5th Element Palm Coast — Restaurant in Palm Coast

We don't have an Indian restaurant in our town so we have to travel for Indian restaurant food. My husband and I went there for the first time last weekend and were hoping for some great Indian food.

The first impressions were good. It's in a nice setting with a nice outdoor dining area looking out onto the square. It was Saturday and there was live music in the square.

My husband ordered the Mixed Tandoor grill and was very disappointed. The chicken flavor was good, but he told me that he had never had chicken from the tandoor so dry such as these. (My husband was born in the UK and has been eating food from the tandoor all his life and can tell if it has been freshly cooked or not. In this case, the chicken was not not freshly cooked). It had either been reheated or kept warm from the earlier buffet. This was a pity, as freshly cooked moist and tender food from the tandoor is a real delight! That said, the 2 tandoori prawns were delicious and the lamb was also quite good, so it was only the chicken.

I had the Murgh (Chicken) Malai Kebeb from the tandoor, and in contrast, it was delicious! It was juicy and tender, and tasted like it was freshly cooked. The naan was also fresh and very good. The rice was disappointing, which was just plain long grain rice and very bland... not basmati as you might expect in an Indian restaurant.

I would like to be constructive and say to the manager that making these kinds of savings, reheated food and cheaper rice, are not going to encourage people like us who travel for an Indian restaurant to come back, even if there is no competition in your area.

The good points (and it was mostly good): nice setting, good service, pleasant staff, outdoor dining area, and generally all the food tasted good. If you are ordering a wet curry, or are served with freshly cooked tandoori food you should be happy. It's only on those few points where they let themselves down a little.

Would we go back? Possibly, but unlikely. If we drive for a similar distance, we have an another Indian restaurant that serves proper basmati rice, and where we have not been served dry reheated food. Sometimes, the little things still matter... especially when dining out during tough economic times.

If we find ourselves in Palm Coast and do go back, we will just be wary of ordering anything from the tandoor that was on the earlier buffet menu. We would probably play safe and just order a wet curry.

Perhaps we'll try one of the other locations in our travels, as this cuisine is our favourite when eating out!!...

We went on November 12th and OpenTable asked me the next day to write a review, which I did. I went to look at it today to make sure it was still there and guess what; I got censored!!! Shame on you OpenTable and you too 5th Element. Look at your reviews and do something about it. Revise your wait staff, rudeness is never good. Telling a client that they can't order appetizers until they have ordered the main course?? Don't tell a customer how to order!! Look at the other negative reviews before going to this place and notice that a lot of them are from Indians, this should tell you something. I could go on, you know what, I will. I was so excited to take my family up to the European Village and celebrate my wife's birthday. I had made the reservation, asked specifically to be seated overlooking the courtyard. When we arrived the restaurant was empty other than 2 tables. He sat us up against the wall and right next to the other 2 tables. I asked nicely, "can we sit over at that empty table by the courtyard" to which he first responded, "no that's an 8 person table and you are only 6 people". I answered nicely "but the restaurant is empty so it wouldn't really be a problem". Then he said "no, too many people complain about that seat because of bugs". I mean what a weasel. He didn't want to walk the extra 5 feet to serve us, that's what it's about. Stuff like this all night. Oh and the kicker; here it goes: we CLEARLY stated that my son has SEVERE seafood allergies and if they could please make sure the staff was aware of that. The guy blew it off and said that what he ordered had no seafood. Well have you ever heard of cross contamination?? Please read up on it if you are going to run a restaurant!! So the meal ended abruptly when my son had to go with my daughter and run to the pharmacy to find some Benadryl to open up his throat passages. Oh and I ordered the goat with bone; pictured in my mind a piece of meat with a bone in it, nope. It was the knee knuckle with gristle and shards of bone like it had been shot with a cannonball or something. 3 weeks have passed and I still feel this strongly about this place that I used to actually like. Please resolve your issues as it's not really that...

We'd heard some good things about the Fifth Element, especially it's lunch buffet. We were eager to try different Indian dishes without being stuck with an entree with didn't like.

We arrived @ high noon on a Sunday. Being first, we were seated quickly and offered ice cold water. In addition to the buffet, my other half ordered a Mango Lassi, a tasty blend of mangoes and yogurt.

The buffet was in two sections, one hot, the other cold. In addition there were two soups, and their famous mango ice cream machine.

The hot entrees were quite varied. Chicken, pork, shrimp, and goat were the mainstays, plus a vegan offering. A couple of items were marked medium and two were spicy. If you're used to spicy foods then you'll be okay, otherwise stay with the unmarked or medium entrees.

The cold buffet was a mix of savory sides, desserts, and chutneys. The pickled carrots are quite the surprise. Little bits of fresh diced carrots in a spicy pickled sauce. These caught me by surprise. Very spicy! I think I grew a couple extra buttock hairs from those. Very, very tasty.

The Mulugatany soup was an amazing blend of tomatoes, lentils, and spices. Well balanced and tasty.

Along with the mango ice cream, make sure you try the Rice Kheer (rice pudding). An excellent Indian version.

The best way to tackle this buffet is to try a small sampling of everything like we did (see the pics). You'll be surprised at what you'll actually likeas opposed to what your mind will tell you not to eat.

Fresh Naan and Chapathi breads are delivered hot. Excellent for dipping and cleaning your plate.

Service is above par. Empty plates are taken immediately, water is refilled promptly. The restaurant and buffet are kept very clean. As is Indian custom, the men are the wait staff, while...