Sitar

Good location, okay food
This restaurant is perfectly located for tourists: right in the middle of gastown. However I would say this is on the pricier side given the small portion, which could be a good thing because Indian food is heavy. The flavour isn’t the greatest. The only thing I would recommend from their menu is the fish tandoori as they use salmon. Other than that, you can easily find better Indian food if you are willing to go deeper into downtown.

They have pretty good Chala Masala, always go here for take-​out. Order in advance and pick up 20 minutes later.

Well, we have ordered from here many times in the past and it has always been really good. This time it was pretty bad. I’m not sure if it’s a new owner but I feel like the quality has gone down hill a lot. I gave it a two star review as it did arrive quickly so I have to give them that. Also I feel like compared to other places it is very expensive. Our order with tip was over $ 100.00 and it all went in the trash. Sad!

Came here only because of the entertainment coupon…
The décor, flies, and specs of dust and crumbs next to the windows made me not taste anything that I ate. I’m not a germaphob, but everything felt dirty or dusty. Didn’t help that I came here for lunch on a weekend and it was eerily quiet. There were only the two of us for the most part, but then, as if knowing how quiet the place is, the waiter later placed a loud table of 4 right next to us, despite the rest of the restaurant being dead empty.
Got the usually butter chicken and curry beef. Portion wise, it was alright. The chicken comes in huge cubes (I believe you get 4 or 5 cubes), so you have to slice it into little smaller pieces. It tasted alright, but I was distracted cus that massive fly kept flying around my face.
They had one server who was a nice guy. He disappeared in the back a lot, which made me question if he might be the chef/​manager/​one-​person-​shop. Our water got refilled once the whole meal.

Brutal service.
I’ve been to Sitar in the past (and always with just one other person) and really thought they had some decent Indian cuisine. It’s nothing spectacular, but there are some good dishes.
Unfortunately, these guys can not handle large groups (ours was a group of 10). Not only did it take over an hour after ordering to get our dishes, but when they arrived, half of them were luke warm! We also wanted our dishes spicy and it was borderline mild at best. Chicken wings, burnt and dry, roti, stiff and pretty much inedible. I was also not impressed at how difficult it was for them to split our bill and they tried numerous times to convince us to get our bill done on one. In the end they were magically able to do it for us. Was their initial reaction out of pure laziness?
Overall the servers (one was possibly the owner or head waiter) that were handling our table seemed extremely put off that 10 hungry patrons actually wanted to eat and pay for their food at their fine establishment…

Stopped in with my wife last week and we loved the food. The service is excellent and the music really enhances the dining experience. If you’re in Vancouver, check it out.

Very bad service and average food.
I have been to a LOT of Indian restaurants around Lower mainland but this has been my worst experience so far. Ambience is OK, if you don’t mind homeless guys asking you for change near the patio area — nobody in the restaurant cares.
Place is a little outdated and messy. Nobody came to take our orders for a long time, food took time, no bill for almost half hour, and we finally went to the desk for paying our bill.
They skipped the naan for our takeout (not sure if this was on purpose) and they stapled the takeout bag so we couldn’t even check.
Didn’t get water for loooong time, no napkins till mid– main course.

I don’t know much about Indian food but I walk by daily watching patrons through the window gobble their eye-​catching dishes. After 5+ years living in the neighbourhood, I finally made it in.
I really can’t say much. The girl who took our order was quite cheery and friendly but I felt neutral about remaining staff. I guess, in a way, since I’m not a huge fan of strong flavours and spices, I should have enjoyed the blandness of the food. But I guess I was expecting some punch or wow factor as well. It seemed blah. Didn’t love or hate it.
Price point, the value is not here, in my opinion. Small portions, high $$$.
Wouldn’t return, unfortunately.

Great food. The Lasie is the best I have had. The butter chicken and vegetable rice dishes are wonderful.
Chai tea is amazing.
They do to go orders as well. But I like to sit in the restaurant.

