Service: great and friendly always would check up on us. When something spilled they came right away to help clean Atmosphere: nice and refreshing. The plates were so pretty Food: very delicious we had chicken skewers and it was delicious with peanut sauce. Calamari was good. Spring rolls were the best so refreshing and tasty. We ordered both the noodles pad Thai and pad see ew. I like them both also pad Thai is more for sour and pad see ew is more sweet and soy saucy which I liked better. Thai tea was really good too! Curry they had green red and yellow and were all delicious. The fried cat fish was soo good with the choo chee sauce. and the sticky rice with mango in the end was just a great ending. read more

We really enjoy this Thai place every time we are in Ithaca. Service is warm and friendly, even on very busy days. Consistent favorites include the pad kee mao (thai spicy noodle), eggplant, and green curry. If there's a brief wait for a table, walk to the Ithaca bakery across the street for a quick coffee or dessert before dinner! read more

I'm in Ithaca for business. I'm Thai, eat a lot of Thai food, in NYC, LA, Thailand, and I must say, this is one of those legit places. Thai owned, real thai flavors, thai ingredients, no substitutions of ingredients. I ordered: Tum Yum noodles - very tasty, thai flavors, lime, peanuts, fish balls, reminds me of LA duck salad - standard, has the right taste, nothing spectacular, but it hit the spot Vegatables with oyster sauce - fresh vegatables, cooked right, not mushy, just enough seasoning I would highly recommend this resaurant if you're in the food for authentic thai in ithaca read more

Slow delivery. Sullen and lazy delivery person - kept calling from his cell phone, finally I realized he didn't feel like getting out of his car and wanted me to come out of my office and go to his car to get my order. The food - not worth the wait: cold and the only flavor was in the dipping sauce for the fried dumplings. The shumei - soggy, bland - and the dipping sauce had a burnt taste from what looked like a slice of burned chili pepper at the bottom. Not again. read more

In the battle for Ithaca fish cake supremacy, Tamarind totally wins. And if you really want some, order them early- they run out. The food is routinely delicious. Their salads are fantastic. The papaya salad is so good, but when they say topped with shrimp, they mean exactly two. If you're looking for protein, you might be barking up the wrong tree. My dude says that the duck salad is out if this world, but again, the duck goes fast so order early. My only real beef with Tamarind- inconsistency. A spice level four will be perfection one day, and a blistering invitation to bathroom hell the next. Portion sizes seem to change from order to order, and are totally different in the restaurant. For the best Tamarind experience, order in, and order early. Enjoy your fish cakes on the couch, where pants are totally optional. read more

I don't know why this restaurant is only a 3 star. This is the best thai restaurant in the area. I love the atmosphere, staff and the food is exceptional. I have spent 2 1/2 months in thailand is this is the most authentic of them all. I am picky too. Thank you for being such a great place in Ithaca. The only thing I would like to ask is that you come to Trumansburg and open a restaurant. read more

I like this place so much. While I usually stick to a few favorites (thai spicy noodles, cashew chicken, massaman curry), I have liked everything I've tried. The staff is very friendly (hi, Nunu!) and welcoming. Two little things that I didn't think were worth taking off a star for: it can be very loud, and the spiciness level seems to vary from day to day. But you should go. read more

I've always been more than satisfied with the actual food I've gotten here--they make lemon chicken, which is kind of hard to find around here, and a really yummy duck curry. I miss that duck curry when I'm away. HOWEVER, the building is really ugly, parking is scarce, delivery is super slow, and both times I ate here there was an issue in which the server either spilled something on the table or broke a piece of glassware on the table. Your best bet is to order for pickup! read more

I recommended steam dumpling and chicken satay for an appetizer. The chicken is very moist and tender. Their dumpling is fresh since I notice some restaurants used frozen dumpling. The Tom Kha Kai (soup) is the best by far even my 9yrs old son ask to come back again the next day(he typically a pasta, pizza and sandwiches boy). For our main course we had the chili basil crispy duck and stir fry sukiyaki. Both dishes were flavorful taste authentic to the native thai. The server are very nice, polite and attentive. read more

