Saffron Haveli — Restaurant in North Island

. (04/2018) This undoubtedly is one of the best Indian restaurants in Wellington. This restaurant is conveniently located over Kent Terrace and can be easily spotted on the roadside from a moving vehicle in normal traffic. Easily accessible. Well managed, organised and nicely maintained. Spacious and comfortable seating. Beautiful ambience with awesome interior and cosy atmosphere. Well timed and cordial service. Cheerful and helpful staff. Good variety of authentic Indian food. Plentiful options for vegans and vegetarians are available over the menu. If you are particularly looking for Punjabi food, you cannot find a better place in the city. They serve delicious saag and makki ki roti, and for a change, saag isn't prepared from spinach. Fresh preparations. Yum food and good presentation. Table service. Offers takeaways. Although prices are little high as compared to other similar restaurants but they are worth what the restaurant has to offer including some unique preparations like Kulche Chhole, Aloo Bengan and Rose Lassi. Reservation can be made in advance and is recommended for big groups. PayWave facility is available at this location. Good for groups, celebrations, family, kids and catch-ups. Normally busy during evening hours, weekends and holidays. Good place for quick bite. Outdoor seating is not available. Could not notice wheelchair accessible seating or high chair in plain view at this location. There is no dedicated parking area available for this restaurant although ample street parking can be found around the entrance. Entrance is wheelchair accessible. Enjoyed the experience and we already are waiting for our next visit to check-out the menu items we couldn't...

Ok first things first, I admit it's a terrible photo 😂 We came here on a whim as we were looking for a place for dinner and they were completely empty on a Saturday evening at 6pm. It's a nice big space if you used to come to strawberry fare you would remember. They have decorated the place nicely, and when I used to work this side of town I would go there for lunch frequently. I remembered we would go as a group and everyone loved the food and we would visit almost weekly! However I do recall almost everytime when we arrived, we would be greeted by no one at the counter, then about 2-3 minutes later a guy would come running out from the kitchen to greet us and then we would sit anywhere, then he would run away again. Sometime later we would get the menu with some water and then he would disappear again, maybe the phone will ring and he would come running to pick up the phone, maybe an Uber eat driver comes to pick up the orders and he would be at the counter to give him the orders - basically it was a very big space for a one man show, I wouldn't be surprised if he was the only one in the kitchen cooking as well 😂😂 Anyway, I ordered my all time favourite chicken rahra, it was always between this or the chicken Balti, which I also loved. (I remember to not liking their tikka masala as much as many other places though.) The others at the table ordered butter chicken and saag, but they all tried a little bit of mine and everyone raved about how good the rahra was! If I remembered clearly their lunch deal is less than $16 so it's definitely somewhere to go for lunch, if you are nearby give them a try, it had been my favourite for a few years...

Highly recommend. They've spruced the old funeral parlour up with a lick of paint, new carpet and tables, changed the seat padding, put up art and Indian ornaments, changed the entrance, and made it very cosy. It's a colourful and fresh space filled with the fragrant smells of Indian food. My party of three loved our meals. We went straight for mains and the Shahi Paneer (paneer cubes in a thick creamy slightly sweetened sauce) and garlic naan. This was gooood! The right amount of creaminess, and the paneer was moist inside. Another had a Chicken Bhuna that was meant to be dry, but the sauce was too good to turn away. Again a beautiful unsweetened sauce. Tomato based, not too tangy. Lots of chicken, and the right amount of spice. Very tasty. I had the Lamb Biryani, which came with a thick raita (pronounced ray-tha, not right-ah) and in a mini oven dish. My doggy bag contains another two meals! Some lamb bits were huge, and had to be cut. It could've had more salt to bring the flavours out, but the spiced rice was good, and together it was delicious. I'm not a raita fan, but this was good too. Thick and the right amount of cucumber, salt and other ingredients. Creamy and cooling with a hot dish.

Our English waiter was knowledgeable about the food, and helped us make better food choices. Very attentive too. Haveli has many talented staff and you can see they want customers to have a good experience. It was nice to watch. Will definitely return for the good food, atmosphere and service. Well done...