Thandi’s

Nice setting and I appreciate the waitress pointing out that I was ordering more food than one person could reasonably eat. The naan nachos were a fine meal by themselves.

Are you in a mood for «indianish» food that will not overwhelm your palate, all at once, with a cornucopia of spices? Don’t get me wrong — I love all spices hitting at me at the same time but you do miss the individual taste of the main ingredient when things are dipped in a thick curry+crème sauce. Well come to Thandi and you will love all their improvisation or, as some would call it, cuisine innovation. Delightfully westernized, the place was a bit pricey but quite a find.
The stir fry veggies with paneer can be mixed and matched with several accompaniments. We went with rice and the «fusion» dish was extraordinaire’ (however we all felt that the same dish over noodles would go even better). Spice level was mild but the veggies tasted — hmmm — like veggies!
They don’t offer typical Indian flat breads but instead use pita which, in this case, is fairly close to the Indian Naan. Another entrée we ordered was Paneer with Peas — aromatic, fresh, and with a subtle hint of spices only. The only entrée that appeared fairly traditional was Black Lentils in a crème preparation (Daal Makhani). All entrees served in generous proportions with side of rice and pita.
We ordered a take out but wish we had dined at the restaurant. The place is a two-​level delight with a nice bar, Santara, on the first floor. Must be a very popular place as it was humming with business. Parking was not a problem for us as there is an adjacent hourly parking lot buy street parking appeared tight.

Butter chicken… Butter chicken… Butter chicken. My absolute favourite meal on the menu. Gotta love Butter Chicken Friday — ½ price meal during the Friday lunch hour. Great service and perfect atmosphere.

We were pleasantly surprised by this charming local find. The décor is tasteful and the service was excellent.
We ordered the salmon on a Cedar plank and it was well prepared and seasoned nicely. The other meal was cooked nicely as well.

The food I had was excellent. We had the samosas, pad Thai and chicken briyiani. All the food was excellent. I’m a big pad Thai fan, and this take on it hit the spot, aromatic and tasty. The rice in the briyiani was fresh and aromatic. The chicken in both plates was tender white meat. I went for lunch, so it was steal. It might be a bit pricy for dinner, but the food was great. I’d definitely go back.

It was just ok! 6 to a 7 out of 10. Was told the butter chicken was the bomb! It was just a fizzle. Sauce very good but a little on the sweet side. Chicken had been pre cooked and a little dry.
Podiums with no chutney !!!
A tandoori oven would improve things a lot as the flatbread was bad…
I may try something else during the week.
Could be an excellent Indian, if they work on it.

I love to visit here when I am in Saint John. I will admit I have not tried a lot of things on the menu because I am obsessed with their butter chicken.
Servce has always been wonderful.
Also I love the chic urban décor.

Dined here on January 1^st and you would think people would be home taking it easy after the holidays but nah-​ah! we arrived early and by the time we left the place was filling up. Okay enough chatter! the restaurant is a beautiful modern meets the brick wall meets a Indian palace. Tastefully decorated with a open kitchen concept so peer in on the action or catch snippets of the cook“s conversations. Now the food, we had the mixed Indian platter for starters which came with lamb kofta, chicken tandoori skewers, veggie samosa and Fish pakora. It came with a minty yogurt, sweet chili and a strange sweet and sour red sauce for dipping. It was tasty and quite filling for 2 people as a first course. I had the 12oz striploin steak special which came with bacon wrapped scallops, garlic mash and a medley of stir-​fried vegetables. all perfectly cooked and well seasoned. the steak was like BUTTER and very flavorful. My wife had the chana masala which was very tasty, well seasoned and the chick peas well cooked and buttery. It came with a naan style bread and basmati rice. The portions here are good and you will not go away hungry. I would recommend this to anybody looking for a eclectic mix of North american, Indian and Asian style food. The service was good as well

This is my other favorite place in Saint John. If you like Indian food youll really like this place. Veggie curry was fantastic and so was there vindaloo.

The ambiance here is nice — very clean, vaguely upscale and yet welcoming. We sat in the booth area on the main floor which was nice with a view of the street.
The servers brought appetizer hummus & naan which was delicious, though the naan was a bit more pita-​y than I’ve had elsewhere. Still good!
I had the butter chicken which was delicious and some of the best I’ve had. Portion sizes are huge — I couldn’t come near finishing the dish, let alone having a dessert.
The wait staff were attentive and even the manager came over at one point to check in. The food arrived quickly and was pipiing hot. No complaints there!
My review loses one star because the website does sell the place as «Fine Dining» which it most definitely is not. Delicious, classy dining — yes. Definitely not what I consider fine dining.

Dinner selections were nice with lots to choose from… get the butter chicken! Generous portion for take home for next day! Wine and beer selections were good.

