Tamarind, tell me about it.

[grammi]

We sail on the NA Aug 21 and after playing in the Navigator app my husband requests we eat at Tamarind. When I question why, he tells me it looks cool and is at the top of the ship. 
We are Midwesterners that appreciate good cooking with complex spicing but do not appreciate heat or strong tasting fish. 
 

So please share what you liked or didn’t like about Tamarind and a description of any of the dishes you tried and your opinion of the dishes you tried. 

Oh and is the menu the same every night? 
 

Thank you!

[pedirn]

I too have been looking at menu as we get a night there included in our fare.   I am (medically necessary) gluten free and nothing looks appropriate or appealing to me.  Our PVP assures me that anything on menu can be adapted.   Maybe the same would be applicable to you to include your likes and dislikes.

[ClippyJoe]

My husband and I ate at the Tamarind on our most recent cruise (April 2022). My husband is a beef eater and was not sure that he would enjoy dinner there but I wanted to try it. It was one of the best meals we have had on any ship. The atmosphere is lovely, the view is great, the staff is very attentive. My husband stuck with all beef dishes, beef salad , beef tenderloin and cheese cake. I had shrimp wontons, and the duck for my main course with sorbet for dessert. There are some great choices on the menu. I am not sure if the menu is the same every evening. We will definitely eat there again on future cruises. I hope this helps.

[DaveOKC]

We like the Tamarind, even over the higher cost Pinnacle.  Tamarind has a great beef item, Wasabi (sp) beef that is fantastic.  

Also the service is great, the best onboard, and the views can be a real plus.  We like to schedule our dining times to be when in port or scenic sailing for this reason.

 

[grammi]

6 minutes ago, DaveOKC said:

We like the Tamarind, even over the higher cost Pinnacle.  Tamarind has a great beef item, Wasabi (sp) beef that is fantastic.  

Also the service is great, the best onboard, and the views can be a real plus.  We like to schedule our dining times to be when in port or scenic sailing for this reason.

 

Is the wasabi just flavor or does it add quite a bit of heat.?

[canadianbear]

Just now, grammi said:

Is the wasabi just flavor or does it add quite a bit of heat.?

I always ask for no wasabi or they can put it on the side.  

[DaveOKC]

Just now, grammi said:

Is the wasabi just flavor or does it add quite a bit of heat.?

Not much heat IMO.  You can also ask them to tone it down as I recall.

[RedneckBob]

One word, Excellent. Recent 14 day Alaska cruise we ate their three times. Like filet, topping not spicy, jewels of the seas soup, shrimp tempura.

[canadianbear]

9 minutes ago, DaveOKC said:

We like the Tamarind, even over the higher cost Pinnacle.  Tamarind has a great beef item, Wasabi (sp) beef that is fantastic.  

Also the service is great, the best onboard, and the views can be a real plus.  We like to schedule our dining times to be when in port or scenic sailing for this reason.

 

Agree with all of this (except the wasabi-I always order that beef with no wasabi). 

 

The ambience and dining experience is much better, in our opinion, than the Pinnacle.  I can not eat spicy food and they have something for everyone’s taste buds.  

[Gail & Marty sailing away]

It is the best. 

[Mary229]

I am not a big fan of specialty dining venues but this one is always on my list when available.   The ambience, the location and the food are wonderful.  There are plenty of meal options, it is not a vegetarian restaurant, it is Asian fusion.

[FOPMan]

It’s our favorite on the ship. The latest menu revision, however, seems to have taken away the beef salad, which I really, really liked. They’ve cheapened the menu (removed some shrimp/added an up charge item or two.

[Vict0riann]

Tamarind on the Pinnacle ships actually has two restaurants, Tamarind and Nami Sushi.  We really like both!  Nami is a la carte, which is nice if you're not too hungry  Love the panko fried asparagus! 

 

Here is the Tamarind menu from Nieuw Statendam this month (still has the beef salad, but I imagine it is not difficult for them to print a new menu if they're missing ingredients.

 

 

 

 

[Vict0riann]

Here is the menu from Nami Sushi:

 

 

 

 

 

[BigMattT]

2 hours ago, pedirn said:

I too have been looking at menu as we get a night there included in our fare.   I am (medically necessary) gluten free and nothing looks appropriate or appealing to me.  Our PVP assures me that anything on menu can be adapted.   Maybe the same would be applicable to you to include your likes and dislikes.

 

We cruise with a GF friend, and he would would eat at Tamarind every night if we let him. We've found they're the best about GF options there.

 

The best food we've had on HAL has been in Tamarind. So much so that we've scheduled it 3 nights out of 7 for our next voyage.

[Vict0riann]

We usually book Tamarind for the first night, as soon as we get on the ship.  We have found the dining room to be very disorganized that first day, (we do "anytime" dining), so we wait for them to get everything straight before we go to the MDR.

 

 

[SweetsugarNL]

Can you order a wasabi cocktail in Tamarind or only in the bar?

We have a reservation. Menu looks so good!

[DaveOKC]

18 minutes ago, Vict0riann said:

We usually book Tamarind for the first night, as soon as we get on the ship.  We have found the dining room to be very disorganized that first day, (we do "anytime" dining), so we wait for them to get everything straight before we go to the MDR.

 

Exactly what and why we do.  I dislike the first night in the MDR, as its too slow and disorganized.

 

[NattilyAttired]

In our opinion it is the best restaurant on the ship (one of the best restaurants on any ship), and also has far and away the best/prettiest bar on the ship. We will eat there several times on our Eurodam cruise in three weeks. I understand that not everyone will agree, and tastes and palates vary. But it's worth a try!

[grammi]

32 minutes ago, Vict0riann said:

We usually book Tamarind for the first night, as soon as we get on the ship.  We have found the dining room to be very disorganized that first day, (we do "anytime" dining), so we wait for them to get everything straight before we go to the MDR.

 

 

We always try to do a specialty dining the 1st night as well. Gives us a day to figure it all out. 

[Loreto]

24 minutes ago, SweetsugarNL said:

Can you order a wasabi cocktail in Tamarind or only in the bar?

We have a reservation. Menu looks so good!

We order the wasabi cocktail at our seat while looking over the menu.  The Tamarind is our favorite restaurant, warm and welcoming with great cuisine!  We choose it over the Pinnacle for our 5* mariner benefit.

[SweetsugarNL]

Looking forward!

[Crew News]

You can ask that your food have any level of spice.  When you are seated, shrimp crisps and dipping sauces will be delivered to your table.  Take special care in tasting the sauces before dipping (i use the tine of a fork) lest the red sauce numb your tongue/throat for the rest of your meal.

 

Shrimp Tempura

 

Wasabi filet

 

Mango Posset dessert

[Guest ldtr]

We have not found most specialty dining venues to be worthwhile.  The one exception is Tamarind, which we dine at at least once each cruise.

[roxybear135]

Tamarind has been our favorite restaurant on three different HAL ships now.  The service is always amazing and the food is delicious!  I highly recommend the wonton soup appetizer and the crispy duck.