5th Element Authentic Indian Restaurant — Restaurant in Sanford

I was a little disappointed with this restaurant having just come back since before COVID. I had put a to-go order around lunchtime to pick up at dinnertime so the family could eat at the house as it was raining all day. When I got there the restaurant was empty and staff was setting up a dinner buffet--45 minutes after dinner service had started. I had arrived on time to pick up my order, but it still took 30 minutes to finish preparing it. When the gentleman at the front went to give me my food bags off the dining table it was sitting on after prep, a glass fell and broke because the bottom of my food bag had a wad of freshly-chewed gum that ended up sticking to the paper placemat that had a water goblet resting on it... so someone in the kitchen area must be chewing gum and just sticking it places, which is abhorrent. He tried to unstuck it but decided it best to send it back to be repacked, which took another 10 minutes for some reason. Upon arriving at the house, I set out to unpack dinner. The Curry portions in the meals were small, consisting primarily of basmati rice, of which there was an absolute ton of. The minced lamb kebabs were something definitely not cooked that day, and portions of them near the ends were completely dried through like beef jerky. The Naan was very flat, almost like they tried to use half roti flour and it got messed up, and it tasted primarily of char. Otherwise it was very tasteless and actually kind of hard to eat, even with any sauces or curries. The best part was dessert, gulab jamun, because the flavor was there. But one of the balls turned to absolute mush when I cut into it, obviously not cooked all the way through, and making me wonder if they used old oil or had the fryer too hot, because the color on the dessert balls was still perfect. Overall, this was an absolute flat experience. I have always enjoyed their food in the restaurant, and I am honestly shocked that this was the experience I had. I'm hoping that this was merely limited to one takeout experience and that this isn't going to be the norm. I would like to get in to try the dinner buffet again, because I just can't justify this being more than a one-off fluke in my mind. Please, PLEASE be...

For about two months I have been smelling this wonderful aroma of curry floating over the parking lot at Sam’s. One day I drove around the corner to see where it was coming from. Unfortunately I did not have time to stop that day but I did make a trip over the following Monday. Oh, I should of called or Googled them. They are closed on Mondays. For the last month I have been trying to get my wife to go to lunch there with me. Today I finally gave up and went in and order takeout. I ordered one lamb curry my wife’s favorite and one chicken curry. The cashier asked if I wanted reg, a little spicy, or spicy. I told him we like it hot so he put it in for spicy. He said the order would be 20 - 25 minutes. I went to Sam’s to do my shopping and was back in 15 minutes. My order was ready. While I was waiting to pay the lady in front of me was getting a container for the buffet. I had not known they had a buffet. I got home about 15 minutes later. I was ravenous after smelling the curry in the car the whole way home. My wife dished up half and half for both of us. Sorry about the Corelle wear plate in the photo. I had not anticipated writing a review for takeout. I first tried the chicken curry. It had a nice curry flavor but did not seem very spicy. The chicken was juicy and flavorful. The curry gravy had nice Indian flavours. After the second bite the spicy flavor started to enrich my mouth and make my tongue and lips tingle. There was a generous portion of chicken and not too many potatoes. The rice was lite and fluffy. It was a long grained white rice. I enjoy lamb curry but chicken is my favorite. After I finished the chicken curry I sample the lamb. The lamb curry was flavorful but I will not do it justice after previous eating the chicken. The lamb was juicy, tender but a bit chewy. The curry gravy was thick, spicy and had a bold Indian curry flavour. It was a wonder spicy dish that I truly enjoyed. My next visit I will get the lamb or the chicken but not mix the wonderful flavours. I highly recommend the lamb and the chicken curry. The spicy was right for me but I like my hot and spicy curries. I can’t wait to sample their buffet and try some...

I came here for their Mother's Day lunch buffet. The place is nicely set up, and the bar is stocked with tons of delicious food. Every mother in the restaurant got a rose. That was nice of them.

Let's go over some major points I want to cover.

There are a ton of dishes here that I had never seen before. I am ashamed to say that I've only ever been exposed to the mainstream Indian food, before, so I was overwhelmed by my options. A lot of things from the bar had giant chunks of vegetables in it. I like veggies, but some of the pieces were so large that they were almost not cooked throughout. Just some food for thought.

There was shrimp masala dish there that I would have eaten an entire plate of over rice if I could. It was absolutely delicious and light and the shrimp were not overcooked. A fine example of seafood.

Another thing to keep in mind is to not overfill on carbs. There is rice and naan and fried dough aplenty. Get your sample, make sure it's mixed with delicious meat/veggie main dishes, and enjoy. But if you load up on the carbs, you'll be too full to enjoy anything else.

Speaking of sides, check out the dessert bar for some chutneys/sauces you can bring to the table for dipping and mixing. My favorites were the coconut and the tamarind. A lot of that Indian food really is enhanced by a touch of sweetness.

Also, be careful with the meat dishes. There are bones within some of the pieces of meat. Some of them with jagged edge. You don't be able to fork it all out. You're gonna have to pick up the piece and go to town like a chicken wing.

Finally, the chicken was delicious. All of it was perfectly cooked, wonderfully seasoned, and I just gobbled it all down. I usually find chicken boring, but man, it was good here.

Overall, I really enjoyed this place. I feel like my eyes have been opened to different spices and veggies and more naan than I could handle. I'm coming back....