Sapid Indian Food
“This is my go-to spot when I want fast Indian delivery and they have yet to let me down.”
“WILL BE BACK
P.S. It's BYOB and Brooklyn Beer and Soda is RIGHT across the street.”
“I am getting hungry just thinking about it – their Indian food was some of the best I've tried and at a good price.”
Sapid Indian Food
Takes Reservations: Yes
Delivery: Yes
Take-out: Yes
Accepts Credit Cards: Yes
Bike Parking: Yes
Wheelchair Accessible: Yes
Good for Kids: Yes
Good for Groups: Yes
Has TV: Yes
Waiter Service: Yes
Price range.
$$ Price range $11-30
8 reviews
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Sapid is a good option for Indian food in the neighborhood but nothing beyond that. If you're willing to walk an extra ten minutes east or west, you can get better food at a better value but it's not like Sapid is bad, in fact it's pretty good. I just think you can do better.
I really enjoy their sweet and sour eggplant. The goat is pretty good. I also like their chicken tikka masala, which every Indian place must do well. Not that spicy and I like spicy.
In the end it's not an awful option, I just think there are better ones around. However they do offer BYOB, so that may sway your decision.
2 stars isn't for the food, because mine was pretty tasty; it is for the service.
We arrived here around 7pm on Sunday night with a party of 14. There was no one else in the restaurant, so we were expecting an enjoyable experience. Sadly, this was not truly the case.
It took them at least half an hour to take our order. They were focusing greatly on the takeout orders, but not the patrons in the actual restaurant! Big no-no. Our food did not come out for an hour! An hour! Are you kidding? They didn't even know what half of us had ordered when they started bringing dishes out. Half the people had to switch plates around! And the people who ordered chicken tikka masala (myself included) had to remind them and were brought it immediately, which clearly shows that it was not made to order and we could have received our food in a more timely manner.
My food was typical of an Indian restaurant. The naan was good, so there's that?
So here's another reason I never want to leave the neighborhood. The first time I got take-out from Sapid, I was a little cranky because the dinner special came to $15.15, which is just a tad pricey for a restaurant wedged in between two auto body repair shops.
BUT.
A) It's enough food for at least two (really more like three) full meals. Hello, leftovers!
B) It tastes AWESOME.
C) The folks who work there are so nice.
D) It's open LATE.
For my maiden voyage I had the Ka Choris appetizer, which was described as lentil dumplings in the menu. It was large enough to be a main course and tasted like I was going down on an angel, albeit very spicy. The Lamb Saag Walla was equally good, with huge chunks of extremely tender lamb in a rich, creamy spinach puree. It was also equally delectable… and equally spicy.
In general, all of the food here is both much spicier and much more flavorful than what I've come to expect from Indian restaurants in America. Having never been to India, I'm gonna assume that this means it's more authentic. I hope the owners never get the memo that Americans are pussies who like bland food because what they have going on now is awesome – even though, as a pussy who likes bland food, I have to dump complimentary cucumber yogurt sauce all over everything so I don't die of spice overload.
I've now ordered from Sapid several times and tried the Lamb Rogan Josh (good, although the lamb was not as tender as it was in their Lamb Saag Walla), Samosas (fluffy, greasy crust – so yummy) and Bhartha (eggplant with onions and spices: it was good the first time around but unbelievable the next day as leftovers). Everything is spicy. Ask for extra cucumber yogurt.
What really did it for me, though, was finding them open and happy to make me food one night at 10:40 pm when I was in the middle of the biggest Indian Food craving I've ever had. Sapid WIN.
I was a little suspicious of all the great reviews but was craving Indian food and Amin has been going down hill. Sapid has the same deal of 1 appetizer and 1 entree for $13.95.
The chicken tikka masala is excellent. The tomato cream sauce is rich, fresh and has fresh herbs. Plenty of chicken that is moist inside. I was satisfied.
The aloo papri has crunchy things with chickpeas, potatoes and yogurt. It's served cold and was pretty good. Actually a nice hearty appetizer.
I'll definitely reorder delivery. Service was fast, good price and leftovers for the next day.
This is a very narrow review. My go-to Indian entree is Lamb Vindaloo with Naan. I was in the mood for Indian tonight and I decided to stray away from my usual routine of Bombay Heights because I noticed that Sapid was a new vendor on Seamless and it has 4 stars on Yelp.
