I've been visiting Tamarind Hill since it opened and it just keeps improving over time. My main complaint is that the food isn't as hot as I'd like but adding the spicy sauces offered remedies that. I love the authentic ambiance with the carved wooden panels, this place just looks nice. I've visited Malaysia and it's one of my favorite places, it's a suprisingly modern country with welcoming people. The food there is outstanding as there is a fusion of cultures. I like that Tamarind Hill focuses on seafood dishes, and you can even special order crab. My favorites here include the papaya salad, the boneless hainese chicken, the lamb, anything seafood especially the prawns and snapper, and their laksa is outstanding. There are other Malaysian restaurants in the city, but Tamarind Hill is the best of the bunch. The portions are a bit smaller here, and the prices are higher but they take extra care in the cooking of the dishes, and use good quality ingredients so it's well worth it. Lunch is a good value, although their menu is smaller. Highly recommended, especially if it's your first time trying Malaysian food. Also don't forget to try dessert, as they offer some unique items I haven't seen elsewhere in Vancouver. For those living closer to North Van, this restaurant is expanding and will soon be opening a location there.

I've not been back to New Westminster for many years and I was pleasantly surprised by the neighbourhood and the restaurant.
It's a modern, clean looking place, quite compact, though not that small. Service was quite good, absolutely no complaints. They were very attentive.

The green papaya salad was quite good. I think it lacked a lot of green papaya (was it even there? I think I tasted more mango), but it was definitely excellent, a little spicy and a good mix of different flavours. Just not sure it should be called green papaya...

Roti canai was also good, maybe one of the better ones we've had in Vancouver, though it is not up to the best that we've had in Singapore. The satay was solid, but not outstanding. Waiter recommended the tofu goreng, which was also good (if a bit spicy), but again, not _outstanding_.

For some mains, we had a pineapple seafood fried rice. Had a unique edge to the taste and was a big thumbs up (but .. where's the pineapple?). Also a mixed seafood curry with one of the choice of sauces. I was slightly disappointed when it came out tasting very similar to the seafood fried rice, but it was good. Also pricey at $17, but we did get 3 good mussels in the pile plus 3 really big, juicy clams, along with big shrimps and other goodies. Pricey yes, but they didn't skimp out and cheap on you either! Thumbs up to that too.

Even if you're not in the area, I think it's a nice change from the usual suspects down in Vancouver (Tropika, Banana Leaf, etc). Solid place that's worth a try.

Went here for my significant other B-day celebration, just the two of us. Made reservation for two over a week ago. When we arrived, they did not have a table reserved yet the restaurant was half full so they were able to accommadate us. Several tables were empty and I asked if we can sit near a window rather than at the entrance....they stated that the other tables were reserved. Not impressed. A table for two by the window sat empty for our whole duration at the restaurant. We oredered the pineapple fried rice and the spicy sweet and sour pork dish which came with a small bowl of plain white rice. The pinapple fried rice was tasty and unique with cuttlefish, shrimps, green beans, pineapple pieces and raisens. The spicy sweet and sour pork was not so spicy at all if any. It tasted like any other chinese sweet and sour pork. I asked the waitress if this is suppose to be spicer as we do not taste any spice/hottness. She said that it was mild spice. I was disappointed as what you received was not worth the price. You can get the same dish at a chinese restaurant for cheaper and have more pork. I had to ask for some chilli sauce to add on it. Over all the food was very good but the value not so much. The decor was nice and the service was okay. Not the best nor the worst dining experience. I would try other Malaysian restaurants before I return.

Tried this place for lunch today, had their roti canai with a really good thick curry for dip and a beef rendang (dry curry beef) both were good although the beef was not tender enough but the sauce was good. Also came with curried vegetables and a nice dollop of rice for $7.95. A little out of the way as I was on a work visit to New West but if I am in the vicinity, I would go again. Hope they last as it wasn't that busy at lunch time. The service was pleasant and portions ample for me.

Saw the previous 2 reviews decided to try out this place.

At the entrance, I saw a printout of the 2 previous reviews pasted on the door and became suspicious. Could it be self-advertisement? We drove 30 minutes to get there, and are not leaving without trying the food.

The menu looks suspiciously similar to Banana Leaf's, especially the seafood section, with different kinds of seaood and sauces. Perhaps a breakaway partner or chef?

We ordered the satay, tauhu goreng and gado gado. All three were very good - especially the peanut sauce, used as dip for the satay and dressing for Gado Gado. We could hardly wait for the mains. Perhaps the previous reviews were real after all.

For mains, we ordered the Curry Chicken, Hainanese Chicken Rice and Hokkien Mee. All three were disappointing.

