Spice India

What happened? Maybe it was a seriously off night, like an emergency or something? We have been here a few times and while the service has been slow at times, the food has usually been pretty good.
Four of us arrived on a Saturday night around 6:00. Not terribly busy but several tables were filled.
It seemed like only two people were working the floor — one a younger teen? with apparently no waitstaff experience, one hostess/​owner? we had to ask multiple times for water, multiple tables around us left after waiting over 20 minutes without any service whatsoever other than being seated. Other tables left after an hour with still no food…
The food was ok, not as good as we’d had in the past. We waited an hour and a half to get our food and that’s when we were told they didn’t have what my husband ordered. He had to get his to go, so my son and I shared our portions with him so he would have something to eat.
The appetizer was overly deep-​fried, like it was forgotten in the fryer. There was not enough rice for a table of four but it seemed fruitless to ask for more when other tables were still waiting to even have their orders taken. As food trickled out, and people ate and left, the tables around us were not cleared of the dinner remains.
One pair of customers was seated at what initially had been a table for 8 that was never cleared of the dirty dishes! It was the best option, as all the smaller tables were also not cleared of dishes. The waiter pulled the tables apart, cleared their table, but never finished clearing the other half! They left after 30 minutes, order never taken, tables never cleared.
Obviously they were grievously understaffed, yet they continued to seat people coming in. Why? Just explain that you’re short-​staffed and the wait may be very long — let people decide before they form a very unpleasant opinion. It would also allow you to give more attention, and better service, to those who are ‘sticking it out’!
Not very likely that we’ll be back.

This place has gone seriously downhill since the last time I was here, at which time it was only ok.
One would do better going to the local Indian grocery store for a few frozen dishes.
I hope it gets better. I’ll try in a year again.

Food is always consistently good served by wonderful people. There’s enough of vegetarian entrees listed that I am not bored yet. Go!

Great food, excellent service, a clean building, and a usual buffet. We hope that you have a GREAT time here.

Service was a bit slow, but so worth the wait. We did however manage to score some free dessert. Very reasonably priced and food was amazing. They have a lunch buffet I’d like to try if I can get there in the afternoon.

I’ve been back many times but it has gone downhill over the years. The food is oilier, more bones than meat, and flavors aren’t as good anymore… Then I read this article (
) and it all makes sense; it’s been sold and it’s not the same owner anymore. Granted it was sold in 2011 and my first visit was in 2012, and I loved it then, but I can’t seem to stomach it now.

Went for lunch buffet at allentown location.
The food was too bland. The worst indian food i have had in US. Wouldn’t recommend going there. Only the rice pudding was good.

Good food, very nice people. I have never tried Indian food, and I was not disappointed. I went and tried the buffet, which was pretty good. I will be going back to try a meal.

This has become one of our favorite restaurants. The food is excellent, the buffet is continually changing, and the staff is superb. They are not only accommodating, but go above and beyond for you. We wholeheartedly recommend this establishment.

Just did takeout because we were nearby and were hungry. We haven’t had Indian food in a while and we have not been very happy with the Lehigh Valley’s selection of Indian restaurants.
The service was very good the food was ready on time. The food itself was adequate with the mixed appetizer selection being quite good but main courses were only fair. The peas in the mattar panir seemed like they were frozen and the naan seemed tough. The taste of the naan and the sauce was very good. The chicken tikka was good and tasted fresh. Would do takeout again but wouldn’t eat in not quite good enough for that.

We have visited this Whitehall location several times over the years. At some point, it was the best Indian restaurant that I knew, that slowly changed to becoming the worst.
Most of the selections don’t taste as good as previously. Wifey will never step in this premise, she says. Her Lamb seekh kebab was nowhere near what she anticipated. We had two preschool age kids with us for dinner. The kids ate plain rice & plain naan since their order was too spicy, contrary to our request. Out of the total of four orders, I am the only one that liked my coconut goat selection hence the reason for the two stars.
As the place started filling with people (we were the only ones for a while), the same waiter had to sit everyone & cater for us all. I was surprised additional held did not show up! All in all, it will be a very very long time before we visit this place again.

Horrible portion sizes for the price. Dont go.
We ordered fish vindaloo, had to search for fish pieces as it was filled with potato.
Vegetable manchurian was 7 $ you get 3 small pieces.
Gulab jamun 2 pieces for 5 $

Spice India has three locations (whitehall, Catasaqua and Easton). I have tried all three locations several times over the last 8 years. I am of Indian origin and recently reviewed nawab indian restaurant in Bethlehem. For those interested in Indian cuisince, can check that review for some comments on Indian food in general. All my reviews are based purely on the taste of food.
Spice India started off as a decent restaurant serving primarily food from North India. Over the years, the food has fluctuated in taste and consistency. On a good day, the meal can be satisfactory, but maybe not value for money.
Vegetarian fare at Spice india often lacks the freshness it derserves. The vegetables feel frozen or canned, which is a big disappointment.
The meat, very inconsistent. In its initial few months, Spice India made a lovely, succulent goat curry, which declined in portion size, quality and taste over the years. Currently it is mostly, bone heavy, small pieces in a bland sauce. The lamb dishes similarly lack succulence and flavor.
The sauces here in general often lack the subtelty of Indian food. Tongue-​blazing hot food is not what Indian food is all about. I have noticed Spice India tries to mask some of its inadequacies in flavor with chilli powder and excessive seasoning. It would do them a world of good to find a balance in seasoning and spices.
I still rank them higher than Nawab’s because their food, despite their flaws has better flavor. However there is room, wait no a «football stadium» left for improvement.