I was disappointed. Objectively speaking, the food was solid, but paled in comparison to what I'm used to from Bombay Heights. The Naan is dry, notwithstanding reviews stating the contrary. It was like white bread in the center… sigh. Nothing like the buttery, warm decadence that is Bombay Heights Naan. The Lamb Vindaloo was spicy, but the curry was less saucy than I would prefer. It was more like a thick, freshly blended paste and there was something slightly off about the curry — a flavor I'm not used to. The next patron may thoroughly enjoy the same dish, but I'll stock to my usual the next time.
I'll admit it, I'm one of those people that has never actually been inside Sapid, I've only ordered delivery. But I've ordered delivery several times, and I can confidently tell you that Sapid is solid.
Sure, consistency has been an slight issue at times, but our food has pretty much always ranged from good to pretty damn good. On good ol' Seamless they do an appetizer/main special* that is plenty of food, and appetizer-wise the samosas are good (and filling) but I prefer the eggplant app.
My lady friend always goes for the Malai Kofta for her main and some garlic naan, and although I wouldn't order the former, I love the latter. Since variety is the spice of life, I can be a tandoori chicken, chicken tikka masala, saag paneer, or lamb rogan josh kind of guy (or maybe even vindaloo if I'm feeling particularly spicy that day), and I've never been upset about any of them. Sometimes I'm extremely pleased with my choice as well.
Delivery is also pretty fast for the most part, but occasionally there are delays. Such is life, when you are paying someone to bring you food from another location.
There was one unfortunate time when there was chicken in her malai kofta, and if we were militant vegetarians I'm sure I would be threatening lives and screaming obscenities…but we're not. So I think we'll just let that one go.
______________
*There are also several "In-House Dining Specials" which confuses me, as Seamless is for people who are not dining in-house.
**12/19/11 Update**
Ugh, should've remembered the delivery time on this place because it was EVEN slower the second time around (didn't realize that was possible!). I'd forgotten that I'd ordered from here before, and when I realized I had after I placed the order, I steadied myself for a long wait time…
…
…and waiting…
…AND a full hour and 20 minutes later, my food finally arrived. Unlike last time, the food was not as delicious as I remembered. My kebab appetizer was the star of the show, and I would put that somewhere in between lukewarm and hot. The chicken in my entree was pretty good, but the sauce was incredibly watered down and greasy. The naan? Well, it's naan, so it's not too difficult to get right but combined with the lukewarm(ish) to hot quality of everything else and it was forgettable. I actually can't wait to have the leftovers tomorrow because the sauce will have a chance to solidify and more closely resemble what it should be (that and I can actually heat it up to the temperature it's supposed to be at).
Yeah, never again. Unless you're actually going to pick it up or dining in, don't bother.
The food is almost as good as Pearl (but at a much lower cost) and better than Bombay and Amin. I can't speak for service or wait times (I note that almost all the 1 star reviews are people who are pissed off about the wait time… only 2 were about the food) because we've only ever ordered delivery.
Appetizer – Vegetarian
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Samosa: A-
The filling is a bit boring (the potatoes and peas are mashed to a pulp, so it has no form; just flavor) but the flavor is very good and the shell is very nicely fried.
Pakora: A-
For some reason pakoras on the east coast tend to be mealy and oily, so I'm always really happy to find good pakoras. You only get 4 pakoras (that works out to be $1.25 per pakora). Not mealy, not overly greasy. You definitely taste the gram flour. They are the dark red fully coated pakoras (my favorite kind), not the tumeric-yellow variety.
Soups
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Chicken: B+
I've always liked Indian chicken soup. This is a nice one. Not spectacular, but nice flavor and well done. The chicken is white meat only. I wish the soup itself was a bit more complex.
Mulligatawny: B+
I had to laugh when I saw this soup. No lentils. LOL! But I'm giving this soup a B+ anyhow. The flavor is very enjoyable and the soup is pretty spicy. I enjoyed it immensely, so B+. Damned be the fact there aren't visible lentils (still makes me laugh).
Lamb
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Lamb Rogan Josh: B+
The meat was very good. Tender and well marbled. The rogan josh sauce was not as floral and slightly more spicy than your typical Rogan Josh (which I personally enjoyed.)
Tandoori Main Course
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Tandoori Chicken: A+
A unique tandoori chicken. They marinated the hell out of this chicken. Usually tandoori chicken has a red outside and pure white inner meat. This is the first tandoori chicken I've ever had where the inside is just as dark as the skin. They must have marinated this fowl for *days*!
Dessert
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Gulab Jamun: A
The cheese ball actually tastes like an old fashioned doughnut and Sapid is generous with the honey syrup. Nice!
Paiesh: B
A nice rice pudding. I've had creamier, but this is definitely good.