Tamarind Vietnamese Grill & Noodle House

This place has been vegan/​vegetarian for 1.5 years now and I’m so glad they made the switch!!! Truly vegan/​vegetarian phở is hard to find and their broth doesn’t suffer at all despite not having any meat. It’s rich and flavorful and not one dimensionally salty like I find many vegetarian versions of things to be. Even though I haven’t eaten meat for years I can still tell that the mock meat won’t actually fool you but that doesn’t mean it isn’t delicious! The fake «cartilage/​fat» thing is especially interesting. I had the saté and it was just the right amount of spicy. My friend had the house special and it was also quite tasty. They are also generous with vegetables, unlike other restaurants’ «vegetarian» phở (how can you have vegetarian phở with only like 5 pieces of vegetables??).
The family who owns the place seems to genuinely care about you and it shows in their friendly service. The place is small and they’re busy with takeout orders as well so be prepared to wait; but, it’s totally worth it! The only thing we didn’t really love was the smoothie but maybe it was an off day. This place is definitely a new favourite for me!

Amazing food! Even if you are not vegan, you should try this place because it will blow you away!

Omg, my husband and I visited Calgary last weekend and popped in here Saturday night to eat. Unfortunately all the tables were booked, but we grabbed some food to go, and HOLY CRAP, it is the BEST Vietnamese food I’ve ever had! My husband got the Pad Thai and I got the tofu basil curry — both SO delicious! We wanted to go again for lunch on Sunday, but you guys were closed. I 110% recommend this place to everyone! Can’t wait to try more dishes — we savoured every single bite! Thanks so much for an amazing meal to remember! :)

Not the quickest place to get to unless you’re in the area — but totally worth it. We routed our the trip from the airport through here in order to get a good lunch before we stopped around the «busier» (lol) parts of downtown for some quick shopping before taking off to BC.
The food was outstanding! We got it to go and ate it in my rental car while sitting in the parking lot of Community Natural Foods — and even then it was still so delicious! After sampling everything I did I’m pretty comfortable recommending nearly anything off the menu so long as it sounds good to you… Don’t go ordering something you typically dislike and then blame me.
Make the effort to get over here and eat.

While visiting Calgary, this place was the one that people always mentioned as a «must try», and we were not disappointed.
We had the bun hue soup, which was spicy and delicious, with a variety of mock meats and noodles. As a side order, we had the fried spring rolls, which were flaky and very tasty. I didn’t see a dessert menu, but if they don’t currently offer them, it would be nice if they brought in a vendor to sell vegan treats as well.
The service was polite and prompt, and the owner was a delight to talk with.
I would definitely love to go back and try some of the other dishes.

Great service and excellent food! I’d recommend this place to anyone. And if you’re a vegan it’s fantastic. I wish there were more places like this around Calgary.
The lady that owns the restaurant genuinely cared that her customers were satisfied.
The one thing thing I would have liked that they couldn’t provide was a cup of coffee, but the food was so good it doesn’t even matter.

Amazing! I specifically went to NYC to seek out delicious vegan food, and Tamarind is still one of my favourite restaurants ever! Excellent food and staff, and I love supporting a family business. I hope they will one day be open on Sundays and past 8pm ;)

Always delicious, fast, healthy, and friendly. My favourite place to dine.

Great food and service. This mom & pop shop is delicious and adorable. I’m Vietnamese and am not a vegan/​vegetarian, but I thought the food was very good. It will definitely not replace good ol’ meaty phở and bun bo hue for me, but it is worth visiting. The dishes are well thought out and well prepared — not to mention, delicious.
We ordered the green papaya salad, canh chua, mock bun bo hue and vegetarian phở.
The green papaya salad was delicious. It was well balanced in flavour and texture. I loved the fried tofu and mock «ham» or cha in the dish. ⁵⁄₅ a must order.
The canh chua is a sweet, sour and spicy soup that is usually eaten with fish or shrimp (but in this case lots of the traditional veggies of okra and tomato among others). With the amount of veggies and flavourful broth, this is a great appetizer. 4/​5, I would order it again but I did find it a bit too sweet.
The bun Bo hue and veggie phở are great vegan alternatives but they won’t replace the real deal for me. That being said, they are still great dishes.
I would certainly come back if I visit Calgary again and preferably try some dishes with a stronger flavour like the ca ri bun (curry noodle) or the laksa.

Updated my last review…
Had fresh spring rolls, Faux beef Phở and Pad Thai (again)
Delish …my son didn’t know it was vegan till I told him… he enjoyed his meal very much.
LOVE this little place!

