Tamarind – The Hotel Modern New Orleans

Tamarind by Dominique has CLOSED and is now replaced with a two week pop-​up restaurant concept through end of year at which point The Hotel Modern will supposedly be opening a new full time restaurant in 2013. The bartender from Tamarind has remained so I know the drinks will be fantastic to complement the pop-​up menus. Not surprisingly, Chef Dominique has moved on to yet another venture — it seems he doesn’t stay anywhere for more than about 6 months these days…

Fantastic! Amazing spring rolls and incredible crepes! Easy to get to on the St. Charles Trolley. Full bar with a nice selection of wines! When in the NOLA, don’t miss this gem!

Well some of the things here are done well but overall I just wasn’t happy with my meal or the service. The Vietnamese fusion approach here just didn’t really work for me and I like the Vietnamese/​French fusion food Café Minh a whole lot better. I might give it a few more chances but the menu just doesn’t really excite me and for the price there are a whole lot of other places I would rather go.

PERFECT! If that is allowed as a one word synopsis. Service was warm & efficient — the valet service, the waiter, the bartender. Seemingly limited menu, but nothing short on taste. A Big Addition to the Big Easy! *smile*

This was our second visit to Tamarind and what a huge disappointment! Will never go back. As soon as we walked in the door, the hostess immediately asks us if we will be using a «living social» coupon and if so she could not give us a separate menu of specials. We could only have the regular menu. Apparently everyone at the restaurant was using Living Social coupons that evening. The bread which was a doughy whole grain roll arrived before our glasses of wine. It seem like a very long time before we received our wine. We decided to only order appetizers since none of the entrees appealed to us. The lamb crêpe was good but was much better when we came in March. The spring rolls were fried in stale old oil and had a rancid odor. The summer rolls were bland and barely edible. The tuna tartare was the only appetizer that was palatable. The duck confit is served on a spongy steamed bun that is sticky and weird. The service was fair. We had a very green waitress that did not know much about the menu. We were frequently served a food item before we had utensils to eat with. Dessert was Tamarind’s saving grace. Their ice creams are a creative blend of flavors. We were never offered coffee with our desserts. And to top it all off, our check arrived before we had finished our dessert. Overall, it was a horrible experience! Such a disappointment from Chef Dominique!

Great food and friendly staff. We went on ⁷⁄₄ for dinner. We ordered coke, but they didn’t have any. The waiter ran across the street to a convenience store to get the coke for us. We didn’t even have to ask him to do that. Amazing customer service!

Great drinks and the meal we had was wonderful.
My wife and I came here for dinner on a Monday night with the aid of a groupon voucher.
We liked the décor of the place. With the help of the waiter, we ordered some cocktails. We had heard good things about the mixologist at this place. My wife got the Feisty Redhead and I got the Sunset on Lee Circle. Both of us were very pleased with our drinks.
We ordered the Lemongrass Galanga House Cured Salmon to start things off. The salmon was just sooo delicious. We also got the Crispy Colorado Lamb Confit and Vietnamese Crêpe. This was just a great crêpe. So flavorful and similar to other great Vietnamese food that we have tried before
For our main course we split the Grilled Diver Scallops and were kind of surprised by the taste. It definitely has a very distinct flavor that grew on us with every bite and by the end of the dish we both agreed that it was very tasty.
We didn’t have high hopes for this place considering some of the reviews but boy were our expectations blown away.

Great service, great drinks, and just an amazing meal. I would highly recommend Tamarind to anyone.

Went in one evening and wanted a variety, so I tried all the appetizers! One of the best ideas I’ve had in a while !

if i could, i would give tamarind 3.5 stars. first of all, the cocktails alone are worth it. i’m a cocktail lover (read snob) and the concoctions here are really good. ingredients include kumquat thai spiced liqueur, tamarind infused vodka and orange /​chili syrup to name a few.
the food was good but i wouldn’t rave about it. i had the crispy colorado lamb confit and vietnamese crêpe, and grilled pork porterhouse.
as a side note, the layout is strange as there is no signage or maitre d’ /​host. you walk in wondering where to go and the space is not open. i found my party by wandering around aimlessly.

