Tamada - Delicious Georgian food, friendly service and a relaxed atmosphere in a beautiful neighbourhood restaurant.
First of all, I find it irritating how one-sided Yelp filters the reviews for this little restaurant. Almost all good reviews are considered "not recommended" for reasons that are beyond me. I think, Tamada definitely deserves a higher score than 2.5 - it might not necessarily be a straight 5, but it is without question worth a visit and the current score does not mirror that.
Now to the review...
Living in Maida Vale, I decided to venture once again to nearby St. John's Wood for dinner. This time, I went to Tamada, a Georgian restaurant on Boundary Road. The restaurant has beautiful photos on the walls, supposedly of Georgia. The clean and white interior creates a nice but still somehow warm atmosphere. Tamada seems to be popular among the locals in this area.
The place was not empty, but also not overly busy that evening. The friendly manager and waitress showed me a table to sit and brought me the menu. She quickly noticed that I was fiddling around on my iPad and asked if I wanted to use their wifi - I did not see any notice that they had free wifi, so it was an unexpected bonus when she gave me the sign in details.
I started my dinner with a crisp white wine from Georgia. The wine had a distinct taste, good, but a little bit different. After a few sips I got used to it and really liked the flavour.
For starters I ordered a cheese-filled flat bread. When it came, I thought that it was quite a big portion for a starter. Because it tasted so delicious, I ate it all and felt already a little bit full...
A little later, my main arrived: chicken in tomato sauce with fresh herbs and mashed potatoes. I was surprised when the mash potatoes came in a different bowl. I found the tomato sauce a little bit watery at first, and the dish was piping hot. I quickly figured out, that by mixing the mashed potatoes with the tomato sauce and the chicken, I could cool the dish down a little bit and at the same time thicken the sauce. This transformed the sauce into a nice and smooth tomato potato mash sauce that complemented the chicken perfectly. The dish reminded me a little bit of a very mild curry.
The side effect of mixing the mashed potatoes into the sauce was that it all became very rich and filling. I liked that the the sauce contained large pieces of chicken, but also little tiny pieces you usually expect in a soup.
After the main, I was too full for a dessert. Instead, I ordered a Georgian coffee and was offered a tiny piece of the walnut cake. Georgian-style coffee is different from the usual espresso and the walnut cake bit was sweet and very tasty.
Overall, I had a very interesting and delightful dinner at Tamada in St. John's Wood. read more