Sitar Indian Restaurant — Restaurant in Holetown

Having researched many restaurants on the island that cater for vegans, Sitar appeared to be a good choice for my partner, based on the reviews. The menu looked good and we were looking forward to going.

As soon as we arrived, there seemed to be a tense atmosphere. We were ushered to a table by the waitress who seemed very distracted and curt. We asked about a vegan menu and was told that someone would come over to go through the options. When another member of the team came over, we asked again what vegan options were available. He proceeded to tell us what was not available on the menu (all meat tandoori options). After a few moments, we again asked what vegan options were available. He went through the menu and assured my partner that there was no dairy or meat with the suggested food items. We were unsure if he fully understood what vegan means as he did suggest the paneer curry (cottage cheese). We made our order with our original waitress and we asked about the poppadoms and if they were also vegan. She proceeded to tell us that they were gluten free. I asked again if they were vegan (not cooked in butter or contained any milk), again she told me that they were gluten free. I then realised that she did not know about vegan dietary requirements. We explained and she went to confirm with the chef. This was quite worrying as I'm sure there have been customers that have asked these questions before. We were not asked about food allergies and we felt there was a 'I don't care' attitude.

When the appetisers arrived, they did not look the best. My lamb samosas were incredibly oily and lacked flavour. I don't think they were freshly made. The Onion bhaji ordered by my partner were also very oily and burnt. At this point were so hungry we ate what was served. The mains appeared better. We spoke with another member of staff who confirmed that my partners food was vegan. My chicken madras tasted OK. The garlic naan looked under cooked and still had a doughy texture. I could not finish it.

Overall I would not recommend this restaurant if you are looking for genuine Indian food. The service of the staff is questionable and I think more training about different dietary requirements should...

Whereever I travel to, I typically try Indian cuisine and so I was really excited to try this place as it seemed to have good reviews. Went there one time was turned down because I had no reservation which was okay at the time but I made a last minute reservation for another time. Staff told me that in order to fit me in at 6:30pm I needed to leave by 8pm as there were lots more customers coming that time which was fine with me. The place seemed quaint and intimate which was nice. Placed an order for lamb korma, rice and Naan and was salivating at the thought of it because it's my favorite. Food took roughly 35mins to come out but in the meantime I was given 4- 3" x ½" (tiny) pieces of bread with a dip which seemed funny to me for such a restaurant. Finally food came out and the korma was immensely disappointing. On the menu the description is verbatim "Mild coconut curry with cream" (look it up on their page). However, the taste of coconut was Intense and Overwhelming!! You couldn't really taste the curry or the lamb, all you tasted was the sweetness of the coconut and the crunch of the flakes. It was not terrible but i could only eat a few bites becauseits so sweet. Now dont get me wrong, I like coconut, but even this was too much. I expressed this to the wait staff and all she said is 'mild' meant spices and that the dish was predominantly coconut flavor. I asked whether they used coconut shavings in the dish as well and she said yes. There was no offer to escalate my complaint to the kitchen, no intention of rectifying the situation and no consideration for my satisfaction as a customer. No one asked me if the food was okay, no one came to ask if there was anything else I needed, infact, no one came to my table except to drop off the food. I found this to be extremely sad for a company which touts its years of experience in hospitality. This particular restaurant wasn't my cup of tea but I can't speak...

The atmosphere was awful. It was very tense with the staff, as soon as we walked in. The main waitress didn’t know what vegan meant and kept saying, ‘yes, it’s gluten free.’ Gluten free does not mean vegan. Look it up. It’s shocking that she didn’t know this. What if someone had a serious allergy? They didn’t even ask us if we had any allergies. The onion bhajis were greasy, burnt and flat. The main lentil dish was tasteless and really salty. Couldn’t finish it. Couldn’t wait to leave. The attitude of the staff was clear. They did not care about the food, they did not care about the customers, they did not care about their job and they did not care about their restaurant. By far, the worst Indian food I’ve ever had. Avoid at all...