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  • Tamarine

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Tamarine
Tamarine

Tamarine Details

  • Dining Style: Casual Elegant
  • Website: http://www.tamarinerestaurant.com
  • Email: info@tamarinerestaurant.com
  • Phone: (650) 325-8500
  • Hours of Operation: Lunch: Monday - Friday: 11:30am - 2:30pm; Dinner: Sunday - Thursday: 5:30pm - 9:00pm, Friday & Saturday: 5:30pm - 10:00pm
  • Payment Options: AMEX, MasterCard, Visa
  • Cuisine: Vietnamese, Asian
  • Executive Chef: Tammy Huynh
  • Dress Code: Business Casual
  • Accepts Walk-Ins: Yes
  • Additional Details: Banquet/Private Rooms, Bar Dining, Bar/Lounge, Beer, Counter Seating, Full Bar, Gluten-free Menu, Happy Hour, Non-Smoking Restaurant, Personal wines welcome (corkage fee applies), Takeout, Wheelchair Access, Wine
  • Private Party Facilities: To experience Tamarine in a private setting, the restaurant is pleased to offer three elegant private dining options that can seat from 10 to 155 guests.
  • Private Party Contact: Charles Chen (650) 325-8500 x104

Getting there

  • Cross Street: Tasso & Webster
  • Parking: Street Parking
  • Parking Details: public free parking directly behind building at the Cowper/Webster garage.
A word from Tamarine
Tamarine is a contemporary Vietnamese restaurant that features the light but flavor-intensive culinary delicacies of Vietnam. The restaurant offers a menu based on small plates, promoting the Vietnamese tradition of the 'shared' meal in which food is shared and enjoyed with those close. Tamarine's… small plate entrees are enjoyed with the pairing of a variety of aromatic, flavor infused rice, designed to be mixed and matched to create a truly unique flavor experience. Along with culinary delicacies of Vietnam, the restaurant showcases the works of emerging artists from Vietnam and other Southeast Asian countries. Semi-annual exhibits will close with a cocktail event to auction the art. Proceeds will be donated to La Maison Chance, an orphanage in Saigon, Vietnam.Continued
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Awards voted by OpenTable diners
  • Diners' Choice WinnerMost Booked
Diner Reviews
  • "Don't hold back...order more and share. This is the place to indulge your taste buds. "
    Dined on 4/16/2014
  • "The food is delicious but it's too pricey. I will not come very oten only for a special occassion"
    Dined on 4/11/2014
  • "Great lunch menu but disappointed to get a chocolate chip cookie for the 'seasonal dessert'!! Good curry- very tasty. Not private enough for business lunch unless you can get a table"
    Dined on 4/11/2014
  • "YUM YUM and even more YUM. Go with a group so you can sample more amazing items from the menu."
    Dined on 4/10/2014
  • "I've always liked the food here. This visit - 3 of us and we sampled various starters: basil chicken (good); tea leaf beef (good); mi roti (very good); shrimp spring rolls (good); and mushroom rolls (very good); and all accompanied by excellent sauces. Entrees: cod (excellent; perfectly cooked and an excellent sauce); the sea bass (perfectly cooked); and the prawns (good and with an excellent sauce). Chocolate lava cake for dessert was good as was the various ice creams. Service was fine - attentive and responsive to requests; and unobtrusive. The back up help were also great without being invasive. A miscommunication with the maître d upon arrival, but satisfied with the outcome."
    Dined on 4/6/2014
  • "We often come for business lunches from our Menlo Park office. My special favorite is the "vegetables" section on the menu. Wonderful creations in theior own right, not just unimaginative sides."
    Dined on 4/1/2014
  • "Came here with friends from NYC and had a blast. Tasty Vietnamese/fusion dishes ranging from good to outstanding (depending on your preference for traditional flavors vs fusion), but not one dish was bad. Our waiter was a lot of fun and the cocktails were top-notch."
    Dined on 3/28/2014
  • "I and my friend went for lunch to Tamarine Restaurant.. We ordered prawns and sea bass. The dishes were excellent! The restaurant's ambiance is nice and parking behind it is very convenient...but it is rather expensive at $40 per person for lunch. The tables are too close to each other and prevent comfortable conversation.."
    Dined on 3/26/2014
  • "If I was rating on food alone, my review would be five stars, but going out to eat is an entire experience that was unfortunately ruined by a waiter who seemed to think that because myself and my co-worker were in our twenties that we were undeserving of his attention. This restaurant is in Silicon Valley where twenty-somethings FOUND and RUN companies, so while this attitude has no place in any restaurant, it is especially unfortunate here. We had a reservation, were seated early, and after ordering two glasses of $20 wine and an appetizer, were ignored for 40 minutes - our appetizer was gone by the time our waiter deigned to take our entree order, while those around us were happily served. Really great food, but not all are welcome."
