Tamarind Indian Cuisine

Customer service is not good at all. Food, let’s not talk about it. Quality and quantity is Not enough to give stars.

Solid Indian restaurant, with a good variety of buffet options. The restaurant is clean and has an upscale feel. Service was friendly and prompt. I’m an Indian guy so you can believe me when I say this place is worth the visit. Main buffet items were fresh and not oily. Dhaal rice, butter chicken, and malia kofta were tasty. Palak paneer had super tiny paneer chunks. What’s up with that? Rice pudding and gajar halva desert options were average.
Update:
Fresh buffet options, as I stated earlier. Dessert options included goolab jamun, which was heavenly.
Update:
Found a hair in my goolab jamun. Alerted the waiter and expected something more than a simple apology. Docked two stars for this.

I only came here before when it was still known as Taste of India. Back then, I would frequently venture back especially for the made-​to-​order dosas and wide variety of choices. The price was also extremely reasonable.
I went back this last weekend for the «special Mother’s Day» buffet because I figured my mother-​in-​law (who is Indian) can find something she likes if there are numerous choices. Gone is the outdoor cooking area with made-​to-​order items. Gone are several dishes and options.
Two of the items were sad Chinese take-​out variations of chop suey and sweet’n’sour chicken.
It’s sad when my favorite part of the meal was the naan.
A carton of mango ice cream was placed on the table for people to help themselves. A few other Indian desserts were there like galub jamun (which tasted burnt and tough) and carrot burfi.
They definitely spent a lot of time decorating the interior so it looked nice but the food was rather lacking in both choices and flavors (where are the spices? …talk about mild!)
Service was prompt. Restaurant was clean.

Food is delish! Great variety for both their lunch buffet and their sit down dinner menu. Tons of vegetarian dishes but plenty of meat options as well. They really have a great menu and everything is moderately priced. The red pepper spread (might have strawberries in it also?) is AMAZING on the garlic naan. There curry is amazing, as is the tandori special. They also have some delicious deserts but I didn’t ask what they were (at buffet). The service staff is definitely off, which is why this is a 4 and not a 5. They speak so quietly you can barely hear them and they kind of come and go without really checking on you much. I have not had a negative experience with them as some reviews onlin state but I think they food is definitely worth a less than stellar staff!

So I arrived at 2:00 and the lunch buffet says it ends at 2:30. I asked the gentleman if they were refilling the platters and he said of course. I sat down and had one plate of salad and they never refilled the lamb curry or chicken tika. I waited until 3 and they never came to refill anything. Essentially I paid for a lunch buffet for two plates of salad. The management are liars and will do anything to get you in the door. The restaurant itself is beautiful.

Wish I could rate this restaurant higher and I’ve never rated any place a five. Each dish was delicious with its own unique taste. The ambiance was warm and inviting. The excellence of the food and the environment earned Tamarind a five rating. It was the outstanding staff, their friendliness, their willingness to accommodate our request for patio seating so we could have our small dog with us that had them surpass the rating scale of 5. Such friendliness and commitment to providing the highest quality service to their customers was truly appreciated.

Plenty of parking, and the place is good-​sized, and nicely furnished. Our party of four was there on a Saturday night around 6:30 pm, and there was only one other party in the place. They didn’t have a cocktail or wine menu — when we asked what they had, we were told ‘scotch.” Fortunately, it turns out they did have rum also, so we all ended up with rum and (flat) diet coke. When we were leaving we saw someone with a colorful cocktail in a martini glass, so I am still wondering what connections they had in order to score a real drink.
We started with appetizers — I liked the papadum and chopped onions, the mango chutney was okay, and the naan, supposed to be stuffed with nuts and coconut, was odd. It had a pink interior, which caused us to question if the nuts were pink, or the coconut.
Dinner came quickly, with three bowls of rice for the four entrees. Here, there was mixed success. The butter chicken had plenty of chicken in a flavorful, but too thick sauce. My sechuan vegetable curry was just marginal, with not many vegetables, and I didn’t really care for the sauce — spicy hot but not much flavor. My friend had the shrimp curry, and while the dish was delicious, it was extremely soupy, and contained only four or five small shrimp.
No dessert menu, even though they did have a few offerings that just didn’t tempt us. All the workers were extremely pleasant, even though we never seemed to have our own server, which made it tricky when it was time to get the bill. I would go back for lunch to try the buffet, but I wouldn’t go back for dinner.

Well, I do not normally have Indian food, but someone had been having a huge craving. I gave in, of course. We were cruising on Fowler looking for a restaurant. At the last minute Emilio M. spotted Tamarind. He had gone there once before for the buffet, when they were called Taste of India. I was immediately skeptical because of the shady location. It is located near the University Mall.
Upon entering there were was only one other table occupied. The interior was surprisingly trying to go for an upscale vibe, which was a little strange. Our waiter was dressed in a similar way as the décor, as in attempting some fanciness. The problem with this attempt, was that the seats in the booth had stains and tears and the table cloth had stains, too! The interior desperately needs updated and cleaned.
The food was not too bad. I am not really a fan of Indian food, but I did like the garlic naan. Nothing came with any sides, so we had to order the naan separately. The food was not spicy, even the supposedly spicy sauces. Emilio M. liked my dish, and thought his was just okay. Additionally, the meal was pricey and the waiter was not attentive. Not a great experience.

