Since I’ve got back to British Columbia, I’ve been dying to try this much-talked-about local Malaysian restaurant. It was the perfect place to go on a night out with my best girls.

Tamarind Hill has two locations: one in New Westminster and the other on Lonsdale Avenue in North Vancouver. We arrived at the New Westminster location  just as dinner was starting. We sat down, and before we knew it, the place was packed with a lineup out the door. The menu is rich with flavors & colors that are customary with traditional Malaysian dishes. The restaurant has great decor and  it’s very inviting and warm.

We started with the Roti Canai– A signature handmade Malaysian soft bread served with curry sauce ($6) and the Fresh Mussels in coconut milk, cumin, ginger & shallots ($9.50). Both dishes were very well spiced and hearty. The sauce included in the Mussels was so good we actually kept it to drizzle over something that would come later on with our dinner. The Roti had a fantastic texture: it was chewy and thick, and the portion was more than enough to share.

We finally ordered dinner and I have to say everything lives up to the hype! We shared the Singapore Sweet & Sour Pork Chops – Tender pork chops stir-fried in Singaporean style sweet & sour sauce with onions, shallots, garlic & a touch of pepper ($12.95),  the Pineapple Seafood Fried Rice – Fried turmeric rice mixed with black tiger prawns, mussels, cuttlefish, Malaysian fish cakes, egg, raisins, corn, and pineapple ($11.95) and the Eggplant In Spicy Chilly Garlic – Fresh Long Eggplant stir fried with chilli, garlic, cilantro and dried shrimps ($11.75). The dishes are meant for sharing, and there was more than enough food for three people at our table.

For desert we had a very traditional dish called Ice Kacang – shaved ice, with numerous toppings such as red beans, creamy sweet corn, grass jelly & palm nuts ($9.00) which was absolutely delicious.

I have been consistently seeing great reviews for Tamarind Hill in all our local papers. I did see some other dishes being served and I would recommend the Boneless Hainanese Chicken with Hainanese Chicken Rice – Steamed to perfect tenderness, topped with light sweet soy, served with grated ginger & green onion dip and sweet chilli dip for $13.25 and the Sirloin Beef with Asparagus – Stir fried with ginger, garlic and shallots highlighted with a touch of Sambal for $13.25.

You can view their website at www.taramindhill.ca.

Written by Michael Monteforte

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