Went for dinner with friends.

I love this spot. There are not many Indian restaurants around. So when I stumbled here I was very happy. I enjoy the spicey saag paneer and spicy goat saag. The price is ok and the food is really really filling. I continue to visit. I would love to go when they host there buffet hrs, but it has conflicted with my schedule. It is def. on my to-​do list :)

This place has been thru so many hands, it’s hard to keep track. But updating my review from a few years back… this place is no longer the same. Flavors and spices are watered down, breads are thinner, and portions less. I’m not inclined to come back.

Let me preface my review by saying I don’t have a lot of experience with Indian food. However, my wife likes the food here a lot and every once in a while, I’ll go with her.
Today, we headed in for the lunch buffet. I thought the food in the buffet was good. I really enjoyed the butter chicken and pakora. Plus, the lunch buffet is reasonably priced.
The only issue was that the lunch buffet wasn’t ready when we arrived. The website says they open at 11 am, but the sign on the door said 11:30. We arrived at 11:35 and they were still setting up. It was around 11:50 when we were able to get food and the after noon before all the labels for the food were put out.

It’s sad when the most flavorful part of an Indian meal is the salted lassi, *after adding more salt*. First sign something was up was there was no smell going into the restaurant. Usually for like a half block around an Indian restaurant you can smell enticing odors. There was already another couple in the restaurant, drinking some wine they had brought, and it seemed like quite a while before they were served even though there was no one else in the restaurant.
It was our first time here (we just moved here from Pittsburgh), and we were pretty hungry and didn’t feel like waiting around, so we chose the buffet. I should say there was nothing really bad, but nothing at all had ANY flavor, except a little in the pakoras. The «tandoori mix» seemed to be chunks of white chicken breast meat, with a tiny bit of marinade, and onions (no lemon). There was no discernible Tandoori oven flavor, and the meat was kind of dry. One of the meat chunk types looked interesting, since it had a bright green marinade, which I think was mint flavor, but it so weak flavored I’m not sure. There was a vegetable mixture that looked and tasted like canned veggies with very little flavor added. I tried a few other unmemorable buffet dishes and nothing had any flavor. One positive, at least the rice wasn’t dried out (but it still didn’t have that basmati rice flavor).
For dessert, they had two signs, one for «rice pudding» which was empty the whole time we were there, and another one, don’t remember what it’s called, but it’s the stuff that resembles brown sugar in color, and often has some raisins and spices in it. Here it was just homogeneous brown stuff with no flavor, not even sweet. Normally one of my favorites, I didn’t even finish it.
My wife got the mango lassi, and said that was the best part of her meal. I asked for a salted lassi, and I think it was just plain yogurt frothed up in the blender, no Indian spices (there’s often a mild flavor added) or even salt added.
The waiter only came out to fill our water glasses, and later to pick up the stack of used plates at the end, and give us the check. The bill for the two buffets and lassis was $ 37, which I felt was really steep for such disappointing food. Neither he nor the other guy, who appeared to be the owner, asked how we liked our food. If someone would have asked us what we thought, I could have given him my criticisms privately rather than attacking them on Unilocal.As it is, I felt really gouged for mediocre food and service, and don’t plan to go there ever again.

Absolutely delicious and worth the bill I had to pay. Groups of 6 or more will add a gratituity tip on it. I ordered the appetizer sampler and it was amazing. The samosa was on point! The butter chicken was delicious. Friend ordered a chicken dish too and it was amazing. Anything «clay-​oven» cooked would take longer but its amazing. Tried the cheese naan and it was HEAVENLY! We also got garlic naan complimentary of the chef. Delicious! Service was great since we had a very friendly teenager who knew the menu well.
If you can take spice, order your food as «Indian spicy» and you will love the heat!!! Will definitely come again, especially for the buffet next time!
Update: I went to the Buffet night and I never looked at Indian food the same way (in a good way!) I will only come here on Buffet nights now!

Spice India boasts that it is the only game in town for Indian food in the Whitehall area, and that’s a real shame. If this is what the people of Whitehall, Pennsylvania think is great authentic Indian food, then I really feel sorry for them as they are missing out.
This is not authentic Indian cooking. It’s not even suitable for a mock Americanized version. The food here is bland/​flavorless, and really just pathetic. There are so many amazing Indian Spices that make up your traditional Indian fare. The dishes we had appeared to have none of those.
We started our meal with a few orders of vegetable samosas. Your typical samosa has bits of potato, chick peas, and a variety of spices. These had a potato wedge which was surrounded by regular old green peas, and no spices. They were bland and really disappointing.
My brother ordered lamb biryani, and asked for it to be spicy. The server asked, «American spicy or Indian spicy?» My brother said, «Indian spicy.» When he got his meal it was no spicier than my mother’s mild chicken biryani. Worst of all, none of the dishes had any spices to add any flavor. Instead they appeared to have been made with some form of tomato sauce — Something I’ve never had in any biryani I’ve ever eaten.
The service was atrocious as well. The guy waiting on us was inattentive, and when we asked for more water, didn’t bother to bring it until we were done eating. He also brought it out in a large carafe as if to say, «I know I’m the server, but pour your own water.»
This was a major disappointment of a meal. While I don’t live in the area, I can say without a doubt that when I come to visit my family who is, none of us will be back to (lacking) Spice India. Whoever owns this place is doing a great disservice to their countries heritage of food, and they should be ashamed of themselves.
I’m saddened to see how many «funny» votes my review has gotten. You folks are exactly the people I’m talking about who have no clue what authentic Indian food is.