Zaffran-Exotic Indian cuisine

We used to eat here quite often before the management change and renovations. We enjoyed it then. This was our first experience since the renovations. The restaurant interior is upgraded nicely. The wait staff is friendly and helpful. There's an extensive all-you-can-eat buffet that has...More

It always surprises me how much of a difference the service makes to a meal in a restaurant. We really enjoyed the food, although one of the dishes was actually different from what we ordered. The young woman who greeted us had a weird sense of humour and prattled on about something while seating us. She put us next to the "Market", which was a table loaded with souvenirs from India. The waitress took a long time getting around to taking our order, was unable to answer simple questions, did not understand advertised specials, and brought us a different dish than was ordered. The house wine was almost undrinkable. The interior is dark and cluttered so there's no atmosphere to speak of.But the food was very good.

I have gone into this restaurant, which is now CLOSED for renovations! The name of this establishment will be changed again, as this will be the third name change in the past several years!

Dined with my adult daughter; she is new to Indian cuisine. Owner greeted us and gave us a tour of the menu. We chose Butter Chicken, Lamb Korma, rice and garlic naan. All excellent! Friday night was $5 house wine/glass: was okay. Service was superb, with exception when server went on break she did not convey our table was close to closing tab, so we waiting over 15 minutes to finalize bill.Great location on corner of Wharf and Yates. Live sitar player and broad cross section of diners. Everyone leaves with a left-over box.

This was a bit of a mixed bag for our first experience at Zaffran. I would have been inclined to rate this as Average except that the food won me over.First the food. I started off with the Dal Soup. It's flavor was very subtle and nuanced. Absolutely delicious! This was followed by Chicken Bhuna curry with Naan. I requested a mild spice as my wife wanted to try a bite. The dish still came with a fair amount of heat but definitely did not overwhelm the rich onion and roasted tomato sauce. While I actually ordered the Chicken Walla Naan, it turned out to be a happy mistake as the plain Naan was a wonderful complement to the tangy richness of the Bhuna. The chunks of chicken were thick and tender.Now for the critique. As mentioned, I ordered one kind of Naan and another was delivered. However the waitress took ownership of this mistake and the chef came to our table to offer his apology and even to rush an order to provide us with the correct Naan. However, we actually preferred the plain Naan.Next, the rice we ordered did not come out to the table with the entrees and we had to remind the waitress to bring it. The food was beautifully presented with this one exception.Third, the men's room. This was a pretty classless affair. Advertising posters on the walls, the floor was sticky, the paper towel dispensers were empty with just a roll of the course, harsh brown paper sitting on the side of the sink, and the hallway carpet runners were skewed off center and bunched up creating a tripping hazard. I would have been more forgiving of this if we had been there in the late evening and the place was crowded but we were their early in the evening and the establishment was virtually empty.The experience did end on a high note though. My wife and I were not really interested in desert but the restaurant insisted we have a little something sweet before we left as we had posted a check-in on a social media website. They brought out an order of freshly made Gulab Jamun for us to split. It was so warm and sweet it we left smiling.Because I read another negative review on the music I feel the need to comment. Yes, it is the more modern Indian music. I felt inclined to get up and do some Bollywood dancing! However, it wasn't very loud and my wife and I conversed easily in quiet tones. But if you are looking for an establishment with more traditional Indian music, this isn't the place. Also, do not expect rush service. They are very friendly but also very relaxed.