Tamarind Asian and Cambodian restaurant, Mt Hawthorn

On a friday night after a long working week, S and I decided to finally try Tamarind, an asian restaurant that we had driven past loads of times but never actually gone into as yet... We looked at the menu, decided there were things we could both find that we would like, and made a booking easily.


Parking isnt great around there, right in front of the place, but the Mezz shopping centre is behind it and so we just parked in the carpark round the back - theres plenty of parking there.


We were seated quickly, in the corner, we were a bit against the wall, I had to move the table out so I could actually get in! Its BYO so we cracked open our bottle of wine, just after the waiter had asked if we needed our wine glasses and we said yes, S said he'd also use the water glasses. Then the waiter took my glass. Huh? I just took another glass from their table where they store everything...


We ordered chicken spring rolls which came out really fast, and were as to be expected. They were pretty tasty, but much  better with the sauce, which was a sweet, spicy thin and clear dipping sauce which comes standard with most spring rolls. Sometimes this sauce is a bit hit n miss but this one was great. Forgot to take a pic though, as we were starving and they were gone in a few mins!


For mains I ordered a chicken laksa with yellow noodles (egg noodles, you could also choose rice noodles, seafood or vegetarian), and S had Jungle Curry.

Jungle Curry

They both came out just as we had finished our spring rolls, so any chance for a bit of a drawn out meal weren't happening. The Jungle curry came out first, with the rice we had ordered in a little metal bucket which were cute. We werent sure if what had been put down on the table was the right thing, as the waiter muttered something incomprehensible when he delivered the food and we didnt hear if he said Jungle Curry. It didnt look much like a curry. It did say that it was a dry curry, using Nyonya curry powder, but this looked like it had very little sauce at all! I might be wrong but I expect curries to have a thicker coating than what this curry offered. Nevertheless, it was tasty, and a bit spicy! I only tasted a few pieces and it had some heat, so no doubt after a couple of mouthfuls you'll be feeling the fire! It was served with stirfried bok choi and broccoli, and was a generous serving. I think it would have been 2 breasts of chicken worth - S was stuffed once he finished! He enjoyed his meal and finished almost all of it (cept alot of the greens, which is no surprise!). He ordered some extra chillies on the side which he really enjoyed - they were really fresh and hot, with a strong chilli flavour which he loves. If you were expecting a saucier curry then this might dissappoint, but it didnt lack flavour which is the most important thing! It resembled more of a stir fried dish.

Chicken Laksa with yellow noodles

My order came a couple of minutes after the S's, and it looked awesome. Like I said, we were hungry, and having this massive, steaming bowl of laksa put in front of me was a definate win! It smelled great. There were plenty of veges (sugar snap peas, brocolli and asian greens), and good chunks of chicken. Underneath were lots of egg noodles and bean sprouts. The sauce was rich, coconutty and spicy with a great flavour. It warmed me to my bones! I loved it, to me it was exactly as I was expecting, and as I wanted it to be. It was a big serving and I ended up being greedy and putting rice in the leftover sauce to soak up and spooning it up into my mouth to finish it off. I was stuffed. I ate way more than I should have of it, but I couldnt help it. It was a delicious laksa. It did remind me ALOT of the bamboo chicken from Hans Cafe, but I love that dish, so didnt mind that it tasted the same! Ill definately go back there for another one - but there were a few other things I wanted to try as well!


Tamarind also do takeaways, and we noticed alot of people coming in and out picking up orders. The restaurant was pretty busy, but not too busy that we were neglected, and it wasnt too noisy. There were alot of kids there though, Im not sure if that was just last night or if its like that all the time, but it seems like a kid friendly place to go! I dont mind kids and even though some of them were being a bit loud and acting up a bit I didnt really care, it was more funny than anything. However if you're easily annoyed by kids then it would have been an average night out for you!


Our food came out really fast and we only managed to have one drink each, we were booked in for 6:30 and were out of there by about 7:15 or so. If youre looking for a fast feed this is the place to get it!


Things to note;

• Tamarind is BYO everything (we rang and checked) and they had no probs with S bringing in a 200ml bottle of whisky to mix with coke we bought there, and I had a bottle of wine. They charge $3 per person.
• The menu is gluten and MSG free, so those sensitive to these, come and get a belly full of food without the bellyache!

We paid about $60 for spring rolls (4), 2 mains, 2 serves of rice and corkage, which isnt too bad, but Ive been to asian places that were cheaper, but not really by that much...  Atmosphere is a bit average, but that was ok. Place was full of the sound of diners and chatter.




Considering its walking distance away, Id come back here!