Taste of the Town: Saffron

By Jonathan Chong
Western Herald

Saffron is a simple restaurant located on West Main Street right next to Tiffany’s Wine and Spirit Shoppe. The warm deco and dark brown tables are inviting and somewhat relaxing, something you might want to go back to after a busy day.

Even though I have been here many times for their famous lunch buffets, this was my first time visiting saffron for dinner.

During our visit on a Friday evening, the restaurant was bristling with energy from international students, professors and just about anyone who was in search of a great meal.

We were seated promptly at one of the booths and given menus to look through. The menu had a great variety of Tandoori options, which is an Indian barbeque. A choice of lamb, chicken, vegetables and seafood served with different spices and curries, as well as rice and starter options. The selection can be somewhat exhaustive, however, a few questions to the waiter will certainly help with your selection.

We chose to start of with an order of vegetable samosas, which were crispy fried parties stuffed with spiced, tender potatoes and green peas. The crispy texture on the outside and the tender filling on the inside was a great start to our meal.

We then moved on to half an order of chicken Tandoori, served with sweet onions, crispy bell peppers, and fresh lemon wedges, cucumber, dates-tamarind and mint chutney. The chicken was nicely cooked and moist, unlike certain Indian restaurants that tend to dry out the poor bird.

The Tandoori marinade gave the chicken nice, bold flavors, and went really well with an order of garlic naan, which is a Tandoori bread baked on the sidewalls of a clay oven, slightly crispy with a nice bite.

One of the highlights of the night was the zesty gobhi kaju, which was tender florets of cauliflower gently cooked with cashews, fresh herbs and tropic spices. The cauliflower and spices paired with creamy textures of the sweet and rich curry really went well with the saffron rice that was rich in flavor.

We ended the night with a sweet treat of badami kheer, which is an almond rice pudding and nuts. A really sweet desert, but a great compliment to the savory meal we had just eaten.

Saffron indulged us in great food and good service, however, all with a slightly hefty price to pay. Nonetheless, Saffron is still a great place for bold flavors and a great environment for a nice dinner out. And if the dinner prices are too high, try their great lunch buffets, served throughout the week except on Sundays.

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Posted by heraldstaff on Feb 17 2010. Filed under A & E, Weekend Scene. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry

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