Tamarind Tree

This is probably the best vietnamese restaurant in Seattle. They make amazing dishes with rice crackers. My personal favourite are the skewered grilled chicken rolls. You can also order tamarind tree noodles as a platter, order separate rice crackers and make your own rolls. I have tried that earlier and it is fun. The chicken satay and Phos always taste the same ( as i imagined ) and are nice. These are my standard orders.

Nestled in the pocket of the International District & the Central District is this secret oasis. You are literally walking in from rough streets of Jackson Street in a stripmall that is equally rough. If you're not careful, you'll walk into the other restaurant right next door! But man when you walk in, it feels like you are transported to a place in Vietnam. The location low-key keeps the city feel of the streets out & bring you into the garden surround by running waters, with small details of waves grooved into the cement floors of the outdoor area, & wrapped in greenery that makes you forget where you really are. And it's not just the atmosphere, the food also is served at the same high level & attention to quality. When you leave here you don't have to wash your clothes or have to wear your "pho" clothes so you don't smell like it all day. The place is CLEAN. They have a lady that goes around & makes sure it stays that way. They are short-staffed but understandably, after covid it is hard to find good service or any service. We didn't get out water refilled or a round of "is everything okay?" & they did give us a box rather than put the to-go food in a box & carrrying bag & it took 2 rounds to ask for hot sauce but the service was friendly & professional. The food was solid. The phó wasn't piping hot but it wasn't oily & the soup had a clean finish. Plenty of green onions & VERY fresh adders if you add bean spouts & thai basil you will be impressed. They really excelled in the vermicelli bowl, (we had the vegetable option) & it was ridiculously good. The grilled tofu is the kicker! The fresh shrimp spring rolls were the best I've ever had. They have a secret crunch in the middle of the roll that no one does. And the peanut dipping sauce is perfectly balanced. The crushed peanuts are not from a can of Mr.Peanut for sure. Pro Tip: Get the tea. It tells you a lot about the restaurant (if you follow my reviews, I've mentioned this). The tea that served was good, not perfect but good. The pot of tea that they served was for 3-4, so I knew it was gonna be a wait for the food. And likely they didn't want to come filling our pot. Also the tea was hot, not steaming hot but just hot, so I figured it was gonna be a tell for the food. And that is how the phó came out---hot but not steaming hot. The tea leaves were loose, & not from a bag. They pay attention to quality & jasmine tea costs virtually nothing. We left a 25% tip with a smiley face on the receipt. Midas 5-stars for the secret spring rolls. Midas 4-stars for the slow & basic service. Really wish restaurants would box up the leftovers instead of handing you a box.

This restaurant is a hidden hole in the wall. It is the last restaurant inside of a strip mall, obscured by a closed down supermarket. If you’re not looking for it, you might miss it. There are also a lot of businesses and restaurants on this strip mall, so you might even walk into the wrong restaurant! However this place is definitely worth the effort. There is a huge parking lot, so parking shouldn’t be an issue. This place is definitely bigger inside than what it seems on the outside. Once you step through the doors, it transforms into a very moderately sized restaurant with a bar, plenty of seats and an outdoor patio. The restaurant is very clean with 3-4 staff working during dinner time. Beef and tendon pho - 3/5 Pho in my opinion is mainly about the broth, so my review on this dish is heavily skewed based on that. The broth tastes good, but it’s missing the umami flavors and the full body savory taste that lingers after you drink the broth. I finished the broth, which is rare for me, so it definitely tastes good, but it didn’t leave any lingering flavors yearning me to have more. The basil and the limes are pretty fresh. The beef was ok, it could be sliced just a tad thinner, but this is fine for me. The noodle is pretty standard. The tendon did not melt in your mouth. It tasted like it was steamed or boiled in regular hot water, and put into the pho. Good beef tendon is not supposed to be crunch like cartilage (like the crunch similar to eating sliced pigs ear) but instead it is supposed to melt away as you bite it. The tendon should be cooked in the same broth that’s in the pho to enhance the flavors of the broth and the tendon. I had better pho broth and definitely better beef tendon, so this was very disappointing. Bun thit nuong cha gio - 6/5 (grilled pork and egg roll noodles) This dish alone is what is carrying the 5 star rating on food. Specifically the egg roll. Egg roll The egg roll is made correctly. I’ve been to many pho restaurants and they used the wrong wrapper for the egg roll. If it looks like a vegetable egg roll that you get at a Chinese take out, it’s wrong. It’s is very crunchy after pouring the sauce on it and the filling is really tasty. It also maintains its crunchiness after 15 mins. Very well done Grilled pork Perfectly marinated and seasoned. It’s grilled pretty well with a bit of char and it’s very juicy. Personally I would like to see a bit more char. The noodles, salad green onions, peanut and sauce was done pretty well. They are pretty standard, but nothing that jumps out. TL;DR: definitely a place to visit for authentic Vietnamese food. It’s semi hidden in the back of the parking lot strip mall, don’t get lost. Try the egg rolls. They make it authentic here.

The food is pretty good and I like the atmosphere of the restaurant. The waiter was nice and I enjoyed the rice dish.

Basically the only restaurant near China town with parking lol. Vegetarian options available. Ordered Pho and it was a good amount. I think it might have been cheaper the menu mentioned. Didn’t seem that there was a pho with a combination of meats. There was also hot tea and friendly service