The Foodie Trio (Left to Right) Raena, Me, Zazel

My second restaurant and third stop during Antigua’s Restaurant Week was the ‘Instagrammable’ Wild Tamarind located on property at the Tamarind Hills Resort on Ffreyes Beach. I had never been before but I was excited to go because I love eating at places that have pools and floating tapas. The Foodie Trio teamed up once again to test out the menu.

Pulling up to the security gate, it felt luxe. We parked and made our way to the actual restaurant which is set nicely near the beach. The decor was lovely and the Interior designer did what they needed to do. We were at first seated round a table then escorted pool side after we said we wanted to try out the pool side tapas option for Restaurant Week.

I really wanted to like Wild Tamarind because I loved the decor and the actual space. If you know me, you know I love eating at places that give day resort.

The restaurant is relatively new and I may go back to try out their main menu, however, their tapas board left a lot to be desired.

The Foodie Trio waving our Food Passports

Let’s Get Into It

To start us off, the waitress brought out a really nice welcome cocktail called a ‘Palmer’s’. It’s a tequila based cocktail and has burnt pineapple at the bottom. It was a tasty cocktail and the bartender did what they needed to do.

While taking the time to sip on my welcome drink, I had a scan of their menu and noted a few of the dishes and the prices. I also took in the surroundings which are really well kept. The pool looked amazing and inviting even with it being overcast.

After getting a welcome drink and being seated by the pool, it took forever to be attended to by a waitress. It felt like we were forgotten by the pool side and no one came to check on us to see if we needed another drink or were ready to order. I had to flag down the hostess to ask for someone to come along and take our order.

The sizeable pool was a welcomed distraction while we waited for some form of service. After what felt like an eternity, our order was taken for a floating tapas board. The presentation of the board and the production behind placing it in the pool to float was quite nice and could have made up for the wait time if the food had any real taste. It might just be that my palate is not compatible with the Mediterranean influenced menu and its Portuguese, Spanish, Italian, Turkish (Ottoman), and Greek inspired dishes.

The Chef’s selection tapas looked nice in theory. I had no idea what most of the dishes were because there wasn’t an explanation by the waitress of the dishes that made up the Tapas spread. It was very much guess work from picking up on the resemblance to dishes i’ve had in the past and matching things to the read up on the pool side menu.

There was a rectangular cut of fried Polenta and a tomato sauce which in my estimation was an attempt to pay homage to Antigua's national dish Fungee which is also cornmeal based and similar to Polenta in flavouring. Without the sauce, the Polenta was tasteless. The tomato sauce carried this dish.

The Gnocchi was the best thing on the Tapas board. Very flavourful, perfect texture. The Artichoke is something I would rather not discuss again. The Tapas spread was for two persons and they put 3 wedges and 1 shrimp in a cup, a single spring roll, and a single bruschetta. For the price point, the portions were absolutely ridiculous.

Overview

The customer service at Wild Tamarind left a lot to be desired. The service lagged and they forgot us at the poolside. The drinks are great and the environment is lovely. If I was going strictly for drinks and a dip in the pool, it would have been a perfect day.

The portion sizes are not the wave and the flavours were not there for me. I am not enthusiastic about returning to do Floating Tapas again. I would probably give their set dinner menu a try before I completely right off the restaurant. Overall a 2/5 for me.