Andreina Figueredo

Review of Tamarina Bar & Restaurant

If you want to ruin any celebration, come to Tamar...

If you want to ruin any celebration, come to Tamarina.

TL;DR: Horrible service, disappointing dishes, the food takes very long to come out, they charged us for a plate they made a mistake on and we didn't eat; also, if you bring your own cake for a bday they will charge you.

I went here to celebrate a friend's birthday. We were a party of 5, and had made a reservation beforehand, so they sat us down right away upon our arrival. We were distracted chatting so we took a little time ordering.

A while after we ordered, a friend started complaining about the food not coming, and it made me realize we had been sitting there for over an hour waiting for our appetizers to come out.

I ordered a caprese tarte, and it was like a store bought sweet tart, smeared with ricotta cheese and had cherry tomato pieces on top. (I had imagined more of a salty tart with gooey mozzarella and tomatoes, all warm and melty).

Then the main courses came. I ordered a rigatoni with pork ragu and mushrooms; the flavor was very strong, yet not bad... but it was such a strong flavor that after half the dish I was tired of it and couldn't continue eating.

My friend had ordered the same pasta but asked to substitute the pork ragu for chicken (she doesn't eat pork). when her order came, they had brought her chicken Alfredo rigatoni. My friend called the server and told her this was not what she ordered: the server said the mushrooms in the other pasta had pork in them too, so the chef decided the most similar thing was an Alfredo sauce. My friend complained that she should've been advised that they couldn't fulfill her order so she could decide what else to get, since she did not like Alfredo pasta at all. The waitress offered her another choice, and also hurried my friend "because the kitchen is closing in 15 minutes". We were all offended by this since it had been their mistake in the first place. Then, the waitress told us that my friend's pasta was on the house.

By the time the check came, they were charging us the pasta they said was on the house. When my friend asked her about that, the waitress said "it is the extra plate we brought you that's on the house"... she means: the extra plate we would have never ordered if they didn't screw up the order in the first place?.... it was absurd. So they did charge for the pasta regardless of all the issues.

As a cherry on top, one of us brought cupcakes as a surprise for the birthday guy, and simply asked the waiter to bring them out at the time of dessert. He was told they usually CHARGE for this, but they would make the exception for him. It was the first time I hear a restaurant charges for keeping a cake in the kitchen and to bring it out for dessert. And of course, they charged us a VERY UNDESERVED 18% service charge.

Needless to say, I will not be going back to this restaurant, and will definitely advice any of my acquaintances against going there.