Sadly, Sirtaj is closed as of 2012-01-20. Website is still up, but phone number disconnected. No info given at store.
Jando S.
Tu valoración: 3 Hong Kong
Every place has it’s day, and it seems that day has finally arrived for Sirtaj. Like many good dives in the Flatiron area, Sirtaj has moved onto the restaurant after-life. I stumbled here after a long night at the ACE Hotel and learned the truth the hard way, after noticing the«for rent» signs plastered across the door. My last encounter here a few months back, I noticed there was a change. Prices had crept up out of the solo dollar sign($) territory and had been inflated to near Curry Hill standards($$). To make matters worse, my last two delivery orders were full of snafus, ones of which I had made special requests for(naan in a separate container and samosas on the side instead of in the box with the rest of the food) but still happened any way. In spite of all of their faults, I still liked Sirtaj. Delivery might’ve been a gamble at times and the packaging was undoubtedly greasy, but on another hand it was the one dependable eating in option in the hood where ambiance was nothing because food was everything. And while some of the food had become less tasty(mainly fried items like samosas and aloo tikki), much of the rest was still very decent(sag paneer and dum aloo was money). While I’m hoping this closing is in search for better and bigger spaces, something tells me they’ve gone by the way side. This city can always use a quality divey eatery, Sirtaj was certainly one of them.
Yeah Y.
Tu valoración: 1 Beverly Hills, CA
So I probably should have known this wasn’t going to be awesome when there wasn’t a single person sitting inside the semi-large seating area… The curry was cheap and my stomach was grumbling, so I went for it, trying to think most people just get takeout. The samosa was ok, but the buttered naan and curry really lacked flavor, and just tasted… bad. I couldn’t finish it.
Jim B.
Tu valoración: 3 Somerset, NJ
Not a fancy place but good food and cheap prices. The table area is a little dingy but most of their business seems to be take out. Order at the back counter and they will call you when your food is ready. Most everything is cooked to order which is nice; I am not a big fan of buffets. I had a naan bread(very nice), tandoori chicken(the chicken breast was very well cooked) which comes with a side of rice with a curry sauce(noticably spicey) and a mango lassi(also very nice). Everything comes out on paper plates with plastic knives and forks but it was OK for me this one time. Oh, I picked up a free wi-fi signal from the restaurant across the street.
Simon W.
Tu valoración: 4 New York, NY
When I first found out this Indian cuisine is near my workplace(first started the job) i’ve been eating there for 3 straight weeks. here and there i still order and still the food taste great I used to ask for extra yogurt, but now they are charging extra for it so thats a no for me. Delivery is quick since its literally the other side of the block from my workplace.
Luke K.
Tu valoración: 1 Santa Monica, CA
I hate to give bad reviews, and really almost never do, but my experience earlier today with Sirtaj was a profoundly tragic one, and has to be shared with fellow food-eaters who might be considering getting some Sirtaj delivered to his or her office for lunch. I jumped on Seamless web and ordered the lunch special(two meats and bread for 8 bucks. not bad). Delivery came pretty fast(within 30 mins), and everything was going okay. The food was hot, naan was freshly baked(and tasted good), but everything changed when I opened up my plastic containers of meat. In the first(Tikka Marsala), there were 3(yes, 3) small pieces of meat in the sea of red sauce. Figuring this was a simple mistake, I ate them quickly and eagerly moved on to my curry. After cleansing my palette of the red sauce, it was time for the yellow. To my dismay, there were only 2(yes, 2) small pieces of chicken in this other giant yellow ocean of sauce. 5 pieces of meat total. If you don’t count the bread, that’s over $ 1 for each tiny piece of chicken. I am extraordinarily disappointed with my experience at Sirtaj, and will probably never go back(there are so many more Indian places that are so much better, Dhaba for example). If you want to give away a lot of money to stay really hungry, Sirtaj will be your best friend. If you want food, stay away. There are much cheaper ways of starving to death.
Anne C.
