Tangkula 3-Piece Rattan Patio Set Review 2024

Are you short on both space and money but still interested in outdoor entertaining? Are you specifically looking for furniture that’s rugged enough to support more than an average amount of user weight? 

If you answered yes to both of those questions, then you’re going to be intrigued by what you read in this review.

High weight capacity furniture can be notoriously hard to find. Most of the stuff offered for sale today support in the neighborhood of 300 pounds. If you weigh more than that, your options are significantly diminished.

Tangkula is one such brand. They don’t have a big footprint, and they import their wares from China for resale here. The good thing about that is the fact that the price of the furniture they sell is delightfully low. The bad news is that the quality is definitely not best in class. It’s not terrible by any means, but it’s also not hard to find better quality furniture out there on the market.

The Tangkula 3 piece rattan patio set is definitely not a perfect furniture set, but it may be perfect for you. In the sections that follow, we’ll go over it in detail, outlining its strongest points and not pulling any punches where its weaknesses are concerned. That way, you’ll have all the information you need to decide if it’s the furniture you’ve been looking for. If that sounds good to you, let’s jump right in and take a closer look.

Overview of the Tangkula 3-Piece Outdoor Bistro Set

The Tangkula 3 piece rattan patio set is a very modest, minimalist furniture set consisting of a pair of outdoor club-style chairs and a small bistro table. The styling is about as simplistic as it gets, and the furniture is rattan, covering a tubed aluminum frame. That makes the furniture lightweight but surprisingly strong.

It’s not ugly furniture by any means, but it’s clear that the designers placed most of their effort on functionality and only paid minimal attention to matters of form. The good news there is that this set will politely fade into the background if you’re not actively using it, and it blends easily with just about any kind of outdoor décor scheme you have in mind.

Chair Specifications

In order to talk about it in more detail, we need to take a closer look at the numbers that define the pieces that make up this set. Here are the basics:

These numbers are okay for the most part, but one of them is a bit problematic. The seat height is good, falling just shy of the big and tall range, which typically starts at 18” and can run to 22” or higher. If you are taller, you won’t miss the inch much and can still sit in one of these chairs and be reasonably comfortable.

The seat width, though, could be problematic. If you weigh anywhere close to the 400-pound weight limit that the chair supports, you’ll definitely want to measure yourself to be sure you’ll fit into the chair.

The rest of the numbers are fine, though not spectacular. They underscore that this set was designed to minimize its footprint, which makes it a good choice for people who simply don’t have a lot of space for outdoor entertaining to begin with.

Note that there are no color options available here. What you see is what you get. The rattan is a neutral grey color, and the seat pads and pillows for the back are upholstered in a cream-colored fabric.

Adjustability and Comfort

Nothing about any of the pieces in the Tangkula 3-piece outdoor bistro set is adjustable in any way. Comfort-wise, it’s important to set expectations. These chairs were designed to be used as occasional seating, not lounging. As occasional chairs, they’re moderately comfortable, best suited for sitting for shorter periods of 1-2 hours. If you sit for longer than that, these chairs will begin to get increasingly uncomfortable.

The padding used here is conventional block foam for the seat pads and poly fiberfill for the oversized throw pillows used as seat back cushions. There’s nothing wrong with either of these. In fact, they’re pretty much the industry standard, and most of the furniture you can buy today utilizes one or both of these for padding.

The problem is that there’s just not much of it. The pillows aren’t what we’d describe as generously stuffed, and the seat pads are only about 2” thick. Again, that’s fine if you’re only sitting for short periods, but these aren’t the chairs you’re looking for if you want something to lounge in for the better part of a day. They’re just not designed for that.

The upholstery used to cover the pillows, and the seat pads are quick-drying and weather-resistant but of somewhat lower quality than the upholstery used on other outdoor furniture we’ve seen. You can expect to get about two years’ worth of use out of it (three, at most), and then you’ll need to start thinking in terms of buying replacement pads.

The good news there is that you can get pads for a lot less than furniture. When you replace them, you can buy thicker pads clad in better quality material, which will make the chairs more comfortable.

Some Assembly Required

Most of the furniture you can buy online these days comes unassembled, and the Tangkula 3 piece rattan bistro set is no exception. If you order this set, it will arrive at your door in a single large box and in multiple pieces. We’re not thrilled with this. With all the pieces lumped together in the same box, it takes more time to sort them, which you’ll need to do before you can even begin the assembly process.

Once you’ve got the pieces properly sorted, the assembly itself is relatively smooth, but it bears repeating here that this furniture is imported from China. As such, the production quality is somewhat lower than furniture made in the West. 

It’s a cut above what you normally see from low-priced Chinese imports. However, you’re still likely to run into a few situations where the pieces don’t line up quite as they should, which complicates the process of putting it together. It’s nothing insurmountable, but it will lead to a few instances of frustration.

The assembly instructions are fair but sometimes cryptic. The good news is that the process of putting this set together is pretty straightforward, and it’s not hard to work out what goes where after you’ve gotten everything organized.

Tangkula 3-Piece Rattan Patio Set Pros and Cons

Here are the things we think you’ll like best about the Tangkula 3 piece patio rattan chairs and table set with cushions:

The price.

The fact that since it’s offered in neutral colors, it’s easy to blend this furniture into almost any décor scheme.

The price.

The fact that it supports a generous amount of user weight.

And also, the price.

In other words, if you can afford something better, there are better options available. If money’s tight and you still want something to decorate your outdoor spaces with, this is a decent option, even with its limitations.

Tangkula 3 Piece Rattan Patio Set Review Conclusion

The Tangkula 3 piece rattan patio set is decent outdoor furniture that supports a generous amount of user weight. It falls well short of greatness, however. In our view, this set was designed for people who a) don’t have much money to spend, and b) don’t have much space to work with but still want to do some outdoor entertaining.

If both of those apply to you, you’ll be glad this furniture exists. It gets the job done and is good enough to provide you with a few years’ worth of outdoor entertaining possibilities. If those two points don’t really apply to you, it’s not hard to find better options out there. On that basis, we provisionally recommend it.

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References & Resources

• Patio Furniture Arrangement Around Fire Pit, Creative Living.
• What is Composite Recycled Outdoor Patio Furniture?, Pure Patio.
• What is an Occasional Chair?, Wisegeek.
• Simple Way to Reupholster Patio Furniture, SFGate.
• How to Clean Patio Furniture Cushions and Canvas, DIY network.