Christine, Terry and I had ourselves a nice little workday lunch at Tamarind Seed on Friday.  When Tamarind moved from its former location and added “Seed” to its name, no one was really sure how the restaurant would fare in the cursed Colony Square space it took over.  Well, let me tell you – it’s doing just fine. 

Tamarind Seed

I showed up at 12:15 p.m. sharp for lunch and every single table, except for one, was filled with suit-ed up business lunchers.  FILLED.  I had no idea I needed to make lunch reservations at a Colony Square restaurant…  Good for T. Seed!  I was thrilled to see it so busy.

Dining Room @ Tamarind Seed

Once we were seated and situated, we started off sharing the Ka-Nom-Jeeb: Thai steamed dumplings stuffed with minced pork, shrimp and water chestnuts served with Thai chili and mushroom soy sauce.  They were gone in a flash. 

In no mood to place a predictable Pad-Thai order, we all opted for items off of the Chef Nan’s Creations section of the menu.  Christine got the Gang-Khew-Whan: Marinated chicken with green curry, coconut milk, green beans, fresh hot pepper, sweet basil and Thai eggplant.  Terry and I both ordered the Siam Chicken: Sauteed slices of white meat chicken with chunks of pineapple, cashew nuts and mushrooms mixed in a spicy herb sauce and served in a half pineapple shell.  I pretty much licked the pineapple shell clean.  It was delicious!  I would go back in a heartbeat and order it again.

On Friday, all of us were members of the Clean Plate Club.  Our parents would be so proud…

Siam Chicken

If you are like me and haven’t visited Tamarind Seed in a while, I suggest you go soon.  This place is clearly on fire.  It’s not the cheapest spot for a Midtown business lunch, but it’s certainly one of the most satisfying.  I’ve personally never eaten there for dinner, but I wouldn’t be opposed to it, either.  Enjoy! :)

xx, L

Tamarind Seed Thai Bistro
1197 Peachtree Street NE
Atlanta, GA  30361
404.873.4888

They assembled a small, but brave crew.

There were 4 of us and 14 of them.

We decided to divide and conquer and each chose two: Garlic aioli, goat cheese fondue, masaman curry, leon’s bbq, smoked tomato mayonnaise, fresh horseradish mayonnaise, cucumber-dill yogurt and spicy mango catsup.

We got sauce!

(Look out, peppercorn gravy, madras curry catsup, black pepper mayo, bacon + tarragon mayo, and straight-up mayo: we are coming for you.)

Our favorites? Let me break it down for you:
1. Masaman Curry
2. Horseradish Mayo
3. Goat Cheese Fondue
4. Cucumber-Dill yogurt.

We all agreed that the smoked tomato mayo and bbq were just ok and that the spicy mango catsup was kind of gross. Lindsay’s favorite, though? Straight up catsup.

She's a purist.

The bottom line is this: I LOVE CONDIMENTS. The other bottom line is this: I love fries. The other, OTHER bottom line is this: I love the dipping sauce schtick and there is just something about Leon’s that feels like an event.

Mission accomplished.

It’s Friday. Go on, get your sauce on. You can do it.

or french fry?

xx, L

Leon’s Full Service
(404) 687-0500
131 E. Ponce de Leon Avenue
Decatur, GA 30030
www.leonsfullservice.com