I spent a month in Saint John for work and this quickly became one of my favorite restaurants.
The service and food were top notch. The Nan is a little different than i am used to and seems more like pita bread but the curry dishes are outstanding. The lamb dishes were my favorite.
I could eat here just about everyday if I could.

Came through Saint John on the way from Maine back to Halifax, and stopped in for dinner for the first time. The ambiance is lovely and the staff are attentive.
I ordered a margarita. What arrived at the table was something that tasted like Mountain Dew (I’m not kidding). I figured for a place that is rated $$$ on here and charges $ 7.50 for the drink, it would be real lime juice, triple sec and tequila. But no. It was incredibly sweet and had that hideous fake lime aftertaste. When I informed the server that I would not be drinking it she seemed surprised. Really? It was neon-​green soda in a water goblet. In a high-​end restaurant. I think not.
I had the chicken curry. It was good and the portion was generous (though for $ 22 it should be) and came with rice and naan. It was a little spicier than I am used to for Butter Chicken and was a little more tomatoey than I prefer.
This is a nice place and I would consider going back, but I will be trying out some other places in SJ first before I am back to Thandi’s.
And next time I’ll bring my own lime juice.

Excellent Saag curry. Visiting from Washington, D.C. and stumbled onto this place. The food was creative and outstanding.

Lamb curry for lunch was amazing!

I had the opportunity to eat here once while traveling to Saint John and the food was great. Enjoyed a glass of wine with dinner. Good Service as well.

Thandi’s is definitely good Indian in the Saint John area if you go for dinner. The daytime chef is good at cooking the lunch specials (so don’t order off the full menu during the day).
The indian dishes are the best as the other Asian dishes fall flat and are either too overly seasoned or taste nothing like the authentic versions.
The waitstaff is extremely attentive, but beware that the kitchen can be slow.
All that said, Thandi’s is still one of my favorite restaurants in Saint John!

Thandi’s … ahhhhh! Liz & I were there for a date night a while back & it was tremendous.
First off, you’ve got to know that we’d never really eaten at an Indian-​specialty restaurant before so it was a bit of an experiment. The only thing that kept me from giving it a 5-​star was that the waiter that night was on his first week. So when we asked «What’s a good must-​try specialty for first-​timers?» he didn’t know himself. That being said, he quickly hooked up with another staffer & got us each something that we truly truly enjoyed.
Although the tables are quite close together, the atmosphere was pleasantly & surprisingly intimate: quite quiet (even given that we were right beside the kitchen /​galley where there was a fair bit of traffic & banter between staff).
The décor is extremely urban & «uptown». Loved it. Had been in the restaurant numerous times when it was previously Il Fornello’s /​D’amico, and whereas between that restaurant change there was really very little physical change, Thandi’s gave it a very nice makeover.
The two of us ate for around $ 60 (without alcohol) which included coffee & dessert. Not bad really considering the great food and great atmosphere.
Thank you Thandi’s… we’ll be back!

Whenever I’m in Saint John, I always make a point to stop here. The wait staff is always friendly and down-​to-​earth (and a little on the quirky side, in a good way) and the chef is very accommodating. It is definitely one of the better restaurants in the Port City and seems to have staying power not only with the tourists but with the locals as well.
The décor is very urban with exposed brick and lots of glass and has a very sexy atmosphere come nightfall. If you’re looking for a chic place to host an event, I have seen several wedding parties reserve the space for the reception and have never heard a complaint (from either the wedding guests or the wait staff).
They are very vegetarian friendly and able to make a lot of substitutes if that’s the sort of thing you need. Their dishes tend to be fairly spicy and the portions tend to run large, so be aware and don’t eat too much before stopping by. It’s not particularly child or teen friendly so leave the kiddies at home and you’ll enjoy yourself. There are two stories to the restaurant and as such I’ve never seen it totally full (but awfully close on some nights and weekends). You won’t need a reservation generally but if you’re going on a Friday or Saturday night it might be wise to call in advance just in case.
I’m not sure who goes to an Indian restaurant and orders seafood but regardless, no matter what you order, be sure to give this place a second (and a third) chance. I didn’t know what I was ordering the first time I went and as such wasn’t terribly impressed but once I found my dish, I was hooked. They have a wide selection to make just about everyone happy and you owe it to yourself to find the dish that’s right for you. Once you find it, you won’t be disappointed!

Service– excellent
Appetizer — excellent
Great place, beautiful restaurant. All was outsanding until we received our entre’s. We had the seafood platter, was pricy at $ 33.00. The platter was cold, fish overcooked, except for the salmon. The mussells were chewy. It appeared as if all the seafood was cooked together. Not much flavor overall. The marsala was also cold. The bacon wrapped scallops were a little underdown for my wife. We got them back they were half the size and had been deep fried. We were having such good time and were so let down after receiving our entre’s. But we are willing to give it another try later.
Had fun but disappointed.