Swadisht Restaurant

This Resturant has changed ownership recently and the new management apparently does not know how to run a Resturant. I’m no expert but I do work in hospitality industry and do know basic customer service.
I had to wait 10 minutes just to get help to find out how long will it take for 12 people. After waiting ½hr two tables open up but it took them almost another ½ hr just to clean the tables. Sign of poor management.

By far the only indian restaurant i love. Great food and I’m not exaggerating it is really good. Beautiful, bright and clean décor.

It is undoubtedly the best South Indian/​Vegetarian restaurant in NJ. The taste resembles closest of what you would eat in india. Service — Exemplary!!(which is really rare when is come to oak tree road restaurants), Food– Outsanding.
The restaurant is very clean. And did not smell or food– again very rare for this area. It felt great that we didn’t smell the food we ate once we left the place.
Definitely my goto place for south Indian food now on.
There are certain more well. known franchise south Indian restaurant in manhattan and edison which are not even close in terms of food service and cleanliness and costs 3 times.

Amazing place! Just ate here. Very different and quirky options in Dosas and they have all the classics as well! Great service, attentive staff and amazing food. Will return for sure!

Horrible service.
Server asked me what do you want? In the most nastiest way
Dosa trio is a joke. Everything tastes the same
Drinks like iced coffee ‘n falooda were even worse
Only thing that was good was the chutneys (sauce) which I can go anywhere for

Very empty dosas. Ordered the most expensive dosa on the menu — the platter. Got three cone shaped crepes with a quarter of it filled with actual food. Two stars for good food– terrible portion and pricing.

Great south Indian food! My favorite dish is the dosa platter which comes with 3 different dosas!!!

When the wedding bell blues get you down … what do you do?
Well, that was the situation that we found ourselves in. A beautiful wedding ceremony on the Rutgers campus with reservations set for an eclectic New Brunswick bistro with great food.
The unexpected … did I mention we had reservations? … was arriving at the door of our dining location only to find a sign from the local judiciary plastered over the front door EVICTED. Ok, this had to be one of those wedding day jokes … but as all eight of us stared into the restaurant’s windows we came to the realization that indeed evicted means closed for business; unable to cook or serve delicious food to a wedding albeit a small one.
So, standing in the cold we couldn’t have a wedding without a reception meal plus it was cold outside and some of us had skipped breakfast. Now, there was a Dunkin Donuts across the street but somehow pre-​fabricated sandwiches from the deep freeze just didn’t meet wedding day standards.
Suddenly the bride lit up (No, she had not been downing wedding day champagne …) and said she knew a place in Edison that would be perfect. The geographically challenged in the group started imagining a long drive but actually Edison and MetroPark are a stone’s throw from New Brunswick (If you have a strong arm.), which meant tummies could be happy soon. And, then she said «It’s Indian.» Well, the couple whose refrigerator never holds items other than chicken, ground beef, lettuce, and American cheese froze with eyes locked into each others. The bride continued, «Don’t worry, you’ll like it.»
So we form a car caravan … reaching Edison it seemed like we has crossed into India itself because every other store front was Indian something or other. I spotted a really nice looking Southern Indian restaurant at the intersection with Oak and thought that looks nice but noooo we were not headed for the nice looking plaza. Our lead car pulled into a plaza whose last renovations appear to have been made about 50 years ago. The bride exclaimed «this is it» and I’m like ‘right.‘
As we walked through the door way of Swadisht there was a transformation from a dreary grey day and an even drearier plaza into a brightly colored, warm, and welcoming restaurant whose staff members’ smiles reassured us that our unplanned back-​up dining choice would at least not evict us from the good feelings of our day.
When we explained our situation the staff increased their level of service, which was already outstanding. They were patient in explaining food options to our meatloaf cravers who were seeking Kentucky Fried Chicken in an Indian vegetarian bistro.
And, oh the food … so so good. I love good Indian food so I was already in happy heaven breathing in the curry scents but beginning with the bottomless Rasam had the groom and myself smiling and pointing to the bowl every time the last drop of soup was enjoyed to the varied selection of appetizers and then the entrees were absolutely delicious! I chose the Dosa platter, which was advertised as a smaller version of their dosa’s but my plate was engorged with 3 huge Indian crepes (chettinad, achari, and paneer). My fellow diners chose individual dosa’s and uthappa’s. The staff took our photographs, kept our water glasses filled, and made sure everything was just right.
When we were done the staff smiled because they were bringing out a smoking brownie sundae … their treat to the wedding party!
The final wow occurred when I was handed the bill … eight people … a 30% tip (they mandated a 15% gratuity but they were worth double) … my daughter’s wedding reception cost me less than $ 150.00 and every person enjoyed the service, atmosphere, and food.
My only regret is that Swadisht is 85 miles from my house, which just isn’t convenient for a lunch time dosa or a wonderful dinner with great service. But, next time I am in the neighborhood or if I am a participant in another wedding where the reception’s location gets evicted I will definitely be coming back to this delightful South Indian restaurant that happens to be sitting in a dirty looking plaza.
They are very close to the Garden State Parkway (exit 131A) and the NJ Turnpike.