    Dined on 3/18/2014
  • "The noise level made conversation difficult. Food was very good, but we were surprised that the waiter did not serve the soup to the three of us. In fact, long periods of time passed with not sign of the waitstaff."
    Dined on 3/11/2014
  • "We tried the appetizer sampler and especially liked the meaty rolls with the charred exteriors. Our main courses, sea bass and lamb chops, were also winners. The lamb chops came with vibrant orange sweet potato fries. All delicious. We ordered this much after reading complaints about small portions. Actually, the portions seemed large enough to us, so much that the next day, we didn't want to eat at all, as we had been plentifully fed. One tricky thing is how to get a private table. Ours was next to the cash register (bright neon colors) and cheek by jowl with the diners next door. I learned a bit more about their workouts than I might have wanted to know. We noticed a few dining couples at more private tables and were a bit envious."
    Dined on 3/11/2014
  • "I made reservations, arrived on time and was promptly seated. Upon being seated, I requested a gluten free menu. The host said he would bring me one but it never arrived. About 10 minutes later our server came to the table. I requested a drink and again, the gluten free menu. Five minutes later he came back stating that they did not have a current gluten free menu; twenty minutes later my drink arrived. We finally ordered, the soup appetizer came without soup bowls. We had to request the bowls. When our meal arrived, it too came in pieces. My Pho was lukewarm but good. My friend enjoyed her meal but was not happy with the service. I am not sure I would return. A bit pricey for the poor service we received."
    Dined on 3/10/2014
  • "The food is upscale Vietnamese, with lovely presentation and delicious dipping sauces for each one. They also have specialty cocktails. If you are looking for a quiet dining experience this may not be the place as it's very lively and loud with many large parties. Also, I am not sure if it was just the night we were there but service was relatively slow."
    Dined on 3/8/2014
  • "In some cases, notion of "small amount of food - slow service-dimmed light - table candle - high price - suggestive gratitude" may seem to represent a high end restaurant. Sometimes it would be a misnomer. Quality of food which counts most to satisfaction, is expected to encompass delicious taste to tongue, warm color to eyes, aromatic smell to nose, neatness of plate and nicely presented to the table."
    Dined on 3/6/2014
  • "I go there often for business lunches. The food is fantastic. My only issue is that the tables are very closed together which makes business conversations difficult, considering that this is downtown Palo Alto where you can expect a lot of people with similar discussions."
    Dined on 3/3/2014
  • "The food was all excellent. Also the margaritas which is a must for my good review."
    Dined on 3/2/2014
  • "Always dependable for a great lunch. A bit noisy for conversation at times. Some of the best Vietnamese cuisine in the area."
    Dined on 2/21/2014
  • "Good place for a nice dinner out. The waiter was extremely good, knew the menu and the drinks. It has a decent selection for vegetarians. The Tamarine appetizer combo was very good. They make a vegetarian version too."
    Dined on 2/15/2014
  • "This was our first visit to Tamarine. My wife is vegetarian and as it was Valentine's day the meal had a little more significance than usual. The restaurant is very well appointed and the staff are friendly. We had a reservation and were seated immediately. Although the restaurant filled up while we were there the noise level was tolerable and the service remained excellent. I don't remember the main dish my wife got but it looked like a giant egg roll that had a tofu rapper and she also got the taro egg rolls as an appetizer. Both of the dishes were very good with excellent flavoring and obviously fresh ingredients. I had a spicy shrimp dish that was outstanding even if it was a tad light on quantity. We will definitely be going back."
    Dined on 2/14/2014
  • "We've been to Tamarine a number of times. The food is always good. This time was a prix fixe menu for Valentines day. It was a bit pricey but good selections well executed. We got seated in back which was quiet and we appreciated. There was more happening out front; and also noisier. Be sure to ask if you have a preference in seating."
    Dined on 2/14/2014
  • "Great experience. Every dish that we had was great, from the appetizers to dessert!"
    Dined on 2/14/2014
  • "We are 93 and 76. Tamerine is our favorite restaurant on the peninsula. We can't afford to go there often. But we LOV3 it for special occasions."
    Dined on 2/12/2014
