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Wednesday, July 1, 2009

Tamarind Tree

Tamarind Tree is the fancy Vietnamese jewel in the cluster of tight parking and Asian delights at the corner of Jackson and 12th-ish.

I was there recently for a special occasion with a couple of meat eaters who split the infamous "Seven Courses of Beef." I started off my less dramatic two course meal with a first course of kumquat cocktail that came with its very own tiny bottle of champagne for tabletop mixology.

For my second course, I ordered the tofu vermicelli bowl, which was fantastic. Per usual vermicelli bowl procedure, it came in a large bowl with a bunch of lettuce and fresh herbs, rice noodles, carrots, cucumbers, green onions, roasted peanuts and a small bowl of watery sauce to pour on top. One of the reasons I enjoyed it so much was that the tofu was fresh and lightly grilled. The second reason that I especially enjoyed it, the real stand out, was that their (fully vegetarian!) sauce is exquisite: It is savory, un-sweet, and unexpectedly spicy. My only complaint was that there wasn't quite enough of it, but this was quickly remedied by the friendly waitress who brought me a second cup.


I have had other vegetarian items here before, and none has struck me quite as favorably as the vermicelli bowl did.

Meanwhile, the meat eaters were slurping, splashing, rolling, digging, smacking, cramming and gnawing at their seven courses. Here is a small peek into their world:

Hungry?

Tamarind Tree
(206) 860-1404
International District
1036 S Jackson St Ste A
Seattle, WA 98104
www.tamarindtreerestaurant.com

Tamarind Tree on Urbanspoon

3 comments:

Tofu Mom (AKA Tofu-n-Sprouts) said...

Good to know! I've seen the place but never stopped in.

As for the beef? O.My.God. That looks disGUSting!!!!

T. said...

I love this place. Even the meat.

Tofu Hunter said...

To be fair: that is a particularily dramatic and unattractive meat shot. Most of the courses looked quite a bit more appetizing. :)