Saffron Touch Indian Cuisine — Restaurant in Vernon

This was the 89th eatery I visited in Vernon.

This was my first time dining in at Saffron Touch.

Along with Curry Pot, Saffron Touch is one of the original East Indian restaurants here in town.

Saffron Touch has done a better job of adapting to the surrounding environment.

I previously ordered delivery a few years ago. While the staff was super helpful and friendly, and even went above and beyond by delivering it to me 30 minutes after closure because Doordash made a huge error, I was disappointed with spending 40 bucks on a tiny portion.

Because of the tiny portions and having the largest price tag in town, I hadn't eaten from there since that day.

Thankfully I gave them another chance and dined in yesterday.

I ordered a mushroom masala and garlic naan which came to $22.41 after tax and an 18 percent tip. It included free rice with the meal.

I know myself and others pointed out Saffron Touch didn't include free rice or naan like Haveli, Shahi Pakwan, and Namaste do. I am happy to find out they've joined the rest.

Curry Pot are the only holdouts in town.

The mushroom masala tasted really good. It isn't the biggest portion size like you'd find at Haveli, but I never felt like I was short changed.

There was also a free dessert too! Seeds mixed with tiny jelly beans which freshens your breath. No other place in Vernon gives this out at the end of the meal.

The server was very friendly. We chatted a lot as it wasn't super busy. He also repeatedly came by to fill my water.

Overall, I highly recommend this spot.

There are so many excellent East Indian restaurants you need to try. Vernon has come a long way.

Current Vernon East Indian Restaurant Rankings:

1. Haveli (I love the big venue. Most affordable lunch menu set. Biggest portions. Favourite menu options.)
2. Namaste (Indochinese dishes are awesome. Great pakora. Garlic naan included. I love the deep fried cauliflower dish.)
3. Shahi Pakwan (Best naan bread. Mushroom Do Piaza is great.)
4. Saffron Touch (Best customer service. Reliable. Consistent. Best free dessert dish.)
5. Curry Pot (The only one I don't recommend overall. However, my food...

Went last night to pick up a takeaway order of coconut chicken, chicken korma, paneer pakora and chicken pakora.

Before I get to the food here are a few thoughts.

We'd been having Indian food recently from The Curry Pot across the street so I thought I'd change it up a bit.

I got there and the order wasn't ready so the guy rang it through and it came to just over $50 and that was before any tip!

As I waited I took a menu and looked at the prices.

$6.95 for the pakora and $12.95 for each of the curries.

So quick calculation and that was $40 before tax. When I added the 5% tax it should have been $42.

So I said to the guy and he gave me the 'prices subject to change without notice' bit.

Not impressed at all.

I have never been to a restaurant where the price on the menu was so different from what I was charged. The pakora was now $10.95 each. That's an increase of $4 each. I could understand if it had been maybe $1 or something but $4! I felt like asking the guy when the menus where printed and if the menus were so out of date why were they still using them. He wasn't even very apologetic.

Now to the food.

The curries were ok. We ordered a mild because we like flavour but not so hot. The curry pot mild is just right for our taste but this was just bland.

There was a decent amount of sauce and chicken, but I honestly couldn't tell the difference between the korma and the coconut chicken. They looked and tasted the same :(

The pakora wasn't crispy, and wasn't very tasty either.

Sorry but I won't be going here again, back to the...

Service 2* Didnt answer the phone when I called twice. Called me back as I was browsing another restaurants menu, seemed like a good start, but I should have not bothered to answer. On pickup I asked how long our food would be, he offered to check with kitchen for a precise answer - this is handy as I'm holding my 13mo in one arm. While we're waiting for an answer, Uber comes in. He comes out of kitchen, ignores me, deals with Uber guy and starts tidying random things until I ask again. I'm the only person in the place. Insincere attitude. Food 3* curry itself was good, rice was plentiful but marginal to terrible, naan was bland like it had been microwaved, pakoras were doughy and uninspired. Poppadom was worst my wife has had apparently! Pakoras looked like they came from superstore. Price 1* - that's subjective of course, but nearly 60$ (before tip) for the same order that cost us 45$ (and was better)...