Zaffran-Exotic Indian cuisine

We have often eaten here before management changes and renovations. We enjoyed it then. This was our first experience since the renovation. The restaurant interior is nicely equipped. The waiting staff is friendly and helpful. There is an extensive all-you-can-eat buffet that has a wide range of dishes. Or you can order a la carte from the menu as with most Indian restaurants. The menu and the buffet are good. The waiter said he felt that the food was much better, even though we enjoyed it before. We helped the buffet. At the head of the buffet there were about twenty plates. The first had old food on it. So I picked the second plate down. The same. Right with the third plate. And out. To the bottom. Each plate was greasy and finger-printed and about half of the plates had encrusted food on them. I thought it had to be a aberration that slipped through the washing cycle, I carried the entire plate stack back to the staff in the back. The woman was flabbergasted and apologetic. She promised to return with clean plates. After a few minutes, she brought a pile of 5 records and said she had inspected personally and everyone was clean... so she believed. In fact, there were no coarse foods crumbling on the plates, but each plate was very greasy and covered with fingerprints. It was more than just a washing cycle error. Of course, the support staff was unable to distinguish a coarsely greasy plate from a flawless one. We're not talking about an isolated thumb print. At least half of the plate surface was beaten with fat and fingerprints. We washed our own plates with eyeglass cleaner spray and helped us hesitate at the buffet. The selection was very good. But I didn't think the food was extraordinary. It was not bad, safe, and probably as good as many Indian restaurants. Maybe it was a bit more for things, the plates hadn't turned us off. We might try again, but with so many other choices of Indian restaurants it could take time.

It always surprises me how much 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 strange sense of humour and practiced about something while she stopped us. She brought us next to the market that was a table with souvenirs from India. The waitress took a long time to take our order was not able to answer simple questions, not understood advertising specials, and brought us another dish than ordered. The house wine was almost unimaginable. The interior is dark and split, so there is no atmosphere to speak. But the food was very good.

I went to this restaurant, which is now CLOSED for renovations! The name of this facility is changed again, as this will be the third name in recent years!

I went to this restaurant with my adult daughter, who is new to Indian cuisine. The owner greeted us and took us through the menu. We decided on butter chicken, lamb korma, rice, and garlic naan, all of which were excellent! They had $5 house wine by the glass on Friday night, which was decent. The service was great, except for when our server went on break and forgot to bring our bill, causing us to wait over 15 minutes to pay. The restaurant is located on the corner of Wharf and Yates, with a lively atmosphere and a diverse group of diners. Overall, a great experience with delicious food.

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.