Tamarind: Should You Dine Here on Your Next Holland America Cruise? Here’s my Review.

If you’re planning to take a cruise with Holland America Line, then there’s a fair chance you’re also considering booking a meal at Tamarind, the Pan-Asian dining venue onboard some of Holland America’s ships. In this post, I’m going to offer you my full review of this venue, including showing you the venue itself, the food, and also my honest opinion. Should you book this for your next cruise, or is it a waste of money? Let’s get started.

If you’d like to see a full Dining Guide from my recent Holland America cruise onboard Rotterdam, here’s my YouTube video! While you’re over there, it would be amazing if you’d consider supporting my channel by clicking both the THUMBS UP and SUBSCRIBE buttons. Thanks so much!

Which Holland America Line cruise ships have Tamarind on board?

If you’d like to try Tamarind, you can find this venue onboard 5 Holland America cruise ships: Eurodam, Koningsdam, Nieuw Amsterdam, Rotterdam & Nieuw Statendam.

You’ll also find the Tamarind menu available in Pinnacle Grill on Westerdam’s Asia itineraries, and also on Zuiderdam’s Grand World Voyage itineraries.

What is Tamarind, and what does the venue look like?

Tamarind is Holland America’s Far East-inspired Pan-Asian speciality restaurant. Here, you can expect some unique offerings, including luxurious wok-seared meat and fish dishes (including lobster!), a range of curries, and a whole host of other options too!

The dining venue itself is stunning. On all of the ships with a space specifically dedicated to this restaurant, you’ll find it at the top of the ship. This means that you’re going to offered some of the best views onboard, far away from the crowds.

I took my recent Holland America cruise onboard Rotterdam, and so that’s the ship that I’m showing you photos from in this post. From up here in Tamarind, you could relax in a much more intimate and calm environment than the Main Dining Room, while either looking down over the aft pool decks or out to sea from one of the side windows.

The interior in here is lovely and dark. Remember - these photos were taken during the day, but there’s a whole different atmosphere and vibe in here at night. While dining, you’ll be seated at a dark table, with the cutlery, glassware and a small table decoration being the only distraction from the food. I really liked this simplistic approach to the design of this restaurant - keep it simple, and allow the food to do the talking!

Here are a few shots of the venue itself - imagine this place dimly lit, ready to welcome you to dinner.

Tamarind offers you some wonderful views from the huge glass windows!

Looking across Tamarind onboard Rotterdam, the cruise ship from Holland America Line.

Table settings are dark and simplistic, with the primary focus being your food.

You’ll also find a sushi bar and restaurant in here, which goes by the name of Nami Sushi. While I’m not reviewing this option in this post today, it’s worth remembering that it shares the room with Tamarind!

When is Tamarind open on a Holland America cruise, and how much does it cost to eat here?

Tamarind is only open for dinner. You won’t find this place open for breakfast or lunch, so my advice would be to book this early in your cruise to avoid disappointment, if you’d like to try dining here.

For dinner, you should expect to pay a $35 (USD) per person cover charge. This venue is also included with your ‘Have it All’ package, so you can have one meal in here if you’ve already added that to your cruise booking.

What’s the menu at Tamarind like?

Below, I’ve attached my images of the menu during my cruise. It’s important to note that this menu is subject to change, but you can use this to give you an idea of what to expect when you’re onboard.

Remember to scroll through all of the images below, in order to see the full menu!

Let’s talk about the food…

Okay, let’s move on to the most important topic when you’re considering booking a restaurant - what was the food like? In short, my evening meal in here was absolutely delicious - I was really raving about the overall quality of the whole experience by the time I left.

Here’s what I opted to order (warning: the following images might make you hungry…!).

To start, I was offered these prawn crackers with various dips and accompaniments.

My starter: the ‘Satay Sampler’ - this was DELICIOUS!

My main: Panang Red Curry Coconut Chicken, with sides of rice and ‘Asian Egglant with spicy coconut’

Everything that I ate here was fantastic from a quality and quantity point of view. It’s incredibly rare that I opt to ‘skip’ dessert, but I couldn’t fit one in there tonight! Instead, I opted to go downstairs to the Lido Buffet, where I could have something quick and simple: ice cream.

So, would I recommend Tamarind to you?

This one’s easy, YES! Without a doubt, if you enjoy Asian cuisine, I’d recommend Tamarind to you in a heartbeat. I found it to be really good value, too - I don’t think I’d be able to get anywhere near this much food at a restaurant ‘on land’ for $35. You’ll be able to dine here as part of your ‘Have it All’ package, if you opt to add that onto your cruise booking, so don’t worry about it costing you extra if you already have this perk applied.

If you’d like to see more from my time cruising with Holland America Line, why not join me in the below YouTube video? Here, I disembark from Virgin Voyages’ Valiant Lady in Miami to head North to join Rotterdam at Fort Lauderdale!

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