Is suchness, tathata, as a concept always something in addition to phenomena?

Is suchness, tathata, as a concept always something in addition to phenomena? If not, when we talk about the suchness of phenomena we could mean what they are like, the qualitative experience of a taste e.g.. But if, conceptually, they are different, then no experience of taste amounts to its "true state" -- the meaning of suchness. I'm asking because I've seen it said that tathata *means* qualia. And, while I never agreed, I wasn't sure what's wrong with that. I suspect, today, that it's wrong because they are in fact opposites -- opposites that need to be harmonized