Decided to try Sitar. Walked by a few times it looked packed. So instead of looking for reviews we gave it a try.
When we came in the restaurant looked dingy, dusty and not clean. Like not cleaned fully since the 1970’s.
There was no music being played in the restaurant for some reason. Its was Friday night at 7 …
We were seated and was greeted by an older indian gentleman. We ordered vegetable pakora, ½ litre of wine and butter chicken and goat masala.
The pakoras were very small and not crispy. They didn’t seem like they were made there.
We then got the butter chicken and goat masala. The chicken in the butter chicken was over cooked and the goat was chewy and also really over cooked.
The spices were over powering in the goat masala that you could not enjoy it. I really love spice and its really hard for me to not like it! But the over powering grease and spice together made our stomachs turn.
Not sure if the food was even made fresh. I’ve had indian food and this was the worst i have had.
When paying i paid by credit and they had an option for tip being 15% 20% or 25% no dollar amount.
So they make you tip!
Which is understandable because its in gastown and gastown is where all the tourists come and most of them don’t tip!
However, it was expensive and not worth the price! The service was mediocre and the food was a huge disappointment!
Its been 24 hrs and we have been on the toilet for most of the night! Smh
They need chef Ramsay’s help! Definitely won’t be returning.

My husband and I were on our vacation and happened to come across this place — and we were so glad we did. This was the BEST Indian food we have ever tried in our lives. Their lamb and goat curries were delicious. While we were finishing up our dinner, we got quite worried… because how often can we come back for this? We wish that there was a place like this back home.
4 stars were given because customer service was ok, pretty slow, and they all looked sad there.
Despite that reason, we simply love their food. Give this place a try if you’re in Gas Town!

Without a doubt Sitar is my absolute go to for Indian cuisine. Whenever I’m in Gastown it’s a must that I go there to get my fix of delicious food. My go to dishes are the Goat Masala, Butter Chicken and Garlic Naan bread. The staff are extremely nice and care about their customers in serving up the very best quality food. There’s a reason they’ve been in business for 25+ years! Dine in or take out you must try it!

Craved Indian, this place reviewed well on Unilocal,but noticed newspaper review from the 80s on door and only 1 couple inside at 6 pm on the weekend. SO’s Tandoori fish (wild Salmon?) was «adequate»; my Saag Paneer was inedible sloshy grey matter with old, hard paneer, so sad.

Ordered delivery. Was advised it could take up to an hour, but was closer to 80 minutes. Food arrived warm and tasty, but without a receipt or menu (and a rounded up/​down price???). The food was flavourful, but all items were slightly overcooked. Items like Palak Paneer and Aloo Ghobi weren’t too affected, but the overcooking did seem to cause the Butter Chicken to adopt a slight rubbery texture, and it also adversely affected the Garlic Naan, which maintained its nice flavour.
Still, food was better than many other Indian delivery joints, and prices, while seemingly estimated, were still found to be reasonable. Will order again.

I’ve now eaten here twice, and will not give it a 3^rd time. The curries were bland, the sauces appear to have been watered down, to make it go further, and the Service was very poor. In an area with so many good dining options, these people seriously need to up their game.

I ate here this week. I walked in the door and stood around for about 5 minutes before anyone came to deal with me. When the guy did show up, he was hoisting his pants up and doing up his pants having just come from the bathroom.
The food was good and a bit expensive but tasty.
The service was sort of shoddy, as noted above.
The waiter seemed to have some gender issues and just couldn’t figure it out.
And when I asked him to wrap up my leftovers so I could have them to go, he instead brought me a beer.
It’s not like they have a lot of competition in the neighbourhood but if I am going to spend $ 30 on lunch for one person, I expect better service.