I always rate Indian restaurants on the food as I never expect too much from the service or ambience but in this case The servers were polite and helpful. The décor had improved a lot since the last time I was there but still has a little ways to go to create a comfortable atmosphere.
Food was very good — if they improve the interior a little more (seems like it’s a work in progress) this restaurant would be my first choice in Tampa for Indian food.

Ordered delivery through grubhub. Over $ 50 dinner for two people after the delivery fees and tip. They estimated an hour and a half for the delivery 2.3 miles from the restaurant. An hour after ordering, grubhub called to say the restaurant was closing early and didn’t feel like fulfilling my order. This place blows and the world will be a better place when they finally go bankrupt. Do yourself a favor and just swing by trader joes for delicious Indian food at a fraction of the cost. To the owners… lick my balls.

I’ve visited Tamarind a few times since it took over the old Taste of India location and each time I can say I have been pleased. Tampa has a few Indian Restaurants, but in my opinion this is the best of the Tampa Bay’s offerings. It’s hard to replicate the quality of Indian restaurants in some of the bigger cities in the US, but Tamarind is as close as you will get in the Bay Area.
My staples here are the seekh kababs and tandoori chicken for appetizers and chicken tikka masala and hariyali chicken for main dishes. You can’t go wrong with any of those choices. The décor of this restaurant is also pleasant compared to its competitors and they have plenty of wait staff to tend to the needs of its dining guests.

I’d been eager to try this place for over a year. The interior was the first thing I noticed, it’s definitely a work in progress, although what’s there is nice. I love authentic Indian food, but this fell short. The curry is lacking in small portion dishes. The biryani was a decent portion but was more like a RiceARoni version with whole spices inside. Nothing accompanies the plates, every single side must be ordered. I am not a fan of a huge bill that is mostly due to tiny sauces and accompaniment that should be included, at least one sauce with the usual lime, cucumber, onion. The tamarind chutney was extraordinary and the after meal chai was good. We paid a hefty bill and left unsatisfied. The place has potential. I truly hope they realize that with a few adjustments, they would be a treasure.

Came to Tamarind for lunch on Sunday afternoon. They seated us for buffet but most of the dishes in the buffet were empty. We waited for the staff to refill. Upon inquiring, we were informed that they wouldn’t be refilling as they were closing the buffet. The buffet hadn’t been refilled for at least 30 minutes.
If they were short on food, they shouldn’t have seated us or informed us before seating. They are adequately staffed so it was disappointing that they couldn’t keep their buffet refreshed.
I will not be returning to this restaurant.

For in 15 minutes before end of lunch lunch buffet and was reminded 4 times to eat and leave in 15 min
Burnt chicken tandoori, sweet butter chicken lacked the taste and overall below mediocre food and service
The chole were good and had a good Punjabi taste
Will not be returning

If your looking for quality Indian food in Tampa, this is the spot. So pleasantly surprised! After driving to numerous rundown or closed Indian spots we stumbled into Tamarind for a much needed Indian fix. All I have to say is, delish! By far the best Palak Paneer I’ve had in Tampa. The newly renovated space was clean, the service was friendly and the food came out hot and fast. I only had the one dish so I can’t speak for the entirety of the menu, but I will certainly be back.

Yeap 3 stars!
Lunch buffet costs $ 9.99/person. The buffet offers couple of appetizers, 4 vegetarian curries, 3 non vegetarian curries, rice, naan, 3 different chutneys and 2 desserts.
My faves:
* Onion pakoras: battered pieces of onion, deep fried (Appetizer).
* Chicken tikka masala: amazing, best I’ve had in a while. Use naan to scoop up all the curry goodness.
* Goat curry: I love goat, the curry is thick. Beware of the bones, takes little time to detach the meat from them bones lol.
* Vegetable korma: mixed veggies in coconut curry. Slightly sweet but so damn good. Very South Indian.
* desserts are ok, nothing major to mention.
People always fuss over the service but most Indian restaurants have little or no service. The food is just too damn good to miss, keeps me coming back for more.