Tamarind - Chili Basil Crispy Duck - Thai Near Me - Ithaca, New York

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3.5-4 for food, 1.5 for service. The service here is so terrible! Both times I have been here, the food has taken 1 hour to arrive. This restaurant is small, and seating is really tight inside. Both times I've been here, the restaurant was moderately full. So I came here with a party of 5 the first time and 10 the second time. I ordered chicken pad thai for myself both times, but tried a green curry dish and a duck dish. They were both okay, but the pad thai was excellent. This past weekend, I waited one hour for my food, and then we ate our food and hung out after for maybe 10 minutes after, when the waitress came up and said, "there is another big party coming soon so you know. I am not telling you to leave now, but just so you know there is a big party coming..." So she was telling us to leave but didn't want to admit it. We would have been out of there faster if the food hadn't taken an hour! Also, my friend's curry was too spicy, so she asked them to make her another and they said they would just add coconut milk. Well, that didn't fix it and she told them it wasn't acceptable, and they still charged her $12 for the food. I wasn't pleased by their service either night I visited! Also, the waiters and waitresses do not check on you or the status of your drinks while you are waiting for an hour or eating your meal. Not at all. I had to call them over for water twice. The restaurant does not look nice from the outside, looks pretty run down, but on the inside it is very pretty. I think maybe this restaurant should start giving away something when you sit down at the table like some restaurants do bread or chips because the food takes forever, and that's terrible. Portion sizes are inconsistent. My friend and I ordered pad thai and she had twice as much food as I did! The first time, I also had twice as much pad thai as I did the second time. Service is absolutely terrible. read more

The delivery was much faster than anticipated! More importantly, the food was actually really good. The chicken teriyaki is a great deal--you get a lot of good quality meat with a generous side of rice. Also, the chicken pad see ew is excellent: not too sweet and not too sauce-y. I will absolutely be ordering from here again. read more

I ordered my meal at a spice level 3 and when it was delivered it came with no spice at all (0). I called the restaurant and was told that this was "not a big deal" and then they hung up on me. Absolutely no customer service and nothing done to correct my order. read more

Interior of restaurant is dingy and dirty. I ordered a soup which was very good, but the fried squid I ordered with it came out dry and flavorless. When I asked that this be removed from my bill, instead of apologizing for or checking on the quality of the dish, the waitress became abusive, yelling at me and insisting that all fried food is equally dry and flavorless and that I ordered it so I have to pay for it. Steer clear of this place!! Saigon kitchen is cleaner, the food is fresher (try the fried squid!) and the servers understand customer service. Tamarind should be left to go out of business. It is a stain on Ithaca's restaurant scene. read more

Only reason why I am even giving one star is because the pad see ew is decent. Service is terrible, we ordered an hour ago and still waiting for it. Staff is rude and constantly takes her mask off. The system for waiting for food is terrible, there is a long line of rude, cranky people waiting outside in the cold. read more

I've been living in Ithaca over three years and have tried most, if not all, of the Thai restaurants in the area. Tamarind is by far the best. Before COVID I used to love dinning in and now it is one of the few places I get take-out. The waitstaff is always very friendly and I appreciate that they ask if I want utensils when I get take-out, as opposed to places that just routinely throw plastic cutlery that I don't want in a bag. Also it's somehow cheaper than other local Thai food spots. I recommend the Tom Kha soup and Pad See Ew! read more

Pad Thai is my favorite! They make it just as per specifications. Not to forget, their soups are amazing! Try the spring rolls too!! It will take a few orders to taste the good stuff in the menu! read more

I have really enjoyed Tamarind Thai! The restaurant itself is very quaint and charming. Nice for a date night or dinner with friends, unlike some other casual restaurants. My favorites: the fried squid, roti appetizer (the curry sauce is SO good), and the Gaeng Dang Curry. On many recommendations, I tried the Choo Chee Duck, but it was too fried for my taste. Also, the papaya salad was either missing dressing or doesn't come with much/any dressing to speak of (I ordered it delivery so can't confirm). read more

The food is good at the restaurant but don't order online for delivery. We ordered and had to wait over two hours ... and still didn't receive the food. When we called the restaurant they gave us the number of the driver for us to call ourselves. Not great service at all. I get how a place can be busy but deliver the food in the order that the orders were placed. Frustrated. read more

First time here. Excellent food and service. We had a group of five and everything I tasted was excellent. This is my new fav Thai restaurant. read more

One of my favorite restaurants in Ithaca. I've always went during off times, so I've had pretty good experiences with the service. And the food is SO worth the prices!!! I always get a noodle dish (or two!) like the classic Pad Thai or Drunken Noodle, and convince whoever I'm eating with to get a curry dish. I usually don't like curry, but this restaurant has changed my mind and persuaded me to try more exotic flavors even elsewhere. read more

