Serendib - Ellsworth

We had the cashew curry and the tikka Masala with chickpeas. The portions are big. The sauces were excellents! There should be more vegetables though, it's only the chickpeas and rice in the plate. Many vegetarian options (chickpeas or mushrooms) and you can ask dairy free (DF).

What a delicious feast of a lunch we enjoyed at Serendib! Although vegan is not marked on the menu, it was so easy to specify vegan to the server, who knew immediately how to explain all the options. If a dish is vegetarian and has the DF (dairy-free) designation, it is vegan. We ordered the lentil bean cakes appetizer, the garlic pickle side, and the curry rice plate that were all vegan. The plate was huge, with mushroom curry, rice, and several sides, including pickled beet salad, dal and potatoes. We had a whole meal left over. I can't wait to return!

This is a lively, chic little place that was surprisingly found in Ellsworth, Maine. It is contemporary; it is not a mother-and-pop Sri Lanka's joint. Our reservation did not go through and they were packed so that we like to go for food and eat on a picnic table in front of the public library. While people here correctly describe it as Indian Sri Lanka fusion (in view of the presence of naan, samosas and mullagatawny), it is safe to say that the menu is dominated by Sri Lanka-inspired aromas to find many of them quite different from most Indian Fare in North America (read: largely North Indian). For example, the Beetroot curry from rice and curry menu had the distinctive taste of roasted sesame oil, rarely in Indian restaurants. It could have been of roasted mustard seeds, but sesame oil is also used in Tamil cooking, so not on a stretch. In other dishes, coconut and citrus character prominent. Interesting. We chose the vegan option of mushroom curry as the main component of rice and curry meal. It had a lot of spiciness (and much too much gravy juice for the amount of rice it accompanies), but few other flavors to beat the heat, besides the mushrooms Umami. The amount of spices was the tea and refreshment, while it had no complexity to balance them. Meanwhile, the Dhal who came with him was not a nonsense and satisfying, similar to Punjabi dhal tarka. The starter we ordered was the lentil cake, which were very creative, and came with tamarind sauce. The tempered spinach was as simple and striped as the name implies, not overwhelmed in spices or cooked to oblivion as in many Indian restaurants. We only wounded with a small amount of rice to share among four people, which could have been a result of the order. But apart from that, we were all very happy with the food. You have a fair number of vegan options offered there, with even something like tikka masala as veganisable.

Serendib is a small Indian and Sri Lankan restaurant in downtown Ellsworth. If you cross the area, it's worth eating here. They have a wide range of vegetarian and vegan dishes. I ate here with friends who are vegetarian, and we were so overwhelmed by the elections we ordered a lot too much food. There were a lot of options you usually don't see in Indian restaurants, so it was a nice change of pace. You could consider the bookings. In the night we visited, there was a long waiting period, and many people were turned away who had no reservations.

4.5 stars Great authentic cuisine. However, I agree with another recent review that the meat seam is treated differently than before. Chicken wings are great, but note that they are very sharp. We miss the picky vegetables.