refreshing £5 per bottle).
Very pleasant ambiance, not too stuffy. Stellar service.
Absolutely worth a visit if you like Indian food and are willing to pay up a bit for a special experience.

Great high end Indian. It’s one of those places that just takes the usual up a few notches. I wouldn’t say this was a life changing meal but everything was cooked well.
The most memorable dish was the lamb shank, tender, good. The sea bass was very well cooked but definitely the least memorable in terms of something unique
All in all a great meal.

It was my first visit to a Michelin Starred restaurant in London, and Tamarind did not disappoint. It’s in Mayfair, so of course expect a lot of suits and serious conversations, and make sure you book ahead on a weekday. They have a very reasonably priced 30£ lunch menu which comes with a starter, a main, and dessert. That’s apart from the papadum that you’re served before an amuse from the chef — in this case we got a warm winter soup in an espresso demi-​tasse. The main is served with rice and naan and lentils so dessert will be a «stretch» in more ways than one, but eat slowly, savor the food and atmosphere, and enjoy your conversation. You’ll want to return.

So very good! Amazing indian cuisine in London! We have been going there for years and everything is delicious. Tamarind Mayfair was the first Indian restaurant in the world to be awarded a Michelin star. The Malabar Shrimp is delicious!

You don’t get awarded a Michelin star for making average food. U don’t retain it unless you can manta in the highest standards. I have been to many Michelin star restaurants and tamarind is no disappointment. This is not home style cooking that your mama makes. The level of cooking skill and complexity is very high and takes years at the highest level to develop. The food is simply amazing. No wonder the sultan of Brunei often comes here.

We were so lucky to have them squeeze us in! Best meal of our trip! The Papdi Chaat had great flavors all mixed together. I have a garlic allergy that they worked with and created an amazing lobster meal. My husband had the hyderabadi shank and love it as well. We indulged and got several types of stuffed naan. So good! Highly recommend it.

We had a very good meal at this restaurant. The prawn and chicken starters were some of the juiciest I’ve ever had and the palak paneer was superb. The lamb kharai and chicken tikka was good but not outstanding. The service was friendly and attentive from start to finish. All in all a very nice (but pricey) experience.

I always get worried when I have to go to an Indian restaurant. I think will this live up to my mother’s cooking? The answer is usually no and Tamarind was a no.
Four of us went for a friend’s birthday and upon arrival we were asked for our coats and were sent down the dimly lit stairs which revealed the beautifully decorated restaurant. At the bottom of the hallway we were instantly greeted again and were escorted to our seats, where a waiter welcomed and introduced himself, even though most of the evening we had different waiters serving us.
The menu was pretty limited from what I had expected but that to me meant that they were confident about the dishes they were serving. I had scallops for starters, the shank for mains, no desserts as we were not totally satisfied with what we had and for drinks I had a virgin colada, strawberry lassi, plenty of water and coca cola (I was the designated driver). They all came presented perfectly.
The scallops were cooked and seasoned perfectly but nothing else. I was waiting for a punch of spice or something that would have made the dish standout but nothing. I got to try my friend’s Papdi Chaat, that was delicious, fresh and I could have happily ate a plate by myself.
My virgin colada was nice but that was it. The shank was beautiful, cooked perfectly and the spices were bang on. I ordered naan which was the wrong thing to do but why did the waiter not stop me when I was making that error. He could have easily said I would recommend rice but we never got that from the waiter except would you like any dal tadka to go with that. Hmm… no dal tadka thank you but you could have recommended me rice for my shank. Anyway I still enjoyed the naan with my shank. My friend totally hated the biryani and she never complains about biryani but she said it lacked spice and flavour.
The last thing I had was the strawberry lassi and what a disappointment that was. Hardly any flavour of the strawberries coming through which gave it more of a lassi taste rather than of the sweet strawberries described.
We asked for the weighty bill which was accompanied with some lovely chocolates and off we were out of the restaurant, half full and half disappointed. Comparing Tamarind to Benares which is also an Indian Michelin Star restaurant, Benares wins outright.

We were led downstairs to a spacious dining room and seated straight away.
The place is very popular so i do recommend a reservation.
They offer a pre theater menu with lots of tasty dishes £35 ph or an a la carte menu.
We chose the Kabab selection and this was substantial and VERY tasty. A huge tiger prawn, chicken, monk fish and lamb chop.
For our main we selected an array of dishes so we could sample everything. They have a good cocktail selection and were more than happy to make a cocktail for me that was not on their list. The staff were very friendly and attentive.
I will definetely be back and they do have a monthly competition where you can win a meal for 2 if you place your business card in the bowl.

