Serendib — Restaurant in Ellsworth

Walking into Serendib, I didn't know what to expect. Maine -- at least the places we've been around the state -- seems to be a bit of an Indian/Himalayan food wasteland, and I'd never tried Sri Lankan, but I'm always up for a happy surprise. And that's what I got!

We started with the samosas, which were weird to me, created using phyllo dough. They were the best samosas I've ever had! The filling was perfect, and the phyllo works a lot better than the breading that I've usually had. Please note that I am not the samosa fan in our family -- my partner loves them. She agreed, though, that these phyllo samosas were very good.

For entrees, we always prefer to eat vegetarian, so we both had paneer. I chose the Sri Lankan curry because I had not had that before, and my partner had the Indian Butter sauce. Both were presented simply and beautifully, with the curry filling the large plate, four or five chunks of paneer in a row toward the center, and a large mound of rice on the plate next to the paneer. The plates were quite lovely, and I'm bummed I did not shoot a photo.

The Sri Lankan curry was very thin and heavily tomato-based, again something I'm not accustomed to. It was fantastic! I had a taste of my SO's Indian Butter sauce, and it was more like the kind of curry I usually get, thicker and with more of the curry flavor I'm familiar with. It was very good. Btw, we both ordered mild-medium heat, and the spice level seemed appropriate.

Let me mention the naan. Usually naan -- in my experience -- is served flat, with delicious air bubbles and slightly burned spots. I love that naan. The naan at Serendib definitely did not fit my expectation. It came rolled up, kind of like a fat tortilla (but not). This naan seemed a lot more buttery than I'm used to. I'm dodging the point, though: The naan at Serendib is delicious! It came with three condiments, one root salady, one more like salsa, and one green, and they were all excellent. I was really happy we got the naan, because I needed it to help deliver the extra curry to my mouth.

The ambiance in Serendib is very casual, including the super-casual way the staff were dressed. Again out of the ordinary, but I also like to dress super-casually, and have turned down jobs that require me to dress a certain way, so I appreciate an employer who is willing to bend the norms that way. The staff performed very well, and that's exactly what matters. I also appreciated that the music was somewhat nondescript contemporary pop.

To sum up, the Sri Lankan meal I had at Serendib, while far outside my usual expectations of this kind of cuisine, was some of the best food I've had recently. I highly recommend you try Serendib if you are...

My wife and I had high expectations for this restaurant but we were thoroughly disappointed.

We were greeted and seated quickly and the host and servers were friendly. Unfortunately the food is not great.

We had the samosas to start along with a glass of wine each. The samosas were actually good. A little different take on them in a phyllo pastry. They were not greasy at all. A chutney was served with them that also was good.

Our expectations were completely dashed with the main courses. I had lamb meatballs in a curry and my wife had the Sri Lankan beef. Neither dish tasted bad but is just a thin curry, white rice and meat. Nothing inspiring at all to the dish. The presentation is just as bland. The spice level of medium was a high medium to say the least. My lamb meatballs were without any flavor.

We also had some naan with the meal which had the consistency of a wet rag. Absolutely the worst naan I’ve ever had.

Having eaten good Sri Lankan food in China and great Indian food all over the world including India, this all fell flat. The main course was just below average.

Borderline three stars because the food was not inedible and the samosas and service was good. But closer to a 2.5 star experience. We unfortunately will not return.

This is another case in my opinion of a well over rated restaurant. It has become increasingly difficult for me to believe most reviews. Unfortunately people just love to hit that 4 and 5 star button for...

We were on our way to another restaurant, but we decided to stop in on a whim, since we hadn't had Indian food in a while. We were seated quickly with no reservation, and the service was ok.

We ordered samosas, and the flavor was good, but we thought the filling was a bit thin, and we didn't care for the phyllo wrapping. It crumbled in our hands, but we couldn't get into it with a fork and knife due to the texture of the pastry. The peas inside were also undercooked. And I don't understand the logic of having only 3 samosas as your portion when you're generally seating 2-4 people at a table. The chutney served on the side was good.

I ordered the Indian butter sauce at maximum spice level with mushrooms as my protein. My boyfriend ordered the same sauce, same spice, with chicken. We are no strangers to Indian food or to spice. My sauce had no real savor or flavor to it other than being very spicy. My boyfriend's sauce was a different color, and it didn't taste even nearly the same. It was less spicy, but even more bland. You wouldn't have known we ordered the same sauces at all. Both entrees were served with a tiny portion of rice that was slightly undercooked. Neither of us ended up eating much.

The overall vibe is as if someone went to a yoga retreat in Bombay once and decided to open an Indian restaurant. We wish we'd said, "That's ok, we'll go elsewhere," as soon as we were asked if we had a reservation...