Review: Tamarine (Palo Alto)

I recently visited Tamarine in Palo Alto. This Vietnamese place has been on my “To Try” list for a long time, so I thought I should check it out.

We ordered:

1. Banh Mi Roti —> Really amazing, soft roti with a great panang curry dipping sauce. Could have used a bit more spice in the sauce, but it was scrumptious as is.
2. Chili-Lime Aubergine —> I really love eggplant, so I had high hopes for this dish. It was just ok. I felt that the temperature was a little off and scallion shreds on top had a weird texture.
3. Panko Crusted Pressed Tofu —> Wow! This dish was absolutely amazing. It was crispy without being oily and came with a great bell paper & eggplant stew.
4. Coconut rice —> average.

Overall, it was a good meal. The bartender was really knowledgeable about the food and friendly. I had a great ginger and lemongrass cocktail that was really well-made (but unfortunately the menu online doesn’t seem to list it)

I will probably come back. Happy hour ends at 6 pm and its half off all appetizers. The crowd was a little more working professional than I usually hang around, but it was still a nice change.

Rating: 3.5 out of 5