RETAKE: When I first arrived in North Carolina from the San Francisco area, Indian food was one of those cuisines I really missed. There weren’t a lot of great options so I was happy to hear about a tasty new Indian spot, Saffron. I made it out to Saffron for a couple of meals but really never had a chance to re-visit in the last five years. Luckily a friend of mine is up for an Indian buffet and she suggests Saffron so it’s time for a re-visit!
Inside, Saffron is a bit different than most local Indian restaurants. High ceilings, concrete floor, the interior is spacious and a bit more business-like but in all honesty it hasn’t changed much since my first visit years ago, good and bad. The dining room is already busy a bit after noon-time, it’s the RTP lunch crowd piling in. We’re seated in the back and put in our drink orders. Saffron’s buffet is in the back room, set off from the dining area.
At the buffet we dove into their steam trays! Vegetarian on the right: corn fritters, veggie fried rice, saag, cabbage with potates, peas and chick-peas. A good assortment for you non meat-eaters. On the left, they have chicken biryani, chicken tikka masala, tandoori chicken and more. Gulab jamun for dessert and some tea for a bit of sweet.
Back at the table, they bring us a basket of naan and it’s time to dig in. My plate is nice and colorful, love the stewed cabbage and potatoes, the tikka masala is solid but the tandoori chicken is probably the stand-out. Soft, charred drums with that delicious spicing, excellent. Paired with the great naan, you are in for a good lunch here at Saffron. Bonus is that given all their customer traffic here, the steam trays are well-stocked. Service for our water glasses was also very good.
Overall lunch at Saffron was a pretty good experience. The lunch buffet had a nice range of meat and vegetarian dishes and it was well-stocked. Service was prompt and polite but a limited experience given the buffet. And the interior, while a bit dated, still works ok if you’re not up for fancy-shmancy. So nice job Saffron! You’ve kept up the good Indian eats that I remember from years back and people still love you for it. If you’re in the area and up from some aromatic Indian food, stop on by…
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