I decided to check this out after I spotted and purchased an online deal; $ 25 for $ 50 dollars of food. So I put on a fabulous dress and my new favorite heels and my bestie and I treated our selves to a fancy night out last Friday evening. I mean we so deserve after a week of doing our jobs.
We started off with some cocktails at the bar. Cocktail list was mixologist made and impressive… I am blanking out on mine but I know it had cilantro in it! Heehee. However, I did switch to wine and was very pleased with the choices! I had a Pinot Noir from France, Richard Klingufus to be exact. Perfect selection… I drank it for the rest of the night.
we started with the soup special which I am still craving… wild mushroom cream based soup with fried shiitake mushrooms on top! I had the pork porterhouse and my friend had a beef dish. Now here is where my slight disappointment came in. My pork was slightly over cooked and I felt there was not enough of veg on the side… like only a few pieces of mix veg. And my friend’s dish tasted more like a pot roast piece of meat than we expected.
Nothing was awful, everything was good including the very reasonable prices! I sort of wish there was a 3.5 star rating. I just wanted something a tad more from the food. Oh and the ambience was great… intimate and sophisticated. Yup and I had no prroblem with sharing in this with my bestie… great way to end the week!

I normally don’t write a review unless I’ve visited a spot at least twice, but I was impressed enough with Tamarind to suspend that little self-​imposed stricture. I was wondering if this space (in the newly renovated/​renamed Hotel Modern (formerly Le Cirq) was cursed by ghosts of YMCA hookups gone awry… the previous tenants have never fared well. Helmed by veteran semi-​celeb chef Domenique Macquet (Bistro at Maison DeVille, Domenique’s & Domenique’s on Magazine), Tamarind runs smoothly and offers warm, welcoming service.
My gal and I popped in late-​ish on a busy Saturday night and were seated promptly and served our drinks (and fresh baked dinner rolls) swiftly. We kept it simple: I had the house cured salmon with a wasabi cream (it really seems like 1993 again, Asian fusion wise… see my review of Ralph’s on the Park) and buttered toasted steam bun (confusingly named, but delicious) and the grilled diver scallops with homemade garlic noodles (so rich and tasty!) while my sweet had the special crab and asparagus soup which is now my gold standard for how a seafood soup should taste: a thin, flavor– packed broth that nevertheless let the copious crab shine through, buoyed by the vegetal lift of the asparagus. Her entrée was the fire roasted Louisiana shrimp (accompanied by delightful but inanely named «Jazzmen rice») gave me severe entrée envy despite my own’s deliciousness. We finished with a fantastic Saigon cinnamon molten cake (again, 1993!) with Vietnamese ice cream (definition: Vietnamese cofffee with condensed milk flavored andf my current fave flavor of ice cream on planet earth).
They have free valet parking which is necessary unless you take the streetcar, which would be pretty cool. Next door, the new bar, Belloq, is turning out some mighty fine retro (as in antebellum!) cocktails… to be reviewed in the future.

This is a new addition to the restaurant scene in New Orleans. Historic location at Lee Circle with a well known and respected Chef. The food is a combination of French and Vietnamese that produces tasty and delightful new flavors.
Service is fantastic including the drinks at the bar. Great dinner ended with a complimentary stick of banana flavored cotton candy. Treated on my first visit in February as if I was a regular.
Favorites of mine are the Louisiana Shrimp and the Brazed Pork for appetizers. And the Fire Roasted Louisiana Shrimp and Grilled Diver Scallops for the main course.
Since that first visit just after the restaurant opened I have been back many times for dinner and now for lunch. It is a new restaurant and there may be some hiccups on service as I have seen documented here. But the kitchen does produce very good food consistently for me. And the service speed bumps are being addressed.
As we all know a restaurant to be successful must be on the mountain top with both food and service. The foodies of New Orleans accept no less.
Kim maintains the bar and puts out some mean drinks. I stop by to test her out either before or after dinner on each visit. And as far as dining is concerned I have to recommend either Tyler, John-​Eric, Nick, Alex or Gretchen from the wait staff in no particular order.
Tamarind by Dominique is as one of our newest restaurants and my vote is that it will be worth the visit to check them out.