We went here for the second time this past weekend. The last time we were here was 2 months ago. We had the same waiter both times and he actually not only remembered us, but remembered what we ordered!?! He knew we were going to ask to split a large Taj Majal beer, and he knew my boyfriend was going to order chicken butter masala. Very impressive!
We are obviously very pleased with the service.
The food is delicious. The garlic naan is amazing. My boyfriend loves his chicken butter masala, I very much enjoyed the paneer butter masala I ordered. The prices are good.
And the décor is nice.
The only thing I would knock them on is that they need to finish remodeling. They haven’t finished the small details inside yet and they don’t have a new sign out at the street (it still has the previous name, I think it’s Taste of India?). They DO have a nice neon sign on top of the building though. It can be a little confusing walking in as well as the main entrance is on the side of the building. The front of the door still has an even older restaurant name on it (Hip Hop Café). I’m assuming there must obviously be a reason they haven’t been able to finish these details.
I do hope that they thrive and remain in business. Any time we find ourselves in that part of town (they are right next to the Indian market, Patel Brothers, so that is another bonus), we will be stopping in for dinner.

The décor sets the bar really high as you take your seat with white linens and folded napkins. We were served chilled water from a glass bottle, which tasted clean. The buffet had a pleasant set up, but I was missing small bowls for the sauces. There seemed to be many servers who were ready to take away our plates at any moment.
As far as the food goes, the naan was very tasty. I enjoyed the saag paneer, pea biriyani, and the tandoori chicken. But everything else was under spiced and watered down. The yellow dahl was too heavy with the garlic. The dessert was terrible.
The music was the worst we have heard. It sounded like a keyboard playing indian inspired music.
At the end, the owner, I’m assuming, came by to ask us how it was and we told him everything was fine. He told us that they have a bigger buffet on the weekends. It is located right next to a church, so we think that the spices are toned down to accommodate Americans.

It’s a Monday and my usual Indian spots– Cilantro and Saffron are both closed. I was craving Indian food so I decided to take a chance on Tamarind on Fowler Avenue.
There is plenty of parking and the décor of the restaurant is modern Indian classic. Since it’s Monday, the restaurant wasn’t really packed. I did notice several Indian diners which is a good sign for authenticity.
I ordered two dishes for myself (to save as leftovers for lunch) — the chicken kali mirch and the chicken biryani. I also had an order of garlic naan. Sadly, they did not have any dosa today. I had glanced at the menu beforehand and was looking forward to the chicken dosa.
The servers were very attentive and friendly. Definitely a good place for Indian food beginners if you need help with the menu.
The chicken kali mirch is a curry dish that has yogurt, spices and black pepper. Lots of chicken chunks in this dish. The server told me it was the first level of Indian hot but it wasn’t hot at all for me. Still a very pleasant sauce. It had a hint of sweetness. I loved pouring it over the basmati rice.
The chicken biryani was actually the most fragrant and complex biryani I’ve ever had. There were large chunks of chicken and even a hard boiled egg. A side of raita (cucumber yogurt sauce) came with the biryani. I ended up dipping my garlic naan in the sauce!
Garlic naan was of course garlicky and yummy as naan goes. A perfect vessel for your sauces.
I ended up taking a lot of the food home since the portions were sharing size. I would definitely come back to Tamarind, especially on a Monday! It’s one of the better Indian options on Fowler.

I’ve had better, but this was fine. So far I’m extremely underwhelmed by the Indian food available in Tampa. This makes me sad.
From the outside, Tamarind looks huge, but half of it is banquet hall. Inside the décor is nice… classy and understated. Multiple round booths, square tables for 2 and 4, big round tables, and even a private room with a big rectangular table for maybe 12 – 14 people. Plenty of parking.
Hostess was friendly and our wait wasn’t long, but there was confusion in that she seated us and then a different employee tried to seat someone else at our table while we were at the buffet. Our tablecloth hadn’t been changed from the diners before us and there were marks on it from the curry. It took a good 10 minutes to receive water once we’d been seated.
The food was fine, good flavors, everything was hot or cold as it should’ve been, however the buffet was not being replenished in a timely manner. We were there at 1pm, the buffet goes until 3:30. Kheer was out when we arrived and remained out for the entire time we were there. As we were walking out the door (40+ minutes later) I saw someone refill it. Same with the chickpea appetizer. It’s supposed to have little round bread things with it. There was one when we arrived and no more showed up. Selection was fine, but not great. The worst part was that I actually bit into a ROCK while I was eating. This means the lentils were not well-​cleaned. I kept it because there’s a good chance my tooth is damaged, as the rock actually cracked in my mouth when I chewed it.
The ice cream cake dessert is really good. Kheer is my favorite though and I was super excited to have some since it’s been months. This spot does do a good job with veg offerings, but there were only a few meat offerings (chicken biryani, goat curry, chicken tikka masala, chicken tikka)…pretty typical. The weekend buffet is $ 12.99 so I expected a bit more.
I’ve never had a rock in my food before (even when eating lentils or beans!) and with the other issues I can’t say I’ll be rushing back. However, considering the other options in town this may be our best shot because it was clean and the décor was nice. Prices were reasonable and staff wasn’t openly hostile (all things I’ve experienced at other Indo-​Pak restaurants in Tampa). If this restaurant was anywhere else it would be a 2-​star rating but since it’s Tampa it gets 3.