Tu valoración: 4 New York, NY
This is the only Indian food I’ll order, because I just refuse to spend more than $ 15 on any one meal. This place is affordable, the food is just as good if not better than any other place I’ve tried, and the delivery guy is friendly. You can order online on Seamless or their website. The naan is some of the best I’ve had, honestly. Recommended for a working lunch.
Tyler L.
Tu valoración: 3 New York, NY
This a very basic Indian/Pakistani place. No waiter service. You just order at the counter and you get your food on a styrofoam plate. The daily special comes with rice or bread — you can choose to have 2 vegetable dishes, 2 meat dishes, or 1 meat and 1 vegetable. Prices are around $ 7-$ 8. There is a plastic water dispenser on the side where you can get free water. The things they offer are what you would expect from Indian food — various meat or vegetable curries, biryani, etc. The quality of the food is fine. I think I am just spoiled by all the all you can eat Indian buffets. The portion here is very small. If you order a plate with 2 vegetable curries with rice, you will definitely be hungry after an hour. This place is simply not a good deal with all the good and cheap Indian buffets out there.
Bret G.
Tu valoración: 2 Long Island City, NY
I’ve only had the delivery. It was extremely disappointing. There is a certain type of restaurant that I’ve been to before that serves food like this. It has food in a chow line under lamps with strange meats congealing in pools of grease. It’s cheap, it’s just edible, and you’ll be shitting yourself into exhaustion an hour after you eat I ordered mulligatawney soup and chicken vindaloo. The soup wasn’t a bad soup but there was a lot of oil in it and I’d rate it as mildly tasty. The chicken vindaloo was just bad, though. Unlike other reviewers I did seem to get a decent portion of chicken, but it was greasy and a bit bland. I have literally eaten myself sick on vindaloo before because I love it so much that I often can’t stop at a reasonable point. I ate half of this and tossed it. Maybe sometime I’ll try visiting the actual restaurant to see if the experience is much better, but you’d have a hard time talking me into ordering delivery from here again.
Jessie D.
Tu valoración: 1 New York, NY
I spent $ 23 ordering Chicken dishes. I swear they used about less than 1 oz of chicken in each dish. The chicken Vindaloo(can’t remember the name but it had two«O» at the end) had 3 tiny piece of chicken and bunch of potato. what are we. in a war? Overall, what I got was tons of rice, a trace of chicken and a bucket of liquid. Do you have to be that cheap? Taste? I mean I did not order soup, so the taste of liquid was just too liquidy. I could have gone to Tamarind and eat like a queen with that money… really pissed. Can Unilocal create zero star category?
Sean S.
Tu valoración: 3 Manhattan, NY
These hole-in-the wall indian places used to be everywhere in nyc back in the day. Now most of them have«renovated». I miss them! What do you get: o good food o clean cafeteria style place o lot of regulars and busy lunchtime o very very reasonable price They make the real tandoori oven naan, and the mattar punir that I ordered was pretty damn good. Not bad for $ 5.95!
Claire V.
Tu valoración: 3 New York, NY
This is a tough one to rate, because they have two taste-bud-caressing dishes, and nothing else is really worth ordering. The winners are navrattan curry(creamy, yellow, studded with potatoes, peas, cauliflower, and secret delights), and chicken makhani(large chunks of white meat in savory, not-crazy-spicy orange scrumptiousauce). Of course, order naan. Word to the penny-wise: Always order take-out. This guarantees you an ample(pint?) container of curry and one of those cardboard and aluminum pie plates of rice, for the same price at eat-in, which garners a mere plateful dependent on the server’s whim. The dining atmosphere is utilitarian, with scuffed linoleum floors and a few lonely tables bathed in fluorescent light. If you want to strike up conversation with a few tired cabbies, though, it provides company.
Ben R.
