A Taste of Home at Tamarind

Returning to the US we reconnected with foods we had missed. Of course, we didn't realize we missed them until we bit into a bagel with cream cheese, spread hummus on crackers, and enjoyed the refreshing taste of cottage cheese. We can get bagels, cream cheese, hummus, and cottage cheese in KL, but the bagels aren't that good and everything else i expensive. After 6 weeks in the US we were craving the spicy tastes of Malaysia.

We have a few favorite Indian restaurants in Manhattan, but after reviewing their lunch menus we decided that Tamarind's Executive Lunch was an amazing bargain: appetizer; two entries accompanied by naan,vegetables,and rice; dessert. Tamarind has two locations. They serve similar, but not identical menus or executive lunches.

From the first bite we were ecstatic. After a few bites of the Goan Avocado Salad we carefully dissected the salad to figure out what was in it. (I have found some recipes on the web, so we may give one of them a try this week.) Not only were the plates beautifully composed, but we were able to enjoy the unique flavors of each dish. Here is what we ate except for dessert.

Chicken Carfial

Avocado Salad

Goan Masala Gosht

Fish Temperada

Why risk disappointment? We decided that we would eat the Executive Lunch at the Tamarind in Tribeca the next day

Different menu and one which made sharing choices easier. We each chose an appetizer, a desert, and all the entrees except the lamb. Once again the food delighted, although it was not possible to replicate our amazement and pleasure of the day before.

Tofu - not pretty, but tasty

Prawn & Potato Croquettes

Five days later we returned for dinner. The week before we had an inedible Chinese meal in Long Island City and a mediocre Pan-Asian meals.So why risk a bad meal when we could be assured an excellent meal at Tamarind. Our challenge was match our order with our appetite. I wished that we were ravenous, but we weren't. Doug had the vegetarian thali. If it hadn't seemed guache we would have shared it. Every component was exceptional - the dal was a dal we serve at Christmas, named "killer dal" because of the amount of ghee. I had lemon rice - I was hoping for something more pungent - and a dish consisting of green plantain, yam, radish, white pumpkin, carrots and okra with buttermilk, mustard seeds and curry leaves It was excellent, but too much for one person. Bottom line the food was good and the portions were more than ample. Not sure how we will tackle the menu the next time but it will be fun trying.