Don’t waste your money and eat at Tamarind. The food is awful! We ate there last night, and we will not be back to another Dominique Macquet restaurant ever again.
My butternut squash soup tasted like burnt roux. It was watered down, tasted nothing like butternut squash, and was inedible. It seriously was. I tried to pass it off to the 16 year old eating with us and even he didn’t eat it.
My $ 23 sauteed drum entrée with shiitake mushroom risotto was equally disappointing, if not worse that my first course. The fish smelled and tasted «fishy». REALLY fishy. And the risotto was terrible, too. For $ 23 you’d at least expect a fresh piece of fish. I was starving but I simply couldn’t bring myself to eat the disgusting food. To top things off, our friend received the wrong entrée, without so much as an apology from the waiter, or an offer to bring out what he had ordered! I mean, really?!
There were six of us at the table and no one finished their entrees, it was that bad. I really wanted to like the place, but unfortunately Chef Dominique does not deliver. Just like his other restaurant on Magazine Street, the food and service is inconsistent, wayyy overpriced, and just plain not good.
Don’t bother with this place. Go to nearby Cochon or Herbsaint instead.

My first experience was not so great at Tamarind on 3÷17÷12. I was with a group of 8 initially. We were seated at two uneven tables that had place settings that were so close together that only small children could have sat and eaten comfortably. The booth was uneven as well. While waiting for the rest of the guests of the party to show, we were informed a couple extra were coming. I immediately asked the hostess at the front of house if we could accommodate more guests since there was an empty table next to us. The hostess seemed a bit frazzled with my request, and I said if it was a challenge not too worry. The hostess said to me «well, we have other reservations ya know.» I said if it was going to be a problem, they could just sit at the bar. After a couple of minutes, she says they could put some tables together. Then one either a hostess or server tops it off with this comment, «Well, at least they will have more room now.» I’m like what the hell. This is not the place for a large party, needless to say.
When you have a menu with a price point of $ 24 an entrée, then guests will expect excellent service as well as excellent food. I have dined at places with this menu price point, and have never experienced anything like this. The server who waited on us was a bit of a space cadet. We felt rushed. In fact as soon as the server delivered the appetizers, he immediately rushed us to put in our entrée orders as we were eating our appetizers. We had later reservations, so I know they didn’t have someone waiting for our table. The place has large windows that need to be cleaned. I mean hello sit down and view your restaurant from a guest’s point of view.

This is a nice spot but very small. I was so close to the people on my right, It was a bit uncomfortable. We were so close we were forced to have a conversation. The service was slow, but to be fair, it was a very busy sports weekend in New Orleans. I liked how the managers and even the chef were helping out at the tables. Yes, even the chef! LOL!
I thought the food choices were decent. I had the kobe beef short rib (I think it was a special). I know kobe beef should be tender and flavorful, but it was just mushy. It was over cooked and the texture was weird. My friend had the flounder, and it was good. The cocktail menu is exciting. I had the Ah, wait for the next streetcar. That was the name of my drink. It was tamarind infused vodka, damiana, mixed peppercorn syrup and orange bitters. I liked it so much, I had two. We passed on dessert, and was surprised with white cotton candy before we left our table. They were giving it to everyone who wanted it. I’m not sure if they do this all the time. It was cute, but interesting. I would like to try this place on another night when they aren’t so busy. It is something cool about it, and worth giving another chance.
Visited January 2012

The restaurant is beautiful and very modern. We went on a Thursday night around 8:45 and the service was quick and everyone was extremely welcoming, polite and professional. The food was AMAZING! It started with warm rolls delivered to our table which were fantastic. We then ordered the Crispy Colorado Lamb Confit and Vietnamese Crêpe to start and it was INCREDIBLE! I ordered the Sauteed Local Flounder. The fish was cooked perfectly, the risotto was extremely flavorful and the whole dish was presented beautifully. It was also a very nice sized portion– leaving enough room for desert but not making you wish there was more. My boyfriend ordered the Grilled Diver Scallops. I don’t like scallops but I did try a bite and it was surprisingly good– the garlic noodles being my favorite part of that dish. He seemed to enjoy it very much. For desert we tried the Saigon Cinnamon Molten Cake and the Caramelized Banana Coconut Sorbet. The cake was warm and spilled hot gooey chocolate filling when you cut into it, paired with smooth coffee ice cream and pomegranate seeds. Fantastic! And I must admit that I am a harsh critic of deserts (especially chocolate cake) because I bake a lot and have had some pretty awful cakes at other restaurants. I would definitely go back for this desert. But be aware that the cake is small — definitely not big enough to share. Luckily we got 2 deserts but I would have been disappointed if we had only gotten one. This however could merely reflect my love of chocolate cake, so take it with a grain of salt! I was a bit wary of my boyfriends desert as I don’t love bananas or coconut but once again I was pleasantly surprised. The bananas were warm and caramelized and melted in your mouth and the sorbet was smooth and creamy. We had a great time and would definitely go back again!

