Serendib

We have long wanted to have an Indian restaurant in the area and are thrilled that Serendib has opened! The food was very good although the naan was not anything like naan I have had (it was more like a tortilla than naan). The heat (spicy heat) was too hot for us and we requested «medium.» Next time, we’ll choose «mild.» My major complaint was the treatment we received upon entering the door by the hostess/​waitress. She COMPLETELY ignored our standing there. Finally we approached her and asked if we should seat ourselves or not. She curtly said that we would have to wait as she didn’t have any tables, and walked away. We felt like she wanted us to leave. I followed after her to the register and asked if we could order for take out since seating was a problem and she acted irritated and unhelpful. If I were the business owner, I would be appalled by her behavior. She needs to know that you always welcome your guests and seek to accommodate them as best you can — remember, you want people to come back! When we got home, our order was missing one of the entrees that we had ordered and the food had leaked out of their containers.

I had the chicken Khorma and an extra side of curried beets, everything was truly delicious, and the owners were kind and attentive. I had medium spice and it was very comfortable for a girl who likes spice, may ho a touch spicier next time if I’m feeling feisty. Even with the spice, my 9 year old said if I order mild for him, he would have loved to have had it for dinner. The flavors were very good, and all complemented each other really nicely, and after eating a lot of Indian food, it was some of the most authentically home cooked flavors I’ve enjoyed. I’m looking forward to trying the vindaloo and naan!

We loved our meal–
Naan, mulligatawny soup, vindaloo and lamprais, and moms love cake.
So glad Serendib is here!

Shrimp expertly prepared and better than anything I’ve had in the food mecca of New York City.
Definitely worth a try if you want to warm up on a cold Maine night!
BTW, the waitress tries to warn you that «medium» is quite hot– believe her. We didn’t, expecting the spiciness to be watered down for Maine palates. It wasn’t :)

Very delicious and a more traditional Indian cuisine than you can find anywhere else in the area. Highly recommended.

My family has been waiting for years for an Indian resaurant to come to the Ellsworth area. After a long dry spell it was worth the wait.
Food is delicious, servings are filling. So far I’ve only had the food as take-​out twice. Tonight I am going with family and 2 friends.
One thing to be aware of is the food’s «heat». I am accustomed to ordering «hot as you can make it» just to get the heat up to a level I like and even then it is not usually hot enough (there is no other restaurant in Ellsworth that gets it hot enough…). The «hot» rating here really is hot! If you normally order food hot and it is hot enough for you order it medium or less. You can always add spice but you can’t take it away.

DON’T BE SWAYED by the 1-​star rating given on Oct 12^th, 2015! We decided to ignore the review and give it a try – we’re glad we did. The food is delicious! We started with the Shrimp Bhuna flavored according to the menu by «a fragrant, thick spiced sauce found in Bengal region of North East India.» It had a slight kick to it so the cucumbers offset the spice perfectly. Our main dishes were the Sri Lankan Style Curry with lamb (ordered mild) and Vindaloo with chicken (ordered between mild and medium). The main dishes come with Basmati rice, raita, and a house salad (not lettuce based– made with green beans, cucumbers. plus other raw veggies (I forget what!) in perhaps a light yogurt dressing?) I had the spicier dish and it was perfect… a nice burn offset by the raita. We don’t know cuisine well enough to differentiate between Sri Lankan and other food of the regions of India. We know we love Indian and we didn’t walk away disappointed. We will be back to try out everything on the menu! There was one waitress and an occasional helper from the kitchen to deliver food. Despite the demands on her time, the waitress was calm and pleasant!
THINGS TO REMEMBER AND THINK ABOUT AS YOU HEAD OUT TO EAT THERE:
1) Serendib is tiny and the place was hopping when we got there. We got the last table. I think there is total seating for 20 and there were 16 of us. (With 7 more people coming in after us and waiting for a table) As it is small, you sit close to one another very much like seating in a restaurant in a large city. Don’t expect commodious accommodations for seating and you won’t be disappointed or feel like your space has been invaded!
2) This is a NEW business! It isn’t a polished dining experience. Whereas one would be served the main dishes in their own serving dishes in a larger restaurant, the food is presented on each individual plate. It’s hard to make Indian food look pretty on a plate, so don’t expect gorgeous presentation. They make an effort by placing the food on, I think, banana leaves. Limited budgets only allow for so much; remember, they’re a brand-​new business!
3) There isn’t a ton of food, but there’s certainly enough! We Americans expect a LOT of food when we go out to eat. It’s a bias that should probably change (considering how most of us are prone to some pudge).
4) For the appetizer and two main dishes our meal was $ 37. For around here, that wasn’t cheap. I think some will have a hard time balancing the price vs the amount of food. As I mentioned before, though, there is plenty to eat: you don’t walk away hungry. And did I say it’s delicious?
5) When we went, the restaurant was really warm. We were dressed in layers so we could take off layers as needed. Just be prepared to adjust to warm and cold (if it’s cold outside and the door is opened, you could get chilly).
SUMMARY:
A small, locally-​owned business that serves yummy Sri Lankan /​Indian food. Go now. Go often!
THE MENU:

I was really looking forward to this restaurant’s opening as Ellsworth is in desperate need of quality dining! I ordered the shrimp curry, mild, as take out. When I got my bag, it was so light that I had to open the take out box in my car to make sure there was actually food in it. Seven pieces of shrimp, less than ¾ C of rice, and two bites of a cucumber salad. Okay, I was hoping that the taste would be spot on, considering I just paid $ 15 for this… but, it was WAY off. WAY too spicy, but since I had nothing to compare it to, I just brushed that off as my own taste. When my husband came home, I had him taste the shrimp to check and see if he found it spicy (he loves spicy food, I do not). He found it very hot, so he ordered his own chicken curry, hot. When he got it home, it was MILD! WAY less hot than my mild order. There was definitely more protein in his than in mine. But neither order was worth the $ 30 we spent yesterday. Very disappointed. We will not be returning.