My wife and I had been recommended to dine at Tamarind House (TH) by a local lad we met at Trader Jacks.
The large sign out on the main road was certainly impressive. Sadly, our dining experience at TH was considerably less so.
Now let's...not forget this establishment proudly claims to provide a "fine dining" experience and so we were very much looking forward to a great meal in a fabulous location.
On arrival, and walking into what seemed like a large gravel carpark, we had a little difficulty actually locating the entrance as we did not see any signage directing us to the entrance.
Once we finally found and entered the restaurant at around 6:00 pm (no booking), we were seated just near the doorway, even though other tables with a far better outlook on that amazing view were available (more on that later), and remained that way throughout our time there.
The table cutlery and glasses were very greasy - so much so that we had to wipe them clean on our napkins. The table linen, while well pressed, was yellowed with age and looked just plain tired.
The floor to ceiling windows were very dirty, both inside and out which shows a lack of care about the overall customer's dining experience. Yes, the weather had been bad earlier in the day, so some sea spray on the outside was to be expected. But really, how long does it take to zip over them with a rubber squeegee blade and a bucket of water before start of service?
The water glasses were almost opaque with use and, like the table linen, looked tired. Even though they took pride of place on the table, no water was ever offered during our meal.
We ordered bruschetta for entrée and two plates of pasta for mains. The bruschetta was 'just OK', but the pasta was a real disappointment. The tomato sauce tasted like it came out of a bottle, as did the salad dressing. So for us, paying NZ$111 for a shared plate of shared bruschetta, two plates of very mediocre pasta and below average salad and some wine, the expectation of ‘fine dining’ was definitely not met.
To actually call the people delivering the meals to our table at TH, 'waiters', does a grave disservice to the legions of competent, professional wait staff all over the world who work tirelessly to enhance their customer's fine dining experiences. In reality the TH 'servers' were just order takers (language issues made this harder than it should have been) and plate deliverers.
Before leaving, I took the opportunity to respectfully discuss all the above issues directly with Sue Carruthers-Brown, the owner in the spirit of constructive criticism. While she appreciated me taking the time to raise the concerns, in my opinion, her responses and the excuses offered were underwhelming at best, at one point even asking if I wanted to buy the business.
As we gazed around the idyllic view and the, no doubt at one time, beautiful historic building, I was left with distinct feeling it was well past it's prime and overdue for a big makeover with fresh eyes to restore it to it's former glory.
I have no doubt that in the past, Sue Carruthers-Brown and husband Rob have worked tirelessly to provide excellent dining experiences to hundreds, if not thousands of tourists and locals. But IMHO, I think it's now time to hang up your aprons and pass the baton to some new blood. That way, Tamarind House can once again take it's rightful place as one of Rarotonga's finest dining experiences.More