Malaysian Curry Chicken was too sweet and they used small pieces of boneless breat meat. Good Malaysian curry should be cooked with bone-in chicken, and slowly braised till the fragrance of the curry seeps into the meat.

Chicken Rice was nothing like chicken rice, although the chilli sauce was decent.

Hokkien Mee was too salty and ... bland - no hint of prawn stock. The key to a good Hokkien Mee is the prawn stock. It should be slowly cooked till the noodle has absorbed all the prawn stock, and thus the fragrance.

Service - The servers were attentive, but inexperience. Food was constantly served over my kids' heads.

The decor was very nice. Traditional and modern at the same time. A little bit more light would have been perfect.

Personaly, I rate this place just behind Banana Leaf and Ellie's, and ahead of all the other "delight"s and Tropikas.

Return? Only if I'm in the area and only for the appetisers.

Mrs. C and I were entertaining the relatives and she craved for Malaysian. I wanted to try someplace new and THMC filled the bill. The restaurant itself is across from the Royal City mall and it was nicely appointed inside and very clean including the w/c. The place was super-busy so I was glad I called for a reservation. Service was good, and we were pleased at the numerous quality checks and drink top-ups.

We had a variety of dishes including roti canai, satay, curried lamb, beef rendang, pineapple fried rice, beef with asparagus sambal, spicy eggplant, and a house specialty noodle dish that was kind of like mee goreng, but better. All the dishes were excellent. I am no expert, but I thought it was some of the best Malaysian food I have had in years. It was really good.

Everyone thoroughly enjoyed their meal and I was praised like a food god for my excellent choice. Not bad when you consider that all I had to do was show up...

Highly recommended.

Had takeout delivered to my home on a Sunday night. The people taking the order were very helpful with the menu and pronunciation. Our food arrived within the promised time and the delivery fellow was super nice. I can't really speak to the ambiance of the restaurant, but from my limited experience with the staff and the other reviews below, it seems like a wonderful place.

Food was absolutely spectacular. We had spring rolls, satay, masi goreng, beef curry, and veggies. Plenty for dinner and leftover lunch the next day. Everything was fresh, tasty, and delicious. The food is moderately priced for the portion sizes and quality.

Absolutely 100% recommended.

We went to Tamarind for a friend's birthday. Initially there was just 3 of us, but 3 more friends decided to join us. We asked the waiter if we could move to a bigger table and they quickly agreed and helped us move the plate settings and everything right away. We were quite happy about that.

The food is pretty good. We ordered some appetizers including soft-shell crab, calamari, satays, and roti. The roti was soft and a bit fluffy, delicious paired with the dip or to go with a curry. The soft shell crab and satays were just average, although I really liked the dipping sauce for the satay and calamari. I had the lamb curry and it was a very decent portion with big chunks of lamb (couldn't finish it and had to take it home). One of us ordered the laksa and it came in an enormous bowl. The presentation wasn't great but I tried some of the soup in it and it's quite good.

I like the decor of the restaurant. The walls and decorations are mostly red and black accented. In the hot days of summer I can potentially see it being a bit too heavy and suffocating.

Given it's location, it's probably the best Malaysian restaurant for miles.

This is our favourite malaysian restaurant in the lower mainland. The food is simple but tasty just like real malaysian food, we know cause we are from malaysia :)

Reservation is highly recommended because this restaurant is not that big and it is extremely busy especially during the weekend.

Some of the dishes we like are their satay, mutabak, char bee hun, char kueh teuw, and their sambal combo veggie. Portion for entrees is decent but i find that some of their appies are overpriced for the portion.

I wrote a review previously where I questioned whether or not this place was going downhill. Just went here for lunch today, and clearly it is not.

I had the Mee Goreng which, I have to say, is my favourite. I love this dish and I've had it at almost every Malaysian restaurant in the lower mainland. The one here has the most balanced flavour and unique taste and aroma. Unlike some other Mee Gorengs that I've tried, the noodles here are never sticky or pasty, they are always fresh and loose like a good noodle dish should be. Last time I was here they skimped on the shrimp and meat, this time the amount was fine so perhaps it was a temporary shortage. :)

Service is good, the server was friendly and laughed when I ordered my noodles right when I walked in to the door (rather than getting an attitude about it). Service was fast and courteous, and my food came in about 10 minutes.

The ambiance is still pretty poor - as I said before, the paint colour is really dark and gloomy. Although they have big windows, with our rainy weather you rarely have the sun shining in, so it would do some good if they repainted at least one wall. Also there are still far too many tables and chairs for the space.

Overall a great value, only $7 for the Mee Goreg (a huge portion which I could barely finish), and of course I left a good tip. I think I might "forget" my bag lunch at home more often just so I can go here.