Tamarind - London

The worst restaurant experience we 've had in a long time. The room was ok, half empty, somewhat cold and unwelcoming. The service is perfunctory and the waiter lacked any real knowledge of the menu. Drinks were slow to arrive. The three of us opted for the 'gourmet tasting menu ' all pretty average and ludicrously overpriced. London is awash with amazing Indian restaurants and Tamarind is clearly trading on it 's Mayfair location and wealthy tourist traffic. Noone seemed happy to be there. Over 350 pounds for three, with one glass of wine and 2 bottles of water. Anyway, disappointing meal aside, the real issue is that Tamarind poisoned us and then refused to take any responsibility for it. A prawn dish we had was absolutely disgusting and, as it turns out, dangerous. In the moment, it just tasted 'bad ', extremely over salted and the prawns had an odd texture. The lamb chops were also way undercooked. The waiter took them back to the kitchen and sent the chefs apologies, explaining that he was 'embarrassed '. Back at our hotel, two out of three of us developed severe food poisoning vomiting and everything else you 'd imagine from eating rotten prawns in an Indian restaurant. My wife was OK as she 's a vegetarian and avoided the bad stuff. We were forced to cancel return flights to NYC the next day. Sometimes this stuff happens. But it 's the restaurant 's response that was so disappointing. I called to complain the next morning and was told someone would get back to me. I phoned several times over the next few days, emailed (as instructed) but at no point did the restaurant call to apologize. Outraged, my wife visited the restaurant in person and, after much delay, finally met with the world 's most elusive restaurant manager, Arvind, a rude, self important man who refused to take any accountability or even apologize. He does the Tamarind brand a huge disservice. Please, please avoid this place there are so many better options and you won 't end up spending half your London vacation locked in a hotel bathroom hoping Arvind might call you back with an apology. Minus 5 stars.

Excellent food and excellent service. The grilled sea bass was the so tender and buttery and well flavored. The grilled paneer was the most delectable paneer I’ve ever eaten. I highly recommend.

Great meal and wine was fine. Had the lamb curry so good. Great staff and good prices good location in Mayfair

The two ladies at the reception were a delight. Warm and inviting. Lenny and Jasjeen, one of them walked us up the stairs to a really nice room. Large and good separation of the tables. Hardhida took care of ordering our selections. She and Roy were both really nice. I forgot the lady’s name who helped with the wine selection, but she was very helpful. We selected a Chardonnay from South Africa. It turned out to be perfect with the food. We began with butter naan which tasted clean and very fresh. Then we shared veggie samosa which was the most unusual tasting that have ever had. It was a spiral form that was spiced so delicious and I loved it. Like each of the dishes that we had, the spices were so balanced and not in your face. Then I had the Tandori popcorn chicken wings which were actually scrumptious. Again the spices were balanced and not in your face. My wife then had the chicken spiced so well that it was easy to eat. My next and last course was the Crispy Lobster. It was decent size and it was cooked perfectly. It was also spiced perfectly with no spice overwhelming the rest. It was a little noisy but were able to change things to help with that. They have a very appropriate wine list for their food. Prices are from one end of the spectrum to the other. The service was really attentive. We look forward to eating here each time the we come back to London. The chefs should be acknowledged as one of the best Indian food in London.

We last visited with friends in December 2021 and it was amazing. We returned with family for a special occasion and, by the power of greyskul, this place has really slid downhill since our last visit, in my opinion. Our table was filthy, the service was really haphazard, the welcome was surly, none of the food was as good as last time and some of the dishes were just awful. Our waiter was incredibly haughty and went completely off piste with our order. Many of the sharing dishes daftly don’t divide into a group of four so you have to double-up or go short. Awkward. Dishes turned up randomly. We had to repeatedly ask for basic things like more water, breads, drinks, etc. The tasting menu seems to have changed for the worse in terms of quality and variety. Wine and drinks are expensive and not massively appealing. We felt chivvied along all evening to squeeze in more covers and it all feels rushed and pushy. Very, very disappointing experience.