  • "We frequently go to Tamarine, mostly for dinner. I am starting to get disappointed with the quality of the lunch dishes, even though the dinner and lunch menu are the same, I believe (with the exception of their lunch special). I'm assuming the chefs at lunch are not as experienced/trained as the evening staff? The pili pili prawns were a complete disappointment, and way too pricey. Even the service is very different between lunch and dinner. The place was not crowded, our reservations were at 12:15, group of 4, but we had to wait a long time for our main dishes after appetizers were long finished."
    Dined on 2/12/2014
  • "The food is absolutely fantastic. Everything from the appetizers to the main entrees were very well performed."
    Dined on 2/7/2014
  • "I went to Tamarine with my boyfriend and we had a wonderful night! I can definitely recommend the Shaking Beef! Unbelievably delicious & soft meat! Make a reservation - the place is always packed!"
    Dined on 2/2/2014
  • "We had reserved a table for 3 and then ended up with 6 people for dinner. They were busy but graciously moved us to a bigger booth and then gave us great service even though the place was very busy. Terrific all around. Everyone loved it."
    Dined on 2/6/2014
  • "Everything was superb. In particular the calamari appetizer was incredible. It bore no resemblance to what goes as fried calamari everywhere else - here is was light, smoky, tender, and beyond compare. Service is good without being overbearing. No, "Hi, I'm John and I'll be your server" kind of boilerplate. Just solid and respectful service."
    Dined on 2/3/2014
  • "We chose Tamarine for a group dinner. Food and service were amazing, but the place is not the best for a large groups (8+) that wants to talk."
    Dined on 2/2/2014
  • "I was there many times but nitice they changed the seating arrangement: All the Asian guests has being seated in the back room behind the curtains. It made me very uncomfortable and I addressed my observation to the host. 2) dishes became much saltier 3) waiter was keeping asking us "are you finishing?" Maybe it is q popular spot in Palo Alto but Don't care to revisit there any more"
    Dined on 2/2/2014
  • "Good food and service, but loud (Is "energetic" the word for that?)"
    Dined on 2/1/2014
  • "- menu is huge - ordering can be intimidating - make sure you've got a few items picked out and ready to go if you're grabbing a business lunch or it can run long."
    Dined on 1/22/2014
  • "The food is not as good as previous times. The service was poor. The waiter never came back after the food was delivered and we did not get water refilled until I had to ask for someone. I invited a guest especially to enjoy a nice lunch here, but was very disappointed in the quality of the food ."
    Dined on 6/28/2013
  • "Great for talking business. Great food. Lunch specials good value."
    Dined on 1/21/2014
  • "I and my wife are vegetarians and we picked this restaurant for its vegetarian menu. We tried the Banh Mi Roti, Papaya Salad, Curried Beans and Basil tofu. The food was prepared and presented well. The Basi Tofu is excellent and so is the Banh Mi Roti. The papaya salad was decent. The curried beans was our least favorite as it had too much ginger. The wine list is decent as well. We ended up drinking a Riesling as my wife prefers sweet wine. Overall the ambiance is good although the tables are spaced too close to each other. If you are on University Ave in Palo Alto and are looking for good Asian Vegetarian this is a good bet."
    Dined on 1/26/2014
  • "We really enjoyed Tamarine - the food, service and ambiance were all wonderful. Really liked the shrimp cupcakes, cod and shaking beef. Enjoyed the banana beignet (fritters) for dessert. Our only issue is the prices of the entrees - over priced for the portion."
    Dined on 1/25/2014
  • "Our waiter was rude. We were in a rush and when he came to greet us and take our drink order, I told him we are ready to order, and he said you'll have to wait a few minutes. Then we asked for water with lemon and he never brought the lemon. Upon ordering, my friend ordered the Tamarine prawns, and he rudely corrected her and said those are not prawns, they are shrimp, prawns are larger. We've been to this restaurant numerous times and have always had excellent service, but this was not the case this time. It was dissapointing."
    Dined on 1/22/2014
  • "I've eaten here several times and it's consistent but pricey if anything. I prefer the other restaurants which the same owners have in San Jose and Fremont/Newark - same food for quite a bit less."
    Dined on 7/24/2013
  • "Very good food. Good variety of dishes across Asia (even though its technically burmese). Good overall value for money."
    Dined on 11/10/2013
  • "We arrived late due to unforeseen traffic delays, but were seated anyway (thank you!). Food was amazing. There is no shortage of Asian restaurants in Silicon Valley, but this was noteworthy, from our perspective. Not cheap, by any means, but worth a date night."
    Dined on 1/18/2014
  • "Four of us ordered three starters and four entrees -- all were excellent."
    Dined on 1/17/2014
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