Tamarind is a great little spot...and I mean "little." It's a very small restaurant with approximately eight tables (for four) in the main dining area with an additional three or so in the front, so cannot accommodate large parties. I went with a friend and we both had the Tom Yum soup as appetizer. Very tasty and a nice prelude to our entrees (Kao Nah Ped and Duck Noodles). Each of us ordered ours at level "3" spicy...on a 1-5 scale with "5" being the hottest. Be warned: level 4 will scald your mouth membranes, level 5 will leave them incapacitated. The meal was really good, especially considering the low price. This place would easily get a five-star rating, but for the service. On our visit, we waited a real ten minutes before a server even approached us, but she apologized at least. That's more than you get at MANY other places. read more

Food: My friends from Thailand agree that Tamarind is the closest thing in Ithaca to authentic Thai food. They have decent variety on their menu, which also includes common Chinese and Korean dishes, but we usually stick to the Thai cuisine. The food is spicy and flavorful, if a bit on the sweeter side. I usually get noodles of some sort, like the Pad See Ew, and my wife likes the duck dishes. Curries and Pad Thai are also popular, but I find them average. Service: The restaurant seems a bit small from the outside, but we don't usually have trouble finding a table. Waitresses are friendly and quick to take your order or refill your glass. In fact, my minor complaint would be that after the food is served, they come around too often to check on the food. Again, very minor complaint. Value: Recommended for their Thai food, which is not outstanding, but still among the best in the area. The menu has many options compared to Taste of Thai Express down the street, which doesn't have much duck or fish. Call ahead to reserve tables for larger parties, which they can usually accommodate. read more

Tamarind is my favorite restaurant in Ithaca but their delivery system is absolutely terrible. Here's what happened to us. 7:30 - order through beyond menu 8:30 - follow up call and they told us that the order will take another hour because they just received the "fax" from beyond menu, so we decided to just go pick it up at the restaurant in 15min 8:45 - arrive at the restaurant and the cashier tells us that the delivery driver has our food, then tells US to call the delivery guy for the location of our food 9:10 - get back to our house and meet up with the driver terrible delivery experience overall, can def do better read more

Delivery time took 2 hours!!!!! And staffs not responding to calls either. Foods are already cold when it get here. Suggest going somewhere if you want fast service and good food. read more

Loved this place and got delivery all the time. Had a "lucky" need to go to the actual restaurant to exchange an incorrect order for the correct one. I say "lucky" because when I was there, a bit after 9:00 that evening, I was told to wait at a nearby table for my order, where I noticed roaches running all over the floor. Had I not gone to the actual restaurant, I never would have known this. I believe the restaurant changed ownership recently, but the management needs to seriously address the insect problem. I certainly will not be ordering food from there again. read more

The food is 50/50, some days it is very good and other days it is terrible and full of oil. Ordering on the phone is a nightmare, you will think you are calling to get free tickets to Beyonce's concert, they don't answer the phone, when they do they put you on long hold, last time the waitress told me she was too busy to take my credit card and to call her back if I wanted my order processed (by the way I was spending almost $60 for our family dinner). If you really want Thai and are willing to "beg" for it )even though you are paying a lot of money) then yes give them a shot otherwise try Vietnamese. There is another Thai restaurant "Thai express" on the same road, they have excellent service but their food is terrible (like Chinese food with a hint of Thai spices). read more

Great Thai place. Price is very reasonable. Service was a bit slow when we first sat down but the food came out quickly once we placed our order. The food was really tasty and excellent. read more

The food is very good. Every time I went there, I placed order on yelp. This is a true Thai restaurant, unlike other Americanized food. Service is good. There isn't much choices in this area but I recommend this restaurant. read more

Exemplary service form start to finish. Great food, well balanced flavors, reasonably priced, and a lovely ambiance. Best thai food in town. Will return frequently. read more

Delicious food - love the teriyaki salmon, pad see ew, and crispy vegetables. Nice atmosphere, staff is very friendly and attentive. Plus, they deliver! read more

Tamarind's Tom Kha soup plays a huge role in fighting my Seasonal Affective Disorder

This was some of the best Thai food I've ever had. I ordered the BBQ duck over rice and it was perfect. The duck was not dry and tasted great read more

