Semma has a 48 hour, $50 pp cancellation fee – which in itself is excessive and probably one of the most strict in the city. I got a Resy alert for a table in less than that 48 hour period which I took it quickly. 2 hours later after checking with friends, I had to cancel. Tuesday night cancellation for a Thursday night reservation, about 40 hours pre reservation/dinner. I cancelled via Resy and email two nights before dinner. I was still charged the full $200 cancellation fee.I’m am/was a fan of this restaurant group and have been to two of their restaurants (Dhamaka and Rowdy Rooster) at least a dozen times and brought probably twenty people there over the past years. I will no longer.There is no question the reservation was filled by another diner and the restaurant was neither inconvenienced (automatic res system), nor had an empty table two days later. When I questioned this charge, communication with the restaurant management was non existent, then dismissive, inflexible and a bit severe all things considered. I dine out multiple times a week in the city and am very familiar with the reality and challenges of making a restaurant profitable, and aware that I was 4 hours outside of the 48 hour policy (though cancelled within two hours of booking and two days before dining time). I also know that reasonable cancellation policies, appreciation and respect for all and frequent diners, and great customer service help keep restaurants going after the buzz has subsided.$200 for a 40 hour reservation cancellation is disproportionate and extreme. Their response made it all even worse. Incredibly disappointed with Semma’s management and punitive approach.There are countless, amazing places to eat in NYC and I’ll focus my energy there.
Service: 1
Reeham Newaz
Absolutely stunning food, worthy of the michelin star and then some. Really love the well balanced flavors and spices incorporated into every dish, nothing is over powering or too spicy, it's just perfect. Highly recommend!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Benjamin Harms
Really wanted to be over the moon about Semma, but it was just solid, not great (especially for the pricepoint, and especially for a restaurant that has a Michelin star).4 people: 3 small plates, 3 entrees, 2 bottles of wine, $110 each.Plates overall were hit or miss.Misses - Small plated lamb was meh (nice spice but meat was just okay), would really not recommend the prawns (way overcooked, sauce wasn't super unique), the squash was way undercooked (sauce was nice though), and the fish in a bamboo leaf was just fine (cool presentation, but was not super flavorful).Hits - the large plate lamb was the highlight (sauce was incredible, meat was super tender) and a phenomenal dish. The dosa was also super tasty and well seasoned.Finally, the service. Our waiter was very kind and mostly helpful, but we had an unfortunate occurrence at the end of dinner. Apparently we were running up on the next seating, and instead of getting a warning at any point, the host walked up to us while we still had full wine glasses and said "our next seating is here, we need the table back". When asked if we could quickly finish our wine, he literally (and comically) said "they're here now". You can read my reviews to see that I do not make comments about minor lapses in service (and in this case, a simple 10-15 minute warning would have more than sufficed!); this was a one of a kind poor piece of communication and on that alone, after spending $400, I would not go back to Semma.
we celebrated sons birthday party . The food was good , service was excellent our server Rommy was exceptional.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Forum Shah
Update: SEMMA did reach out finally about 2 weeks ago. We sent them all the required documentation and proof and they said they would not refund the money :(I am sad to have to give SEMMA such a low rating. Especially considering that the food there is excellent.This review is based on the fact that we have tried to contact SEMMA multiple times about how we were overcharged and didn't get our refund and never heard back from them. When we booked our reservation at SEMMA, we made it for 3 people and were charged $50/person. We emailed SEMMA a few days before our reservation and explained the third person wouldn't be able to come but we still wished to come and would ensure our bill was at least $150 to cover the 3rd person. The individual said that was fine. When we got our bill at SEMMA we had spent over $300 and they only took off a prepaid amount of $100. We explained the situation to the staff and they told us that in this situation SEMMA would be refunding us the prepaid charge of the third person. We waited a month for the refund but never got it. We have emailed SEMMA multiple times about this and it's now been 4 months (Feb 2024) and after innumerable attempts, they have completely ignored us. It's upsetting as this is more about the principal than the money.Instagram: @TheShahLALand
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Gunpowder Dosa
Cassidy Smith
Amazing Indian food in a relaxing and chic setting. Great price for a Michelin star restaurant and service is fantastic. My favorites were the dosa and the mung beans. The squash kurma was a bit bland compared to the other dishes. The cocktails were also incredible.
Hard to get a reservation, but very worthwhile! We had the gunpowder dosa, snail entree, lamb entree, lamb main, duck main and all of the desserts between a group of three of us and everything was exceptional. The meat was unbelievably tender and everything was flavourful! The tamarind refresher was delicious. Absolutely loved it and look forward to returning when I’m next in NYC.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Simranjeet Singh
What more can you say about Semma! Food never fails to surprise you. Never thought that Dosa can be this delicious and different. Wonderful twist to the way Indian food is prepared, amazing presentation. Loved it, wish getting reservations was easier ?
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Gunpowder Dosa, Mangalore Huukosu, Attu Kari Sukka
Unfortunately the ghee in the food completely overwhelmed every other flavor. Could not eat much of it. Would not recommend.
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 1
Service: 4
Karl Kyeongan Kwon
Overall, the food was delicious! We enjoyed most of what we ordered, but the portions were a bit on the small side for the price.
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 4
Service: 4
Recommended dishes: Tiger Prawns, Gunpowder Dosa
Sneha Sreekumar
Very expensive. Food is very average.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 3
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Gunpowder Dosa
Abinaya Segar
The wait staff kept bringing the check back to my husband even after I used my card. And they kept saying things “at” me in Hindi .I could say the service was authentic - like the restaurants I won’t go back to in Chennai.
