Saffron Indian Restaurant

Suaran told SF about Saffron some time back and me being a foodie, SF was nice enough to relay the "restaurant that serves good Punjabi food" information to me.
Finally, one fine evening, Suaran, SF, Amy, Rick, Esther and me(more like I tagged along) met for dinner at Saffron. As there's 6 of us, this means I can try many types of dishes.. hurray!
Saffron is hidden at a quiet nook of Sri Hartamas, ie, not the usual cafe/pubbing/ mamak Sri Hartamas area. It was full house when we reached and as we did not make any reservations, we waited quite a while before we had our dinner :(.

Suaran placed the orders for us, which I was glad as I know nuts about punjabi food.

Finally, the food came. The carbs for the nite was bhatura (plain and garlic) and saffron rice. I never had bhatura before and I enjoyed it. Bhatura is a sort of indian bread which is deep fried. It tasted rather sweet, but Saffron's version was surprisingly, not oily. I thought the garlic bhatura tasted better though...

As for the saffron rice, it was not as flavourful as I thought it to be. The tinge of herbs/ saffron was rather light, I could not taste much of it..

The achari chicken was something different from the usual fare that I take. It's slightly tangy, spicy and sourish, but delicious. One bite will give you a burst of flavours with that extra 'uumpphh'.. ahhahaha

SF likes the baingen, aka eggplant. I thought it was pretty yum too (as I like eggplants too), tender and slightly mush on the outside, but still firm on the inside.My apologies for not knowing much about indian spices, I think this was cooked with masala...The funny dish for me was the pumpkin masala. I think I was dreaming, but I believe Suaran said he ordered pumpkin before we ate. So I was tucking in nicely into this dish, thinking why the potato masala was so juicy and different from usual. Finally, SF commented that the pumpkin was good and that was when I knew that it was not potatoes...sigh

The Bhoona Gosht, aka, mutton, was another tasty dish. Cooked till the gravy is thick, this scrumptious mutton goes well with both the bhatura and saffron rice. We also had cucumber raita (yoghurt) which was served in a dainty bowl. Don't be deceived though, the raita was thick and creamy and goes well with the dishes...

For me though, the winner of the night is the punjabi saag. This is the punjabi version of palak paneer, without the cheese and the veg is not green. I really dont know whats in there, finely chopped onions and garlic, spinach and loads of spices, but man, I like this dish! ;p

My gripe? The mango lassi. Diluted and lack in mango taste. Most unfortunately, I was facing the bar/beverage counter and I saw how they made the mango lassi. Its obvious that fresh mangoes were not one of their ingredients :(. As I am not a big fan of indian desserts, the gulab jamun, almond kulfi and gajar ka halwa was ok only. Too sugary for me...

What Julianne thinks?

Pleasant, natural and scrumptious

Saffron is located at 5, Jalan Sri Hartamas 7. Tel: 03-6201 1375. Reasonably priced.

If you are coming from Securities Commission, at cross junction to Sri Hartamas, turn right. Reach T-junction, turn right. Drive straight, take first left turning. You will see one row of shops, Saffron is near the end of it.