After hearing, for years, how great Tamarind is we finally had a chance to visit for dinner this past week. I’m sorry to write that this place is very overrated.
Ambiance: Tamarind is a beautiful place. Clean, well-​decorated, and located in Mayfair (where we usually stay). Note that this place isn’t as formal as one would think, with people dressed in jeans and polo shirts.
Service: Very lacking. While we were seated immediately (we had a reservation), we waited for a long time for someone to take our order. I finally had to flag someone down, which strikes me as very inappropriate for this type of restaurant.
Food: Average all around. The seabass needed salt and was also too acidic. The bhindi was bland. The lamb biryani was so spicy my in-​laws sent it back (and they never do that). The replacement biryani was just as spicy and thus didn’t get eaten. The roti and daal seemed to be fine for my FIL (I didn’t try either). My husband said the chicken was bland but at least the meat was good quality. The papadums and chutneys were fantastic!
Prices: This restaurant is VERY expensive. Definitely not worth the inflated prices.
Overall: I had a much better meal at Masala Zone on Monday of this week, at a fraction of the cost. The food was better there, the service was better there, and the ambiance was just as nice. I don’t recommend Tamarind at all.

This is how Indian food should be. I only wish we had someplace like this in New York, as flying to London makes a expensive meal even more expensive.
Perfectly flavored, and the right heat level combined with impeccable service and a truly upscale restaurant, made for a very memorable meal.

Tried to get a reservation for Zaika last night but was informed they were closed for remodeling and on their suggestion decided on Tamarind. Overall good service, nice décor and atmosphere and good but not stand out food. Started out with the scallop appetizer and the chicken kabob. The scallops were cooked perfectly but under seasoned for my taste and barely warm when brought to the table. The chicken kabob was made up of ground chicken, green peppers and spices and had a slight kick to it. It was good but not something I’d go back specifically for. None of the chicken main dishes stood out to me so after describing what I typically enjoy (lots of heat and cardamom, star anise) the waiter recommended a dish that was not on the menu. I also ordered the bread basket. The chicken dish was seasoned excellent and had plenty of heat but unfortunately I failed to ask for chicken breast which I prefer and it definitely needed more sauce. The best part for me is dipping my naan bread in the sauce and unfortunately there wasn’t much to dip in! The bread basket consisted of regular naan which was bland, a stuffed naan which I was really excited to try but again tasted bland to me and one that I think was garlic which was decent but not the best I’ve had.
I would give this 3.5 stars (if I could). Good but no comparison to my favorites Zaika and Tamarind in NYC! Forgot to mention the white chocolate dipped mint leaves at the end of the meal… yummy.

Very delicious food from the set menu. Favorites were the lentils and chicken tikka masala. Lamb cutlet, marinated chicken and yogurt tiger prawn were also amazing. Great service and ambience.

This was not the best, not the worst. Just ok. The service was good and I loved the kabobs. Something weird was going on because two cops kept walking up and down the street with machine guns. Had nothing to do with the restaurant but still unnerving. The location is great! Right in Shepards Market.

Upscale Indian is an oxymoron like jumbo shrimp. I am a salt of the earth type of food person. I don’t mind nice while tablecloth, good service, austere room, etc… when it makes sense. I’ve had great meals in other high end Indian like Cinammon Club but I think Indian is better served in more homey type settings.
The chicken tikka like dish was very good. The appetizer with chick peas and yogurt sauce was very lovely. I thought the jumbo prawn was ok, didn’t have much flavor compared to the other dishes. Vegetable dishes were very nice.
The amount of naan per order for 4 pounds was absurdly small.
My 3 stars here is probably a little harsh but for the price I think I’d rather keep some extra pounds in my pocket and go somewhere a little more run down.

Great service and really good food and presentation. Indian food in Toronto (where I live) is usually a miss rather than a hit, but places like Tamarind in UK bring in the good stuff.
The kebabs were fantastic and the mushroom appetizer was good. The mains were good too. Service was stellar and the ambience was good.
But this place doesn’t come cheap.

Definately had better Indian food in London. Was he for a friends birthday and probably had the worst table in the restaurant.
Persuaded to have a set menu by the waiter which was not that great and pretty run off the mill Indian fare
Not worth the money

Oh man! An Indian w/​a Michelin Star …
What’ll you expect? Perfect food? Perfect service?
OK — all true!!!

Stylishes ndisches Restaurant im Herzen von St.James.
Essen lecker und authentisch.
Service gut wenn auch etwas träge.
Gute Weinauswahl zu fair kalkulierten Preisen.
Besonders das Pre-​Theatre– Menu zu empfehlen.

Un restaurant indien
On peut voir en entrant qu’ils ont une étoile au guide michelin le seul de Londres ! Cuisine indienne très bonne pour pas grand chose 7 ou 8 livres. A essayer si vous né connaissez pas la cuisine indienne c’est l’adresse