Tamarind - March

Gerry's choice. Gerry 4*, Alex 5*, Ken 5*, Irene 4 1/2*, Neil 5*

Overall Rating: 4.7 stars
Total Cost per person: $130.00

Ratings scale: Excellent; Very Good; Good; Not so Good; Poor; Abysmal

Greeting and seating: Excellent
Table presentation: Excellent
Settling in: drinks, breads etc. Excellent
Specials presentation: None
Menu selection, variety and price: small but good. Vegetarians catered for.
Wine selection, variety and price: wide variety and well priced for this style of restaurant.
Drinks Service - Rating:
Food Service - Rating:
Ambiance - Rating: Excellent
Music - Rating: None

Free Appetiser: Tuna tartar
Entree: Sam Choy Boo (Ken), Scallops (Irene) Peking duck Spring Rolls (Neil) Peppered Quail (Alex) Mixed platter of entrees (Gerry)
Main course: Tasmanian Ocean trout (Ken 10/10) Pink Prawn and Cuttlefish curry (Irene 8 1/2 /10) Crispy Baby Barrimundi (Alex 14/10) Crispy Pork belly (Gerry 8/10)
Sweets: we all had sweets but I didn't write them down!!
Drinks: yes - several bottles of red and white - good quality and good selection.

Summary: This is considered one of Cairns best restaurants and located on the ground floor of the Casino, adjacent to the Sofitel Hotel it is aimed at the upper end of the Cairns dining market. The theme is Asian but with sufficient choice on the menu to cater for all. Everything rated extremely well and was superbly presented with the imagination and panache one would expect from a restaurant of this calibre The only down side was some diners reported their meals very salty, and/or heavily sauced. The curry and the pork belly in particular. This brought the overall rating down from 5 to a hotly debated 4 1/2 stars.