What I like about Dominique’s restaurants, including Tamarind located in the newly remodeled Hotel Modern, is that he does not prepare the same old great New Orleans food. Don’t get me wrong. I love the restaurants serving classic fare (Clancey’s, Daisy Bistro, Nanou, Patois, Château du Lac) as well as what I call the new-​wave started by Lagasse and Spicer which take classic fare in a new direction. Dominique’s restaurants certainly fall within the new-​wave classification. But whereas Lagasse and Spicer are headed in basically the same direction, Dominique forges his own path, this time to French Vietnam. It’s an interesting choice since the French and the Vietnamese both have roots here in South Louisiana, the latter more recently.
My dining companion and I decided to celebrate Valentine’s Day here, and it was a good decision. We first visited the hotel cocktail lounge for a drink before heading to the restaurant. A lot of time and money was spent on Bellocq, a Storyville throwback lounge named after the famous Storyville photographer. Unfortunately, it was still not finished. In fact, the predominant sensation when we entered was the smell of still-​drying paint. That criticism aside, which was minor, the place was a lot of fun even though we got a very early start on the evening and it was basically empty. It does look like a 19^th century brothel absent, unfortunately, the hookers. The bartenders were seriously into their craft and interesting to talk to. The cocktails were fresh, creative, and delicious.
On to the dining room which was nice but not spectacular. We were seated at one of the nicer tables on the lower level overlooking Lee Circle. The menu was fairly short, 7 appetizers, 6 entrees, 4 desserts. But they were all tempting. We both ordered the lamb confit crêpe because it looked so good, and it was. The crêpe itself was perfect– light and crispy with a great flavor which held its own against the tasty diced lamb confit. Wrapping it in lettuce leaves and shaved ginger and dipping it in the sauce yielded a great dish. For entrees, we shared the sauteed flounder (drum that night) over mushroom risotto and the Wagyu beef coulette with Asian ratatouille and root vegetable gratin. Both were excellent especially the risotto, one of the best I have had. The drum was nice and crispy without being fried. The coulette is an interesting cut I have experienced only once in NY at Per Se. It has the leanness and flavor of tenderloin with a touch of short rib and sirloin. The texture is more short rib or sirloin than tenderloin. If you have never had it, you should try it just to experience something different. I definitely enjoyed Dominique’s preparation of it.
My only criticism was the music playing in the background. I have no idea whose idea it was but it needs to go the way of the leisure suit – put it in the closet and lock the door.
So if you are into something a little different from the usual NO fare, I recommend Tamarind. It’s also a pretty good value and has a nice moderately priced wine list.

Unfortunately for Tamarind, a first impression is only made once, and mine was not good. I understand that running a professional kitchen on a busy Friday night is not an easy endeavor, and for that reason I make every effort to not act like one of those dour, impatient patrons whose own haste and ill temper can spoil an otherwise pleasant meal. But my visit to Tamarind taxed the limits of my patience. Our congenial, if over-​burdened server, Alex, agreed with me (through no fault of his, I stress) that my party of two was the fifth of five tables seated almost simultaneously, and for that reason a fifteen minute wait for our tap water and a thirty minute wait for our drink order was the best he could do.
When the cocktails finally arrived, it was only the intercession of my dining companion who prevented me from handing Alex the menus and asking to pay for the drinks and leave it at that. Hunger prevailed, and at about the one-​hour mark we received a braised pork bahn mi and a beef tartare appetizer. I had already resolved not to order entrees, but thank goodness for the tartare — one of the best dishes I have eaten in recent memory. That dish alone is the only reason I would consider returning to Tamarind to give it another chance. I told Alex that I looked forward to visiting again, perhaps on a random Tuesday night, when the tickets haven’t piled up and the kitchen isn’t in the weeds, because that tartare gives me hope that some magical dishes might come from Chef Dominique’s new kitchen. I just didn’t have the patience or inclination to find out during my first visit.