If you order the right dishes Tamarind has some of the best Thai food in town, and hands down the best Thai iced tea (warning, practically addictive). However, the menu reads pretty much as a hodgepodge of every dish that the chef once cooked in their long career in many different Asian restaurants, and most of them aren't very good. My advice is to stick to any of the Thai dishes made in a wok, (like the noodles) and avoid anything even vaguely Chinese. Good wok cooking imparts a pleasant smokey quality and finding those skilled in it can be kinda rare, but I think Tamarind has the best in Ithaca. Also the Choo Chee Duck is pretty good, though the duck is fried before it is bathed in delicious coconut Choo Chee sauce so the dish is definitively not low on calories. When my girlfriend and I want Thai we usually come here. read more

Five stars all the way! Great Thai dishes, great curries, prepared in a kitchen that puts out lots of product which ensures freshness. I do a have a point of feedback though, should the proprietors read this... Attention to cleanliness detail in the dining areas. The white seats are getting stained and dingy. The window sills beneath those giant windows haven't been cleaned in a while and are dusty with little bugs. The scuff plates by the floor and other areas of the walls need cleaning and/or painting. The food is great, the service is great, and with more attention to creating an impeccably clean and presentable dining area, the atmosphere will also be great. Thanks! read more

Myself and four friends ate there today. The food was acceptable but the service was horrendous. We arrived at 7:00 and we waited an hour and a half for our food. It was at least an hour between appetizers and entrees. We were told there was no manager on duty to speak to. They poured water into our wine glass... a full wine glass. And they comped only one dish for one person -- whose entree arrived five minutes after everyone else's, and who was the only person to vocally complain. The rest of us paid full price for wasting two-and-a-half hours. read more

Great find for Thai food in Ithaca. I'd driven by this place for years and never knew what it was until a friend told me. Now it's a favorite of mine. I love the Green or Yellow curry dishes but get #2 or 3 spicy level . (They always ask you when you place your order) . Thai Ice tea is lovely, too. read more

Their food is beyond great for sure, and the prices are pretty cheap compared to other restaurants. Besides the waitress or manager whose name is Nunu (I'm not sure if I spelled it right..) always takes good care of customers. My husband and I go there every week and she always greets us pleasantly no matter how busy they are. I'm pretty sure that this restaurant is the best Thai restaurant in Ithaca! read more

Tamarind - Thai Near Me - Ithaca, New York

Pathetic service. Tried to call in an order. Put on hold several minutes. Woman took order. Went to pick up, and they had no clue. Incompetent temp summer workers. Left to get food at Wegmans. read more

I have had several terrible experiences at Tamarind, and I will not eat there again (especially when there is such great Thai food at other places in Ithaca). About a year ago, my boyfriend and I ordered a *large* order of food--enough to last us as leftovers for days (it was finals period and we didn't have time to cook). The total was about $60. When I ordered the food, the woman on the phone told me that it would arrive in about 30 minutes. After 45 minutes, our food had not arrived and I called to ask about it. The woman told us it would arrive any minute. After an hour and a half, I called again and again was told that my food would arrive any minute. The food did not arrive for TWO HOURS, and when it did, it was lukewarm. I called back to tell them that I did not want to stiff the delivery person, but I was not comfortable paying full price for the meal. The woman on the phone said that she couldn't do anything about it, but if I gave her my name and phone number, the owner would call me the next day. I gave them two phone numbers, but I never heard from them AT ALL. After that experience, I decided not to patronize Tamarind again, but last week, we had a birthday dinner for my friend there. My friend called several days ahead to reserve a table (we had a party of ten). We had a reservation for 8pm, and when we arrived a few minutes before 8pm, there was a FIVE PERSON family (who had not yet been served their dinner) at our ten person table. We were told that because that family had arrived late, we would have to wait for our table until they were finished. After HALF AN HOUR, we were finally seated. But the servers seated us before they cleared the table--that is, they *told* us to sit even when we asked them to clear the table first. Then, it took them a good ten minutes to come clear our table, and about fifteen minutes before they took our order. As some of the other reviews mention, it is also very cold in the restaurant. The food itself was so-so. Some of the dishes were enjoyable and some were flavorless. Really, there's no reason to even consider the food here when you could go to Thai Cuisine or Taste of Thai. read more

This is My favorite restaurant in Ithaca, and likely the best thai spot. The food is always excellent, hot, fresh, and flavorful. My favorite is the pad ce ew with chicken. I always have to get the spring rolls as an appetizer, they are phenomenal. I've also had the calamari appetizer which is excellent. The service is always excellent if you get Nunu. She is kind and attentive, and always remembers us when we come in. We have had some less than attentive service a few times but, I feel that the wait is definitely worth the delicious food. read more