TAMARIND SPRINGS RESTAURANT, AMPANG

We celebrated our daughter's birthday here sometime in Feb 2015. Rocker57 received a good performance bonus, so, we decided to splurge a bit. Our darling daughter suggested Tamarind Springs and we were game for a change from our usual food 'hunting' ground.

The restaurant is a long way in after you have reached Ampang Jaya. As it was my daughter's second visit and she's not familiar with the twists and turns getting there we had to use WAZE; the world largest community based traffic & navigation application on real-time traffic & road info. WAZE is a wonderful & indispensable app these days.

Seriously, we were anxious and did not know what to expect.

No worries, once you have WAZEd yourself there, there is a dedicated parking lot for patrons. Then, you take a nice easy stroll and soak in the back-to-nature ambiance.... Really spectacular because you would have just passed by rows of residential link houses, then bungalows and all of a sudden, you come to a stop opposite a low rise condominium/apartment. Viola...back into the woods!!!

Walkway from Restaurant to carpark. My picture doesn't do justice.

My iPhone really doesn't do justice to the actual setting. But since I have taken the pictures, do allow me to share it as I do not wish for you to imagine the worse. Hehehehehe.

On the left of the lantern-lit path as you enter into restaurant

Welcome to Tamarind Springs

Accolades and awards sit on the right as you make your entrance

The lap pool is just below the deck where the restaurant sits. Chalets for rent

Romantic table for two overlooking the pool / forest.

The bar.

As it was around Lunar New Year, we were obviously recommended the "Yee Sang" or "low Sang" both in Cantonese. The first literally means "fish alive" while the latter simply means "toss alive". Why so? Well, if you ain't from around here...it is supposedly a meaningful dish. A so-called "prosperity dish" and the first dish one will normally order during Lunar New Year. And yes, fresh Salmon slices would be the 'ideal' choice for fish but it has been replaced by other variants over the decades. 

Those who are not into sashimi or raw fish, can opt to 'kill the germs' by squeezing lime over it, while others even have it pre-cooked before being served. Yet others who find it gross to eat anything raw will refrain from picking up the few slices of fish meat amongst the other mixed combinations or just give it to those who are game for the raw fish.

Do check out Wikipedia for elaborate information on Yee Sang. As for the origin of it, I'm not here to argue who created it first, whether Malaysian or Singaporean. I live to eat, remember? If I had wanted to argue, I would be a barrister, duh!

In Tamarind Springs, all ingredients are made fresh; that is according to the waiter who served us on that day. Hmmm....fresh? We shall see. As we know, most ingredients are made a month before the month long Yee Sang promotion in most of the restaurants, in here it is fresh....Hmmmm....

Yup, everything is fresh. Fruits, vegetables, groundnuts & roasted sesame seeds.

While tossing one is expected to say positive words

This is one dish I know of that makes almost 30% of most of the restaurants' businesses annually. How come? That's because the ingredients are cheap while the price is 'exorbitant'!!! Most will say "Aiyah...once a year mah". They then utter good wishes so that it will come true...prosperity, promotions, success, marriage, $$$$ , etc. Well, all the well wishes going into the restaurant owners pockets. HAHAHAHAHA.

Well, how was the food? It was really good. We devoured the whole dish because it had all those flavours - sweet, sour, salty & good crunchy feeling. It was a 10 out of 10 points from all 4 of us. Yes, our son came along too, isn't it obvious? Family gathering, duh!

While you are waiting to be served, they provide you with tasty tapioca chips with Indochina dips:

Next was this awesome soup :

Tom Yum soup.Tom Yum soup is a Laos & Thai clear, spicy & sour soup...Indochina staple I guess. It was rich, flavourful, spicy, sour and I being a 'chili padi' myself...well, it certainly is GOOD!. They were generous with the ingredients but kinda stingy on the soup. *sob sob*

Forgive me, age catching up. I cannot recall this dish!!! OMG!! It is either Ostrich meat stir fried with cashew nuts or some meat type. It was well marinated, full flavoured and a tad too sweet for me. But when mixed with rice, it blends well. Meat was tender and the gravy....really good. Huge serving of meat until we had to 'force' ourselves to finish it. "Thou shall not waste as many around the world are hungry."

And then, we had this :

Following that, we also ate this :

Mixed vegy with tofu.

And we had these for desserts :

Mango with sticky rice.

Dragon fruit with a ball of ice cream.

All the dishes & desserts were delectable, tasty and flavourful. Unfortunately, the desserts were a disappointment as the servings were small yet the price....????

The damage was RM368 for four. If I remember correctly, the mineral or drinking water was RM8 per bottle! I might be wrong but I do remember that it was pricey.

Personally, I feel that the ambiance was splendid, the price too steep for something I wouldn't call spectacular or mind blowing. But don't mind me nor let me influence you in not trying. Go check it out for yourself and then decide if you will return or not. 

As for me....well, I still have lots of places yet to explore. Do remember to look out for my next blog. Better yet. Follow me on G+ or my facebook.

Until the next food trail...take care and eat well, folks.

Details :
Tamarind Springs
Jalan 1
Taman TAR
68000 Ampang

Tel : +603 4256 9300
Business hours : 12.00 - 2.00pm & 6.30-10.30pm (daily)