For the last couple of years, I’ve had to avoid Vietnamese and Chinese restaurants, because I was diagnosed with gluten intolerance. Fun, when a lot of the vegan-​friendly restaurants in town rely heavily on soy sauce and vital wheat gluten (seitan) as an ingredient.
Tamarind was originally a regular Vietnamese restaurant, and then somewhere around the same time Hearts Choices was opening; they converted their entire menu to the tree hugger side. Since they did serve meat at one time, they feel the need to apologize for this «inconvenience,» when they greet you at the door. Don’t worry. You’ll get over this hiccup when you taste the food. The restaurant is tiny, about a block away from the old Anju and alongside the Kerby LRT station.
As someone who is used to having to tailor side dishes in order to accommodate dietary restrictions, being able to order more than one thing on the menu made me so happy that I may have had eyes bigger than my stomach. I ordered the Bi Cuon (Fresh Paradise) rolls, Cha Dum (Tofu «Mini» Pie — don’t be fooled, it’s huge), and the Phô Tau Hu. They apologized for being out of Jackfruit salad, so my friend sensibly ordered one Sizzling Sticky Rice.
Some things on the menu are incorrectly labeled as GF, which I noticed immediately because a dish with mock ham claimed to be GF. This is impossible, when almost all mock meat is made with vital wheat gluten. The server himself pointed this out, with many apologies and made sure that I was well taken care of.
The Phô was very flavorful, albeit a bit on the salty side, and packed full of fresh veggies. I love being able to get Phô in Calgary without having to make it myself, or fear that I’m secretly getting a bowl full of beef broth. The saltiness was remedied with the lime wedge provided, along with the bean sprouts, basil leaves and sriracha spiral. One thing I really missed, was having peanut sauce to dunk my salad rolls in.
I can’t wait to come back! If they get their menu properly sorted out, they’re easily a five star place. Probably not the place you’d take a large crowd, it’s pretty tiny, but definitely a great space to catch up with a friend or have a lunch date.

Wow! I was so impressed with this tiny hole-​in-​the-​wall sized Vietnamese restaurant. A family run affair with both the Mum and Dad from Vietnam, the food is deliciously fresh and full of flavour.
The menu consists of vegan and vegetarian dishes only. Don’t let this turn you off. The dishes packed a punch in flavour and I left very, very satisfied and very full. As I was with two people who usually prefer meat in their meals, the waiter (the son) took time to explain to us which dishes had the most flavor and would be liked by those who prefer the traditional Vietnamese dishes with meat (ie the Phở soups).
We shared Paradise rolls to start and then moved onto the vegetarian Pad Thai, the vermicelli noodles with spring rolls and tofu and the curry soup. All were tasty and fresh as Vietnamese dishes should be.
Even though we were full, one of my dinner guests asked if there was dessert. Usually there isn’t but the family had made up tapioca with coconut milk and banana for themselves for their dinner and offered to share this with us as they had made more than they needed. Amazing. And so tasty.
So on top of friendly, informative and warm service, the food tasted amazing and was dirt cheap. Couldn’t say a bad word about this place. I’ll be back.

Some of the best Vietnamese in the city — vegan, vegetarian or not. This place can match the flavour of their meaty counterparts, and even do it better. The ingredients are fresh, the flavours are delicious and the paradise rolls are one of the most delicious things I’ve ever eaten!

I am visiting Calgary on business and was looking for a vegan and gluten free restaurant to try out and I found this gem of a place on Unilocal great food and friendly service! I defiantly recommend anyone to eat here.

We happened to stumble upon this restaurant and were very nicely surprised by the high quality of the food and friendly service.
It’s now a fully vegetarian and vegan restaurant since the mother is vegetarian. Very healthy and fresh food at a very reasonable price.
Highly recommend it to vegetarian and even those wanting to experiment a bit more. Their meatless meats taste like the real thing too.
Hopefully more restaurants like this will open up in Calgary!

Are you kidding me? A vegetarian Vietnamese place in Calgary??? WOW.
I had their spicy phở and it was out of this world. A massive bowl fool of hot goodness that I cant find in New York even. There was a vegetarian Vietnamese place called Vin Loi Tofu in LA I used to hit up, but this is so much better. The owner, cute vietnamese lady who has the motherly touch to the food, provided the service. She just turned vegan and converted the restaurant to vegetarian. I am trying to figure out how to spread the word so the family succeeds and I continue to get great veggie phở. Amazing.
Please check it out! I am very passionate about this place doing well. Its a gem that cant be found anywhere in North America. believe me… I have tried hard and traveled far to find similar food!

This place relaunched a new menu that is fully of vegetarian and vegan options. Meat lovers need not disappoint because the dishes I have tried are so full of flavor, they won’t miss a beat! A great way to both stay healthy and have great flavor too. I really like the new salad rolls, their seems to be about 10 ingredients in them, complex flavors. The new pad thai is crazy good, lots of flavor. Also new menu items such as the laksa. After Tropical Delight closed, the only other place in Calgary that has laksa is Banana Leaf, but Tamarind is the only place with a veggie option for laksa. If you’ve tried their old menu before, make sure to try there new menu. Looking forward to introducing my friends to it. Great innovation to the Calgary food scene.

Mom and pop shops like this deserve more support! Great homemade food, great value, pretty quick, I get takeout from here all the time as I live upstairs. Their vermicelli and rice platters are awesome! Phở is alright. Would also recommend the rice wrapper rolls, really good!

I’ve live above this tiny Vietnamese restaurant for quite some time. In a city where Phở-​shops are a dime a dozen it’s always nice to find one that’s truly good. The food is always fresh and prepared with extra care. The family running the place is also always nice and welcoming.
If you’re looking for a good Phở or a decent sub, Tamarind is definitely a great spot.

Small, «hole in the wall» place that doesn’t disappoint!
Not very many seats but the service is quick, so turn around doesn’t take much time. I am a huge phở fan, always on the hunt for the best one, and this place delivered one of the best I have had in years. I still think about going back for more weeks later. My friend order one of the noodle bowls and quite enjoyed it.
If you are looking for a quiet, tasty, friendly and quick meal, this is where you should go.