Dinner with friends brought us to Saffron on Kingsway near Metrotown. Many years ago I ate there once; the fact that it’s still standing to this day must be a good sign.
Food
After we placed our order, we received some complimentary Papadum with a mint and lime sauce. It’s like the comp bread basket at a western restaurant, but chickpea-based crackers. They were crispy, not salty, and the dipping sauce had prominent minty flavours and some acidity from the lime juice. That whetted our appetite.
Because it was a Saturday, dinner buffet was not an option. A la carte style only. Remembering how much I liked the Lamb Saagwala at Palki, I ordered a Saag Gosht with Lamb and see how it fairs out. It wasn’t as creamy as Palki but it seemed to have richer flavours from the mix of spices. The meat was tender, not gamey though, and some even had a bit of fatty parts so it was even more enjoyable. The meat pieces could be bigger.
According to the menu, each entree comes with basmati rice, but you could actually substitute it with naan bread. That’s exactly what I did. There was one big piece of naan bread in the basket, which I thought was sufficient amount of carbs. But maybe not enough to finish all the sauce and meat I got.
Mr. went for the classic, Butter Chicken. This was one creamy sauce, and the tomato flavour was quite prominent. Chicken pieces were moist and tender. There was quite a bit of meat in the dish, too. Mr. and other guys went for the rice option; because the curries were rich, heavily seasoned, the guys could probably use just a slightly bit more rice.
As for the heat level, you have the option of mild, medium or hot. Well, if you have zero tolerance for heat, you can order “barely mild” hahaha. We opted for medium but it actually wasn’t too spicy. If you can handle spicy food, go for the hot option. It’s supposed to be, according to our server, “East Indian Hot” — our Taiwanese and Northern Chinese friends may not agree, though.
Buffet vs. A La Carte
Obviously we missed out on the buffet option on the weekend. Dinner buffet runs Sundays to Wednesdays at $21.95 (tax included), but we only paid $14.95 (plus tax) per person for the entree we each got, and we even got a bit of leftovers. In terms of the amount of food, a la carte seems to be enough. However, if you are looking for varieties, and that’s something I’m interested in, it’s worth going for the buffet so you can try more things in smaller portion size. Lunch buffet is only $13.95 during the week, or $14.95 on weekends; that’s not a bad option!
Final Thoughts
Saffron delivered great flavours at an affordable price. There’s even a buffet option for most part of the week. Such a convenient location for your Indian food fix in the Burnaby neighbourhood.
Saffron Indian Cuisine
5-4300 Kingsway, Burnaby
604-436-5000
saffroncuisine.ca
VanFoodies.com 
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