Sita Indiaas en Nepalees — Restaurant in Amsterdam

TDLR: this is a tourist trap with subapr food that is likely not cooked fresh. Learn from my mistake and eat at one of the 3 restaurants mere meters from this spot, but not here.

As I say in the restaurant having eaten perhaps a fraction of all that was served to me, I wondered how this restaurant is even viable. It must be a front for the mafia, I thought to myself. Across the street sat Anjappar restaurant, arguably the most successful restaurant serving Indian cuisine that's always jam packed, unfortunately it closes at 2130, and Sita is open till midnight. I presume many come here from the tourist stream who wander off museumplein hungry and disoriented. Or those who come seeking Anjappar, and come to Sita thinking it's must be somewhat similar - after all the food 'sounds' similar. It couldn't be further from the truth. The food was abysmal, all dishes are recycled versions of the same 3-4 dishes. Because the restaurant gets such low footfall, I expect that turnover is limited and they likely reuse the same dishes. the special chicken (choloyya something) is a basically a tandoori chicken breast - sliced and tossed with some white onion. The other curries are either a watered down 'spin-off' from butter chicken or another a watered down version of 'rogan josh'. This is NOT Nepalese or indian cuisine. This is lazy cooking by people who are here to milk the tourists. The restaurant scene is Amsterdam is far too competitive for such a terrible product to survive in the market. Unless, of course, the mafia is subsidizing them ;). Please do yourself a favour dear reader, and eat at the excellent restaurants mere meters from this spot - Esh Pita bar, or Anjappar or even the good old Wildschut cafe have a far far far superior quality compared to this sorry...

Eating at Sita was a heady experience: from the moment you walk in, the delicious smells are almost overwhelming. You are greeted as if you are long, lost family, and promptly seated at whichever table happens to be the best one at the moment. The service is warm and genuine, and this is the only restaurant I’ve ever been to in Europe, where they believe me when I say “I like spicy“. We eat Indian food quite regularly at home and when we travel, and I can honestly say this is the best I’ve ever had, anywhere in the world. (Although I haven’t been to India, which of course should be the benchmark.) Everything was simply perfect. Each of the sauces and chutneys was vibrant and tasted exactly as it should, and the grilled meats were tender and succulent. The variety appetizer is an excellent selection to allow you to taste several things, as is the mixed tandoori, which was my dinner choice. My son had a lamb dish he had never tried before, and it was also excellent.. The portions are quite large overall. There is a decent wine selection, if you like wine with your Indian food.

The food is brought to you on warming trays so that it stays hot. This restaurant is within walking distance of our hotel, and I am pretty sure we will go back during this four day stay.

In other words: HIGHLY...

Worst Valentine's Day dinner experience ever.

My wife is pregnant and we were looking forward to enjoying a romantic evening together. However, we ended up waiting for over 1.5 hours and still didn't receive our food. Not only was the service slow, but the staff also didn't bother to keep us, or any of the rest of the guests, updated about the status of the orders.

To add insult to injury, the place was extremely crowded and noisy, which made the wait even more unbearable. We tried to ask the staff about the delay, but they were unresponsive and seemed to be avoiding us.

To make matters worse, we had to leave without eating because otherwise, we would have missed the concert in the opera. We had to rush to a nearby supermarket to buy some pre-made rolls to avoid entering the concert with an empty stomach.

I was absolutely furious that my pregnant wife had to go through this experience. It was not only inconvenient but also potentially harmful to her health. It was an overall miserable and disappointing experience that ruined our Valentine's Day.

I would not recommend this place to anyone who values their time, money, and health. The service was terrible, the staff was unresponsive, and the food was never even served. It was a complete waste of...