Sandalwood Indian Kitchen — Restaurant in Middle Township

I was completely unaware we had a new restaurant in town, and was surprised to find out it was an Indian one! I don't think we've ever had an Indian restaurant here (though there is a local pizza place that offers some Indian dishes) so I was excited to try them. I don't do well with high amounts of spice, so I choose items that I thought were low or no spice. I was wrong. Both items were SO spicy. Even my roommate, who loves to put hot sauce on everything, said my food was very spicy. I got samosas and stuffed mushrooms. When I ordered the samosas, I asked to only be given the potato ones and made it a point to request no jalapeno ones. They gave me jalapeno anyway. I only realized after I had already eaten one and ended up running to my fridge to chug some milk. The actual construction of the samosas was decently done, and they were fried well. Very crispy! The phyllo of the outer shell was weirdly thick, and my roommate commented that it felt a bit like chewing on a small pot pie. The jalapeno samosa I accidentally ate was very spicy, and the potato one was only slightly less spicy. My roommate said the samosas were a 3 out of 5 for them. If it wasn't for the high spice, it would be the same for me. I also got the Tandoor Grilled Stuffed Mushrooms. These were insanely juicy, but so much so that they were a knife edge away from being soggy. These were also extremely spicy. The sauce put on the mushrooms had a very strong kick, enough so that my roommate was even asking for a glass of milk! I scraped off the sauce, but they were still too spicy. These were a solid 3 out of five for both of us. My roommate (who ended up eating the rest because I literally couldn't) said they really disliked the random huge chunks of bell pepper and onion that were included in the box. They said it felt like they added a bunch of plate garnish to hide how many mushrooms you're actually getting. The gulab jamun was pretty good, but a bit expensive for what you get. You get four doughnut holes that have been soaked in a sugar syrup for $7. Again, they were tasty, but not for that price. My entire order, for these three items, was $40.

Also, the online ordering system they have is a bit of a nightmare. I originally attempted to make a delivery order using the "Seamless" ordering site they offer and it ended up adding an extra $25 in fees. The delivery option attempted to force a $10 tip, no matter how much or little the order total was. I decided to switch to Pick Up, still on their online ordering page, and it still tried to force that $10 tip. I ended up having to call in my order the old-fashioned way, which was a bit of a headache in itself. I mean no offense to whoever picked up the phone, but it was impossible to understand them. The mixture of them talking too fast and being drowned out by the volume of the restaurant in the background, I was struggling to understand anything they said to me.

Overall, all of this culminates in a solid three out of five stars for me. People who love spicy food will like this place much more than I did. I will admit, that I am a bit of an idiot for assuming that anything at an Indian restaurant would have a low spice level. But again, didn't really expect something like stuffed mushrooms or samosas to be so spicy I ran for a glass of milk and ended up drinking the entire quart.

(Visit was...

I want to start by saying. I love indian food 🇮🇳🥘! I am always willing to try a new place. So I wish I could say this review would be about great food or not good food, but I can’t. Let me explain, we (party of 5) went to support this new business a little before 8:15pm (their website says they close at 9:30pm). The place smelled delish and looked nice (so i will give 1 star). The host told us he could not seat us (the place only had 6-7 people in it) because they were closing soon (9:30pm) but we could order to go…hmmm so the kitchen was still open!?!?!…we did not want to order to go because by the time we got home it would be cold. So we respectfully declined and started to leave. But then someone came in as we were leaving and the host was happy to seat them. So NOT GOOD FOR A NEW BUSINESS who is still working on their soft opening, if you ask me 😒. I feel away about this, enough to write this review. If this were my business I would encourage a bigger party to stay and try out our food…but sadly I am not i will be back. For those of you lucky enough to eat here…bon appetite and glad...

This is a nice restaurant with seating in one large open room but with nice spacing and booths providing a sense of intimacy. Our waiter was professional and attentive. We only wish our meals were better. Our sense is that the kitchen dumbs down flavors to appease the locals as our meal didn’t have the tastes we are accustomed to at Corriander, Indya and other Philadelphia area Indian restaurants. Also, the menu is kind of Americanized with chicken wings and other items we wouldn’t deem to be traditional Indian cuisine. The somasas were tasty and enjoyable. My yellow lentils were drab and the chicken tika had flavor, although my dining partner was underwhelmed. This restaurant is BYOB so you will save on wine costs and the pricing is reasonable. It is still nice to have an Indian option in the area and many others seem to enjoy their meals, so we will give Sandlewood another try and suggest you...