Tu valoración: 4 Brooklyn, NY
I eat here probably 3 – 4 days a week and have done so for about a year now. It’s a very good value overall — that’s the key here. As I understand it, this is northern style Indian food. Maybe a few staples like Chicken Tikka but a few unusual dishes too. I have tried them all — all the animals, all the veggies. All good. None of the food is overly spicy or over-flavored. All seems pretty flavorful and balanced. I’m partial to the Lamb Korma and Saag Paneer. Nan– the garlic nan rocks but they are all hot and tender and satisfying. Portions are generous. The dining experience isn’t fantastic. They did a little facelift this year but it’s still pretty spartan. Seemed like a couple of gallons of paint and some better fixtures from Home Depot. It helped. Mostly formica tables. That said, by 12:30 the place is pretty busy so there’s a good lunchtime energy in the room. Prices — very inexpensive in my opinion. Entrees that would go for $ 10 on Lexington(yes there are some good places over there) go for $ 6 – 7 here. Good value. Service is quick and professional. Friendly guy behind the counter. Overall, solid lunch spot. Wouldn’t bring a date here(unless I was super broke) but perfect for a solo or for a casual office lunch.
Justin L.
Tu valoración: 2 New York, NY
This place was pretty meh. I got the lunch special which came with one meat(chicken tikki masala), one vegetable(black chickpeas, a favorite of mine), and bread or rice(naan). The tikki wasn’t bad, but there was so little meat in it that it was basically just the sauce. There were much more chickpeas and they were pretty good, but they came in a sauce which just diluted the spicing of them. The naan was fluffy, but pretty flavorless. I’d get this again if I was really in the mood for Indian, but for no other reason. Still, I’ve had much worse and for more money.
Jane D.
Tu valoración: 4 New York, NY
These four stars are for Weekend Sirtaj, seemingly a wholly different entity from Weekday Sirtaj. The menu is the same, but the difference in quality is stark! On weekends, aloo tikki are twice as large as they are on weekdays, they’re nicely drained(not at all greasy) and sometimes contain pieces of cashews. Naan is soft and fluffy and perfect. Baigan bartha is far better balanced, with fewer peas and more eggplant. The malai kofta portion is still quite small — if you order it as part of the vegetarian special, you only get one wee l’il kofta — but the sauce is very rich and you do get a generous portion of that. They must have someone good in the kitchen on weekends!
Jyoti H.
Tu valoración: 1 New York, NY
My review of this place is based solely on my seamless web encounter. 2-stars for the food. The paneer pakora was meh. The matar paneer was overly spiced instead of masala-y, if that makes sense. –1 star because seamless said it would take 15 – 30 minutes, and the delivery guy didn’t show up till an hour later. I’ll never order here again when there are so many other options around me.
Tim L.
Tu valoración: 3 Brooklyn, NY
Sirtaj is a perfect workday lunch spot. It is loaded with an assortment of food and coupled with good friendly service and great prices. Portions are decently sized for the price you’re paying and everything has a great flavor to it. As others have mentioned though, the décor is nothing special and is very typical of most dingy looking places around. Don’t let it deter you though, their food is well worth it
Amey Y.
Tu valoración: 4 Brooklyn, NY
This place is good. That’s putting it simply. And simple and good is what this place is. Their food is very well done. I’ve had their chicken curry and their chicken tikka marsala and both were delicious. The people are nice. The place is kind of dingy and not pretty, but the food makes up for it. And its cheap as others had pointed out. You go here when you’re hungry for lunch, when its nearby, or for takeout. It’s not really a «go out of your way» type of place.
Rebecca A.
Tu valoración: 4 New York, NY
Everything here is really reasonably priced(usually 6 – 8 dollars a plate) and really really tasty with gigantic portions! I have gotten the chicken biryani, and chicken vindaloo both yummy and tasted pretty close to authentic to me :)
Max S.
Tu valoración: 5 New York, NY
I really wish this place delivered to Midtown East. This was my favorite Indian spot for lunch when I worked in Chelsea. * Prices are almost impossible to beat with the amount of food that you get * Love the cabbage and onion they give you on the side in that little foil * Food is always fresh and delicious. Come on guys — it’s only 20 blocks up and 4 blocks east. Put a little motor on your bike.