Good food, poor service

Tamarind has a Michelin star, which presumably means they do everything well. So I wonder what the owners think of their off-shoot Tamarind Kitchen.  Sitting on Wardour Street on the site of the much-missed Imli, Tamarind Kitchen is attractively decorated and presumably has a menu designed by the Tamarind chefs.  But in a demonstration that you need to get everything right, the poor service means the place leaves a lot to be desired.

It’s not as if it is busy.  The four of us occupy a nice table in the window, and there are just two other people in.  The staff are friendly, but having to apologise for extremely slow service over and again, and delivering lukewarm food doesn’t make for the greatest  experience.

Our table is laid for 6, but for some reason the waitress only clears one place setting. And though we say we don’t want water, the water glasses only get cleared when we pile them all together on the side.

The menu is divided into Starters, Grills and Mains, but the grills are described to us as not being a meal in themselves, despite being priced as if they were.  There’s soft shell crab as a starter, so B and T both have to order that. K goes for the Pav Bhaji and I have the lamb mince version Keema Pav – some time later.  Maybe the oven isn’t working properly and they can’t produce more than one dish at a time: the Pav Bhaji arrives and is almost completely finished before the soft shell crab is served, with my dish bringing up the rear.

To be fair, the Pav dishes are both full of flavour, with K’s having quite a kick. B is less impressed with the crab, which is predominantly batter.

It’s a similar experience with the main courses. They did manage to get three of the dishes and the rice and dhal to arrive together, but T’s mixed platter of chicken tikka, lamb kebab and prawns followed some way behind.  My bhuna gosht was rich and very tasty, but not warm enough. B’s prawn curry was good and K’s chicken rezala (a curry with yoghurt and cashews) excellent. T’s platter was rather average and was as suggested not that large.

The side dish of 24 hour cooked black dhal was again tasty but not hot enough; the spinach was fine. We also had a steamed rice and a couple of naan breads.

We chose a SA Chenin Blanc (at £34 one of the cheapest wines on a list that shoots up quickly), and the first bottle arrives promptly enough. But when we order a second, the waitress drains the first one and seems to decide that that’s enough for now, and then to forget all about it.  She’s a bit better with the third bottle.

So with service charge that all comes to £270.  If the service and temperature of all the dishes had been OK, then that would have been fair, but it feels a bit much for what we experienced. I suppose we could have taken off the “discretionary” service charge, but one rarely does.

We’ve had a similar experience, though with ruder staff, at Cinnamon Bazaar once, but on a second visit it was fine. Perhaps the same may be true here.  In an evening when it is busier maybe the A-team are on duty and things go smoothly – but I’m not sure I’m going to rush back to find out.

Soho Japanese

We’re meeting up with M&G and they wanted to go to a Japanese restaurant, as they will be off to Japan soon.  We’re pleased with this idea as many people reject Japanese places as being all about raw fish, when usually there is plenty of other choice too, so we don’t often find people to try them with.

M finds a place in Old Compton St called Shack-Fuyu, which turns out to be part of the Bone Daddies group. We’d been before to a Bone Daddies ramen bar in Peter St after B had seen the head chef on TV. That had been good (we had salmon tartare, soft-shell crab; Thai green chicken curry ramen)  but a bit café-like and rushed.  Shack-Fuyu is more stylish, with booths for 6 as well as tables for two.

They have an extensive range of saké, including sparkling ones which I’d never heard of before, but we stick with the wine – Le Versant viognier from France at £28.  When G arrives he chooses an Asahi beer.  A very friendly waitress, Teresa,  (Italian, Spanish? Certainly not Japanese) introduces herself to us as our dedicated waitress – which since she’s the only one there is not surprising.  But it does make it easier to question her about the menu.

It’s a “concept” again. It’s not entirely clear which dishes are for sharing and which not. The beef hot stone rice comes recommended.   So we choose that along with others chosen by price – 4 cheaper ones, 3 more expensive plus a burnt cauliflower (that’s how it’s billed) as a token vegetable.  We ask to have the cheaper ones first, but in the end they come as and when.

First to arrive is the raw tuna tacos. There are just two, but they divide up easily enough. The prawn tempura are brilliant – such a light batter and a spicy mayo on the side – and the waygu beef tataki with a ginger soy dressing amazing,  Crispy squid arrive in a huge bowl – good, though they need the mayo from the prawns to perk them up a bit.

Next up is the Iberico pork “pluma” with spring onions (loads, finely chopped) which is also good, the burnt cauliflower, with jalapenos and in a sesame sauce, which was probably the only disappointing dish, and duck gyoza. The five gyoza are presented in a a unique way – they claim nowhere else in London does this – linked together by a light crispy topping.  Finally the beef hot stone rice – good and filling but not as special as some of the other dishes.

I’m still a little peckish so G and I tuck into a pork cheek skewer and seabass ceviche as well.  Both of these excel too.

We’ve had three bottles of wine and G had a second pint. With service that takes the bill to £212, excellent value for all the tasty dishes. 

As we come out we see there is a big queue for the Japanese restaurant next door. Young people obviously! Maybe that’s cheaper, but I think it would struggle to beat Shack-Fuyu for flavour.