Tamarind

As R. keeps saying there's a huge difference between a wanna-be and a whatever that assumes what he/she/it is, even if we may disagree with it.

Tamarind is the new Indian restaurant hit in Lisbon. I had read so much about it in so many different magazines that I was really curious to try it and see just how good it was. It has a contemporary look with pink and blue walls, clean and straight lines furniture, cutlery and dishware. I really liked the ambiance, but then again, I'm a real sucker for this kind of decor!
We were welcomed by a woman who was trying so hard to do everything right that it's even impressive that she managed to get it all wrong. Let me start at the beginning:
- The wine list: 'We don't keep a wine list because we are always trying to improve it'. Right oh. But then again, they only had 4 wines, none of which extraordinary, surprising or unexpected.
- She kept asking everyone who came in if they had a reservation and that it would be hard to have them seated because they were so full, even though more that 40% of the places were available. Humm.
- She spoke so loud that everyone could hear her. She actually said that the chef (Indian / English) was completely wrong when he took a reservation from a Portuguese girl. 'David, there's no such name as 'Crastina'. You got it wrong; let me call her and I'll show you' - Yes, all this could be heard by all the customers.
- She explained everything in detail to everyone, even to those who said that they knew what she was talking about. Not only did she explain but she explained in a condescending way.
- Of course, in a condescending way, she suggested we have rice with a dish that is not supposed to go with rice, and which clearly stated so on the menu.

Now... I really liked the food. I wouldn't go as far as calling it exceptional but I liked it. R., the expert in all things Indian, says there's no such thing as haute indian cuisine and certainly the chef didn't know anything to claim this was ayurveda cuisine, as he did when he came to talk to us. Apparently R.asked some tricky questions which the chef failed miserably but my hindi is still not that good that I understood it!

In terms of price, it was expensive. Not just when we compare it to other Indian restaurants but also in absolute terms. Still, I liked it... but I have no intentions of running back there.
With inflated prices, this kind of service and someone who talks about ayurveda food and cannot maintain a conversation in the field I would not recommend this wanna-be Tamarind. Instead, try out the Tamarind Seed.