Semma has a 48 hour, $50 pp cancellation fee – which in itself is excessive and probably one of the most strict in the city. I got a Resy alert for a table in less than that 48 hour period which I took it quickly. 2 hours later after checking with friends, I had to cancel. Tuesday night cancellation for a Thursday night reservation, about 40 hours pre reservation/dinner. I cancelled via Resy and email two nights before dinner. I was still charged the full $200 cancellation fee.I’m am/was a fan of this restaurant group and have been to two of their restaurants (Dhamaka and Rowdy Rooster) at least a dozen times and brought probably twenty people there over the past years. I will no longer.There is no question the reservation was filled by another diner and the restaurant was neither inconvenienced (automatic res system), nor had an empty table two days later. When I questioned this charge, communication with the restaurant management was non existent, then dismissive, inflexible and a bit severe all things considered. I dine out multiple times a week in the city and am very familiar with the reality and challenges of making a restaurant profitable, and aware that I was 4 hours outside of the 48 hour policy (though cancelled within two hours of booking and two days before dining time). I also know that reasonable cancellation policies, appreciation and respect for all and frequent diners, and great customer service help keep restaurants going after the buzz has subsided.$200 for a 40 hour reservation cancellation is disproportionate and extreme. Their response made it all even worse. Incredibly disappointed with Semma’s management and punitive approach.There are countless, amazing places to eat in NYC and I’ll focus my energy there.
Service: 1
Absolutely stunning food, worthy of the michelin star and then some. Really love the well balanced flavors and spices incorporated into every dish, nothing is over powering or too spicy, it's just perfect. Highly recommend!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Really wanted to be over the moon about Semma, but it was just solid, not great (especially for the pricepoint, and especially for a restaurant that has a Michelin star).4 people: 3 small plates, 3 entrees, 2 bottles of wine, $110 each.Plates overall were hit or miss.Misses - Small plated lamb was meh (nice spice but meat was just okay), would really not recommend the prawns (way overcooked, sauce wasn't super unique), the squash was way undercooked (sauce was nice though), and the fish in a bamboo leaf was just fine (cool presentation, but was not super flavorful).Hits - the large plate lamb was the highlight (sauce was incredible, meat was super tender) and a phenomenal dish. The dosa was also super tasty and well seasoned.Finally, the service. Our waiter was very kind and mostly helpful, but we had an unfortunate occurrence at the end of dinner. Apparently we were running up on the next seating, and instead of getting a warning at any point, the host walked up to us while we still had full wine glasses and said "our next seating is here, we need the table back". When asked if we could quickly finish our wine, he literally (and comically) said "they're here now". You can read my reviews to see that I do not make comments about minor lapses in service (and in this case, a simple 10-15 minute warning would have more than sufficed!); this was a one of a kind poor piece of communication and on that alone, after spending $400, I would not go back to Semma.
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 3
Service: 3
Gunpowder dosa is a must
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Gunpowder Dosa, Eral Thokku, Paniyaram, Shahi Tukda
Been here 5-6x now. Food never disappoints!!!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 4
we celebrated sons birthday party . The food was good , service was excellent our server Rommy was exceptional.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Update: SEMMA did reach out finally about 2 weeks ago. We sent them all the required documentation and proof and they said they would not refund the money :(I am sad to have to give SEMMA such a low rating. Especially considering that the food there is excellent.This review is based on the fact that we have tried to contact SEMMA multiple times about how we were overcharged and didn't get our refund and never heard back from them. When we booked our reservation at SEMMA, we made it for 3 people and were charged $50/person. We emailed SEMMA a few days before our reservation and explained the third person wouldn't be able to come but we still wished to come and would ensure our bill was at least $150 to cover the 3rd person. The individual said that was fine. When we got our bill at SEMMA we had spent over $300 and they only took off a prepaid amount of $100. We explained the situation to the staff and they told us that in this situation SEMMA would be refunding us the prepaid charge of the third person. We waited a month for the refund but never got it. We have emailed SEMMA multiple times about this and it's now been 4 months (Feb 2024) and after innumerable attempts, they have completely ignored us. It's upsetting as this is more about the principal than the money.Instagram: @TheShahLALand
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Gunpowder Dosa
Amazing Indian food in a relaxing and chic setting. Great price for a Michelin star restaurant and service is fantastic. My favorites were the dosa and the mung beans. The squash kurma was a bit bland compared to the other dishes. The cocktails were also incredible.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Sambar, Gunpowder Dosa, Mangalore Huukosu
Hard to get a reservation, but very worthwhile! We had the gunpowder dosa, snail entree, lamb entree, lamb main, duck main and all of the desserts between a group of three of us and everything was exceptional. The meat was unbelievably tender and everything was flavourful! The tamarind refresher was delicious. Absolutely loved it and look forward to returning when I’m next in NYC.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
What more can you say about Semma! Food never fails to surprise you. Never thought that Dosa can be this delicious and different. Wonderful twist to the way Indian food is prepared, amazing presentation. Loved it, wish getting reservations was easier ?
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Gunpowder Dosa, Mangalore Huukosu, Attu Kari Sukka
Restaurantji Recommends
Unfortunately the ghee in the food completely overwhelmed every other flavor. Could not eat much of it. Would not recommend.
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 1
Service: 4
Overall, the food was delicious! We enjoyed most of what we ordered, but the portions were a bit on the small side for the price.
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 4
Service: 4
Recommended dishes: Tiger Prawns, Gunpowder Dosa
Very expensive. Food is very average.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 3
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Gunpowder Dosa
The wait staff kept bringing the check back to my husband even after I used my card. And they kept saying things “at” me in Hindi .I could say the service was authentic - like the restaurants I won’t go back to in Chennai.
Atmosphere: 3
Food: 4
Service: 2
Good food, a bit pricey