In my travels throughout the city for work, I have sampled Indian food from many restaurants all over Greater Vancouver, the Fraser Valley, and even some on Vancouver Island. I have never yet found one to equal Sitar. The dishes here are beyond compare. So many flavours in every bite yet all of them blend perfectly to create Nirvana with every mouthful.
This is one of those restaurants that we return to over and over and over and over. .. . The staff know us all by name. We usually go for dinner where we are attended to by Carey (the GM) personally and he is the most gracious host. He tells us stories, gives us good conversation, and he even entertains our daughter a lot of the time. While he is without a doubt our favourite, even when we come for lunch we are well taken care of by any of the wonderful staff.
The two most common things we order here are the Mughlai or the Punjabi Dinners. These are the best value for your money even though you could spend twice what you pay here and it would still be a steal. We usually add a few meat or vegetable samosas or some vegetable pakoras to start. It doesn’t matter what dish you order though, they are all excellent and in the grand «Who Has The Best Butter Chicken» competition in this city. .. well Sitar has my vote and I’ve tried A LOT of them.
Also don’t forget to try their house-​made Chai. If you like a real spicy Indian Chai, you will not be disappointed.
Go here. Often. EAT!

We went to this restaurant for lunch today. As we entered we were «greeted» by the man behind the bar with «take that table for two», no hi how are you or even a smile. After sitting down and waiting about 5 minutes «smiler» came with the menus. Another 5 minutes passed he came back with «what can I get you to drink». Still no pleasantries.
After our drinks came we ordered. The soup was very good, although, after i had finished the waiter came and SWIPED my soup plate and my side plate, which still had bread on it. Not one word was spoken. My lamb was reasonable, my wife’s chicken was not bad. After eating we asked for our bill, we normally pay by debit card however after a ten minute wait for the waiter to bring the card machine we paid in cash and left. I would not recommend this restaurant to any one. The bill was $ 60 for two, not good value. Think twice before going there

Likes: location, ambiance, butter chicken, service
Dislikes: tandoori platter, value
Background: Went here on a Saturday night with my boyfriend at around 9:30 p.m. in April 2013 to celebrate the Times of India Film Awards (TOIFA). It was a wet evening in Vancouver, but as always, it doesn’t stop Vancouverites from prancing around the streets of Gastown.
Ambiance: First of all, the location is very accessible for all commuters. It was right at the heart of Gastown, guarded by Gassy Jack himself. The restaurant is a mid-​size restaurant that could sit around 50 people. The atmosphere is quite romantic, overlooking the streets of Gastown.
At the particular night that we arrived, we were the only diners in the restaurant — quite odd for a Saturday night, but at the same time the rush of Indian food cravers had apparently just left, perhaps for a bar or coffee.
Food: We ordered (1) butter chicken for me and (2) a tandoori platter for my boyfriend. Both meals came with Basmati rice and naan. We also ordered lassi — plain and mango.
How can you really go wrong with butter chicken? It was creamy as I liked it served, not too spicy, yet the chicken portions were not very large. They were smaller cubes of chicken that what I’d usually get from other restaurants. The plate portion was quite small as well, as I would’ve expected — it was half a plate. It was around $ 17. Yet, I savoured every bite of my favourite Indian dish so I was pretty much in butter chicken paradise.
The tandoori platter, however was very bland, according to my boyfriend. Apparently he had asked for a «hot» platter, but it might as well have been mild. The platter was made up of: Tandoori chicken, lamb tikka, chicken tikka, tandoori prawns, seekh kabab, fish tandoori, naan, rice pillau, papad and chutney. Sounds like a lot, but the portion was not satisfying, especially when you are paying $ 24 for it.
The lassis were divine.
Service: The server was very polite, friendly and accommodating. Although we were the only diners in the restaurant, we didn’t feel rushed to leave. The servers look photos of us (as I always request for those!) and they did it without a frown. They even played Bollywood music for me, when they found out that I was there to «celebrate» TOIFA!
Value: We ended up spending $ 50+. There are definitely better Indian restaurants in town, but I understand that the location of this restaurant contributed to the price. The portion, however, could be bigger.
Verdict: I recommend this restaurant for date night. I see that it’s a better location at night than for lunchtime. I would consider returning if I’m around town.

My favourite resto for Indian food, ambiance & location. Something about gastown.
Butter chicken & garlic naan bread is outstanding. Lots of garlic. Rich in flavour.
The tandoori chicken is good too, lots of veggies pan fried on a stone.
and serve w/​a huge, round thin ‘cracker’ in lieu of bread at the beginning.