This is a great little gem in Iselin for Dosas. Dosas are technically south Indian dish, which has a spicy vegetable filling within a crêpe. It’s eaten with variety of chutneys and lentil soups. This location has unique variety of Dosas with western fusion. All the food is vegetarian, so it great for many of the Indian customers. We tried almost every type of Dosas, but my favorite was the Mysore dosa.

I have never given negative reviews ever in my life. This place doesn’t know how to cook a dosa. I tried paneer dosa *BAD CHOICE*. Spring dosa was worst. Try these dishes in Bangalore Express. Disappointed

The name is changed from Sankalp to swadisht but FOOD is the same, great varieties of DOSAs and Utthappas. Delicious sambhar and chatni take me to this place pretty often. Besides friendly and fast customer service is there to serve you. A must GO!

It’s the only South Indian restaurant in edison that has like home South Indian. I loveeee this restaurant and the food is not even super expensive

I love this place and not just because my friends dad owns this place and I get dosas for free. I am absolutely obsessed with the springy cheese dosa along with the spinach and cheese dosa. My dads friend is a very wonderful man who is big on customer service. If you have a problem seek our the owner and I have no doubt that they will make it better! They also have a hot brownie dessert that is awesome! If you like dosa give this place a try!

I love their dosa n medu wada specially their chutneys those are awesome it pair so well with food i need to ask for more always n reasonable price.

Great South Indian fast food. Fresh with a modern twist. I bit more $ than nearby places. Casual setting.

It’s a North Indian version of South Indian Food… bland food… there are better options around the area. The 1 star is for the ambience. Servers don’t have a smile on their face except for one. the one with spectacles is very serious. One would atleast expect a smile from the people when you go to a restaurant.

Southern Indian.. .
I had the Dosa Masala and it was pretty good.
While ordering I was checking Unilocal for lunch recommendations. Our waiter happened to see that and was at my beck and call the entire time.
Looks like I found a way to get good service at restaurants. Thank you Unilocal!
My gfs a vegetarian so I have a feeling we’ll be back.

On a recent foray to Central Jersey, I learned a lot. I didn’t realize that Southern Indian cuisine was lighter and more plant-​based than Northern Indian, wonderful news for vegans, as long as you ask a lot of questions to avoid ghee, butter oil. And I didn’t know that North Jersey is loaded with so many good Indian restaurants. The ones I have access to in PA are very heavy on the cream and butter, so I had been avoiding Indian food.
An Indian friend recommended Sankalp (which he pronounced as Sun-​cup), and he taught us how to order dosas properly to get the stuffed ones — the ones I had before were just big crispy things, which were tasty but left me confused as to why I always heard people raving over dosas.
This masala dosa was over a foot long and stuffed with curried potatoes and served with delicious sauces, including a coconut one and a green one, as well as a soup bowl of curry. For the uninitiated, a dosa is a soft flat bread made with rice and lentils and rolled up. There seem to be many different kinds. After finishing one between us, we were full — and still had plenty of food coming (incredible chickpea and okra dishes), so look for leftovers.
Sankalp is in a big shopping center and easy to miss. It’s overly bright in there, but the service is very attentive and friendly. They were very kind and patient with all of our questions. This is the best Indian cooking I can remember having. Nearly all the customers were Indian. There are many things on the menu that we want to try, tons of things I have never heard of. With two entrees, two sodas, a stuffed dosa, rice, and bread, our bill was $ 34. We can’t wait to go back again.

There is another Sankalp that opened on Oak Tree (S. Plainfield) very close to the first one. This one is in the shopping center with Pathmark and Shopper’s World.
I had the 10.95 buffet and it was excellent. All the food was fresh, the recipes were authentic and interesting. The bathroom was extremely clean. The tables were covered in nice quality tablecloths and the place was tastefully decorated. The service was great. I went there with someone who is severely disabled and in a wheelchair. They were so accommodating and didn’t even charge him for the buffet.
Little India is down the street but the parking there is very difficult. I suggest Sankalp because it’s just as good and parking is plentiful.

I’m so glad they’ve opened up a Sankalp in Edison. This branch is located right next to the Chopstix restaurant and the Kwality Ice cream place.
Eating there brings a back a lot of memories. They are a south Indian chain that is concentrated in the Gujarat region of India (a region not particularly known for their south Indian food). Growing up, every trip to Ahmedabad to visit my grandparents had to include a visit to Sankalp.

Typically, whenever an Indian restaurant has opened up a chain here, they’ve somehow managed to royally screw something up (eg: Saravanna Bhavan in Edison). I’m happy to note that the Sankalp branch in Edison doesn’t disappoint. My yardstick for south Indian food is the Sambhar. I LOVE the sambhar here. It has that earthiness that I crave in Sambhar without the excessive tanginess.
Worth trying out is the three barrel dosa (three mini-​dosas). These three mini-​dosas are variants of a mysore dosa (dosa, with a paste coated on the inside). The first one has a malgapudi paste, the second one, a green chutney and the third one, a garlic chutney.
In addition, we had the ubiquitous idli-​vada combo which was also very good. The idlys were very tender and the vada wasn’t overly oily.
It’s brand new, and is very clean (maybe because it’s brand new). Not much in terms of ambiance, but definitely 4 stars for the food, and 1 for the nostalgia.