St Louis Magazine / November 2011 / East Meets West: Saffron is Currying Favor in St. Louis County

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East Meets West: Saffron is Currying Favor in St. Louis County

Saffron
2137 Barrett Station
Des Peres
314-965-3822
saffronstl.net
Lunch and dinner daily

Dress: Anything but that green Nehru jacket you refuse to part with
Average Main Course: $15
Reservations: They’re only accepted for five or more, but it never hurts to call ahead.
Chef: Kamal Uddin and Saif Mahmud


Saffron lies across the street from the same White Castle where a younger Joe Pollack and Vanna White once cruised the drive-through in a white limo to assuage her urge for fast food. While that might seem a discordant pairing, both places are good at what they do.

Like most Indian restaurants in the area, Saffron serves a lunch buffet. That’s a good thing; buffets seem to have spread an appreciation of Indian cuisine. They’re inexpensive, offer tastes of many dishes, and are time-efficient for the working person. Perhaps most important, Indian cuisine stands up to a steam table far better than, say, Chinese.

Our initial visit, however, was a sit-down dinner. The menu is large and contains some unusual items like andheri mirchi bhajji, a banana pepper stuffed with sesame seeds and ground coconut, then battered and fried. The result is tart, sweet, and tingly, but still relatively mild, a fine nibble with a cold Kingfisher beer. For those who are always tempted by tandoori dishes, several appetizer options are available. The tandoori chicken is quite good, arriving moist and just a little spicy, a perfect option for the newcomer.

Another good choice is biryani, the saffron rice dish customary at celebrations. Fluffy rice is seasoned and studded with bits of vegetable, raisins, and the occasional whole spice; Saffron’s chicken version sports generous chunks of white meat. Fish Bengali offers tilapia in a sauce with onion, garlic, cumin, and turmeric, full of flavor without overwhelming the mild fish. Lamb Madras, cooked with coconut milk, ginger, and curry leaves (the seasoning that gave curry its English name), sings harmoniously with its flavors, the meat carefully trimmed and nicely lean. Even the rice that comes with the latter two dishes is scented with cinnamon and cardamom, plus has a few peas for garnish. Twelve varieties of Indian bread are available, including a moist, slightly chewy, and tasty onion kulcha.

A buffet-table favorite, shrimp dopiaza,  included shellfish in a reddish sauce with lots of onions, the shrimp flavor coming through nicely. On weekends, Saffron offers goat curry, with a taste much like lamb. Served in a deep brown sauce, the goat is cooked bone-in, so beware. Spoon a little of the sauce on some rice if you’re hesitant about the spicing or the flavor—one can always make a second trip.

Vegetarians have many options, including spinach with paneer (a mild Indian cheese), cauliflower, and potato, as well as a chickpea channa masala; both were tasty and distinctive. The buffet also offers pooris, hollow, crunchy balls meant to be filled with the cool chickpea mixture alongside; idlis, steamed, pancake-like discs of rice; and dosas, the large, crisp-edged crepes rolled and filled with spiced crushed potatoes and peas. And that’s just a beginning.

Among the many desserts, the shahi jamun on the buffet table were clear winners, warm donut hole–like pastries in a light rose syrup. Kheer seemed bland, even for rice pudding. And the rasgulla, an apparent cousin of ras malai, the sweet cheese dumplings, had a similar composition and similar rose syrup, but was considerably firmer to chew.

The buffet dishes are lightly spiced, but our heat preference was asked and properly followed at dinner when we ordered from the menu. Service can be a little disorganized, but the staff is warm and eager to explain.
 

The Bottom Line: A solid choice for Indian cuisine—Saffron had us at a dozen kinds of bread.