Tamarai Restaurant,
167 Drury Lane, London Restaurant Review
The Tamarai Restaurant
showcases the finest pan Asian flavours
from the culinary lexicon of Asia,
from Chettinad to Burma, China, Hong
Kong, Singapore, Thailand, Malaysia
and Vietnam. With the capacity of
110 for dining and a bar capacity
of 300, this new venue is being feted
as for its food and cocktails as
for its trendy interiors.
Tamarai
167 Drury Lane
London WC2B 5PG
Tel: 020 7831 9399
If you like to combine eating really
good pan-Asian food in a hedonistic
atmosphere then Tamarai is somewhere
to try. Located deep in a large and
airy basement with black walls, low
lighting, and lively pulsating music,
Tamarai offers an all round sophisticated
experience. This is a perfect place
to combine an evening of enjoying
excellent cuisine in an eclectic
hip atmosphere, and if you like to
get up and dance, on a Friday and
Saturday night there is a chance
to do just that as it metamorphoses
into a uber cool nightclub. The stylish
cocktail bar has a list as long as
your arm of exotic sounding concoctions.
We tried a house speciality - ‘Bubble
Frappe’. Served in a Perspex
container filled with crushed ice,
this clever design revealed a vial
containing the cocktail that was
perfect for keeping it cold without
the use of ice. Service is slick
and attentive, polite without being
intrusive, whilst the award winning
wine list is the creation of Tim
Atkin, an acclaimed Wine Master who
regularly writes for ‘The Observer’ Newspaper.
However, I must pay homage to the
food, which really was quite something.
The menu is a chance to sample dishes
from across the continent; the Head
Chef is Manish Mehrotra, having apparently
traveling extensively across the
region to research the menu’s
recipes. We began with a selection
from the ‘Small Plates’ menu,
sharing five dishes as is recommend
between two. Sweet chili lotus root,
(lotus being another word for Tamarai
from which the restaurant takes its
name,) came served hot crisp and
crunchy almost like thick crisps
and exploded onto our taste buds
with a heady spicy kick. Herb tofu
rolls with a cool coconut interior
and a creamy flavour came with a
spicy sambal sauce.
Very fresh tasting tender scallops,
still with a taste of the sea about
them were moist and well flavoured,
soft shell crab came deep fried,
with coconut flakes and a dense coconut
sauce, and juicy duck spring rolls
with a zingy pickled plum sauce completed
the first stage of our culinary tour.
To follow, there were several ‘Large
Plates’ on the menu, with dishes
from India, China Burma and Thailand.
We tried two Thai dishes; moist boneless
baby snapper served with crunchy
water chestnuts, almond flakes and
a touch of spice and some thinly
sliced, well flavoured lemon grass
pork. From the Sides menu we also
tried a crisp and crunchy green bean
stir fry and some perfectly cooked
steamed rice.
To cool down our now nicely spiced
palate we shared a mixed plate
of desserts. Do try the roasted
sesame and white chocolate semi
freddo, (a very good, densely flavoured
mousse like ice cream - divine!)
served with wild berry coulis.
There is also a host of sorbets
and ice creams, as well as a refreshing
fruit satay and amazing sounding
chocolate banana spring roll with
vanilla ice cream, (after this
you would definitely need to get
on the dance floor to burn off
some of the calories).
Even though we had ploughed our
way through quite a substantial meal
we did not feel overloaded, just
pleasantly sated, and, had it been
the weekend, I’m sure the music
would have lured me off my feet and
onto the dance floor for a quick
boogie.
Louise Elgin. September 2007.
A meal for two with wine and water
is around £100.
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