Reviews Tamarind Thai Cafe

I love this place - we have been eating here for over 6 years. It is what it's called "a cafe" in look only, but with amazing food. The staff are always lovely. It's great for a quick lunch during the week as if you book you can be in and out within an hour. Evenings have a slightly different style & menu but i have never been disappointed. If you want a posh night out this place may not please you but you will not get better Thai food anywhere else. I have seen a few complaints on this page about rudeness of staff etc but I or my friends/colleagues have NEVER experienced it. 5+* from me every time.

Enjoyed a scrumptious meal at Tamarind Thai (again).... wonderful flavours, lovely selection of Thai food. Great service, kind staff, all round fab evening. Thank you very much. Will be back very soon. :0) :0)

Amazing food, and lovely friendly staff. Never fails to impress me x

Excellent food. Good, friendly service. Friday lunchtimes are busy so recommend to book.

Authentic delicious food. This was my first visit to Tamarind Thai Cafe and i will definitely be going back.

Amazing authentic flavours - best Thai around for miles!! Lovely hosts and staff too, really kind and friendly. Love it! book to avoid disappointment. You'll need to...

Wonderful food and reasonably priced too. Love it!

Always well looked after and the food was fabulous

I have been visiting here for the last 7 years, and the quality and service have been exceptional. I came here with my staff as well for lunch and yesterday came down for dinner. Very authentic and 😋 Thai food.

Pretty nice Thai food and reasonably priced. About £8-10 per dish. Decent portion size.

Used to live in Ricky about 10 years ago and regularly visited to eat in with family and friends. I’m in the area for work about once/ twice a month and as the other half and I are so fond of Thai, I usually pick up a take-out on my way home. Positives: - You cannot beat the place for value for money, regardless of whether you’re eating in or taking- away. Tonight’s order with 3 starters, two mains and 2 rices came to just under £50. - Having spent time travelling extensively around Thailand, I echo the majority of comments here that it’s probably the best that I’ve tried outside of Thailand (up until this evening, see below). Every dish we’ve tried on the menu is flavoursome, freshly cooked and entirely authentic. - Having only collected recently and not eaten there, the decor has improved with the multi- coloured chairs and updated tables (used to remind me of my old primary school classroom with the wooden chairs) and to be honest, it’s called a CAFÉ for a reason. You’re paying café prices so don’t expect traditional Thai decorations or tacky frippery! Niggles: - The web address on their Facebook page leads you to something which is clearly not their website- maybe a generic web hosting platform which develops sites for restaurants? I see from some of the other reviews that this issue was supposed to have been sorted ‘soon’ but that reply was written 2 years ago. If it ain’t working, take it off until it’s fixed or operational. - Management haven’t placed the menu on the Facebook page but seems to rely on customer’s photos of the menu pages? It’d be good to have an up to date menu posted by the establishment so one could be sure that what you’re ordering/ paying is indeed correct. Otherwise a copy of the menu included with your takeaway would be sufficient. - With dishes such as the Moneybags, Satay skewers etc. it would be useful to have on the menu the number of items included in the portions, ensuring that when ordering for a number of people (or my greedy other half with the appetite of a prize stallion) that there’s enough to go around. I can’t be the only person asking this question when ordering, surely? - Maybe it’s just me but I would like to see sticky jasmine rice on the menu rather than just the egg- fried and plain steamed. - Other half wanted a portion of vegetables to accompany his main so I wanted to order the stir fried broccoli and garlic but the side dishes they used to have on the menu have disappeared. Maybe a smaller portion as sides might be an idea? Negatives: Just to be clear, this is the first time I’ve encountered anything negative with the place so I’m hoping these are just anomalies! - For the first time this evening I ordered the vegetable tempura. Maybe a trained professional might care to say otherwise, however in my experience, tempura batter is supposed to be light and crispy. What I received this evening was more akin to a portion of chicken balls/ pork balls from the local Chinese- with thick, doughy and greasy batter and sadly, meagre vegetables inside (carrot slice, anyone?); sadly not providing a great eating experience and mostly ended up in the bin (see accompanying photo). - Usually the portions are extremely generous, however upon opening my chicken Panang curry, I was a little shocked at the amount of chicken, vegetables, sauce (well, everything) in the container. At almost 10 quid for this dish, I was somewhat disappointed but fortunate that I’d ordered a container of rice for each of us otherwise I think I’d be going to bed hungry tonight (well this morning as it’s now 1:45am). Photo attached. I did collect at 9:15pm, there was only one table still seated at the restaurant and maybe the kitchen was low on ingredients, but I’m really hoping this was a one- off. I would hate to lose faith in this little gem of a restaurant and stop giving them my custom as I think it’s now more important than ever to support local, independent businesses. Hopefully management will be able to come back to me on my comments and take on board some of my suggestions.

Excellent food! Good service. Make sure to book in advance as they are busy most days. Been several times and food quality of the food is always consistent. Staff are friendly. Never have to wait too long to be served. They have a good selection of wines too. Highly recommend!

The best pad Thai I have ever tried

Don't book this restaurant expecting a large posh dining room because it's casual dress but I would recommend that you do book, it's a small popular place. The food is excellent, plentiful and if you want it spicier then just ask. The staff are polite and friendly. The only down side is that it was cold in there but once you start eating you forget how cold it is. All in all though I highly recommend this place.

kind staff, warm atmosphere, big portion of tasty food, affordable price, nice location, very popular even weekday lunch and nights!!