Tamarind Of London
Tamarind of London is an Indian restaurant located in the picturesque Crystal Cove Promenade in Newport Beach and in honor of Valentines Day they are introducing their romance-inspired pre-set menu.
As I arrived, I was impressed by the beautiful decor of the restaurant, which boasts an indoor/outdoor bar that is fully stocked. The ambiance is upscale, but not uptight. In fact, as I walked in, the kitchen is open and one of the chefs stopped to wave at me as he was placing naan in the tandoori oven! If you are not familiar with Indian food, don’t worry. The menu spells it out and the wait staff is incredibly friendly and will fill you in on anything you need to know!
Tamarind’s chef prepared a special menu for Valentine’s Day that includes an appetizer, main course and dessert. For the appetizer, you have a choice of a Crispy Portobello Mushroom stuffed with seasonal veggies and Sweet Chili Chutney or Peshwari Chicken Tikka and Grilled Black Pepper Prawns. Both were delicious! The Portobello brought me back to Thanksgiving with its flavors and the chutney was a perfect complement to it. The chicken and prawns had to be my favorite though. Well flavored and perfectly cooked, it was a great intro to our meal!
The choices for the main dish are Achani Aloo Baingan, Hyderabadi Chicken Dumpuhkt Curry, and Lamb Moghul Khorma. Each of these dishes were very flavorful! If you are a bit daring, I would order the Achani Aloo Baingan, which has eggplant and potatoes prepared in a spicy sauce. The Hyderbadi Chicken Dumpuhkt Curry is a safe choice for someone who is new to Indian food. The chicken is tender and in a mild, yet very rich, savory sauce. My personal favorite was the Lamb Moghul Khorma. It was so well cooked it fell apart with a fork and the sauce was just a tad spicy, which is great since I’m a spice wuss!
Tamarind of London is the only Indian restaurant in Orange County with it’s own pastry chef. Let me tell you, he knocked it out of the park with this dessert! The Dark Chocolate and Raspberry Gateaux was to die for. The cake was made gluten-free, but you would have no idea because it is so well made. There are two layers of mousse with fresh raspberries and a yogurt sphere served along the side. This dessert has Valentine’s Day written all over it!
If you want to make your Valentine’s Day special, Tamarind of London is a great choice. Delicious and exotic foods in a warm relaxing atmosphere with helpful and friendly staff. You have this in the bag!
