Saffron Patch in the Valley — Restaurant in Akron

The online rating seemed high enough to try this place out on our first trip to Akron. However, maybe we should have jept searching for a place to eat on google. When we walked in there was no one there to greet us, the front of the house was empty. Someone finally came out and sat us, while we were waiting for our order to be taken the music cut off. Because it was so quiet we could hear everything going on in the back of the restaurant, including the man who was yelling at the woman juggling the job of hostess and waitress. He was shouting that he didn't want to wait on anyone and that he had been working there for two years and shouldn't have to, and after a few minutes he came to our table to take our order and seemed really sour and short. Unfortunately, the hostess didn't give us the drink menu, so when we asked the man for one and he repeated our question back to us in a frustrated tone, then went to the hostess and shouted that she didn't give us a drink menu. Their bartender didn't come in so my only option for a drink was beer and wine. The menus were laminated, and a few of the pages had dried sauce and oily finger prints on them. I ordered the lamb samosa, sweet naan, and biryani with chicken. The lamb samosas were served over browning chopped lettuce, and were extremely dry, a little bland, and seemed to have been reheated. The biryani didn't have much flavor, not sure if that was because I ordered it with mild spice. The naan was alright, I was caught off guard when the description of the naan on the menu didn't match what I was given which was naan filled with sweet shredded coconut. They do give a substantial amount of food, so we had a pretty hefty take away bag. The music was never turned back on and there was just a lot of awkward whispering from the restaurant customers. They never cleared our table and plates just kept piling up and we just had to put them off to the side. They brought out our entrees without our dinner plates so when they realized we were eating straight from the serving dishes they finally brought us some. By the end of service the waiter seemed to be in a better mood and the people that came after us probably had a better, less awkward service. Hopefully they turned the music back on because hearing a fight, someone violently sneezing in the kitchen, and having to whisper for whole hour while you eat, is not a great...

This is a downgrade from 4 stars (three years ago) to 2 stars (January 2018). New 2-Star Review We last visited Saffron Patch in June 2017 and will not return. Our several visits earlier in 2017 were unsatisfactory. The food is slightly downhill and the buffet menu is always the same. Denise, the wonderful waitress, is long gone. One of the wait staff would not even glance in our direction as she walked by: this behavior was consistent through many visits. Our last visit was a party of six with dinner costing $186: the snide sarcastic waiter was a turnoff; he was indifferent when we stated a dish was causing a nut allergy reaction to one of our party (chef must have slipped - it was not a dish that would have nuts). We will have to travel further for good Indian food, but nearby Saffron Patch is no longer a destination for us. Old 4-Star Review We have frequently dined at Saffron Patch since it opened in the Valley. The food tastes good, service is usually good, and the buffet is a real value. I've had better (much more expensive) Indian food in New York, Chicago, and Amsterdam, and a lot worse around the world and within the US at various prices . Too bad I have not dined in India.

For a few years the buffet suffered from inadequate heating - Sterno was not effective and a replacement system did not do the job. Lukewarm food is not a joy. It is now better managed.

We are mostly buffet customers. The offerings are tasty but the menu does not change as often as we might like. Once in a while we luck into a very tasty substitution. After all these years, I will ask how and when they plan their menu rotations.

Denise on the wait-staff and Mohammed the current owner are very pleasant, too

If you like Indian food and are mostly in Akron, this is a fine place to dine. Bottom line: we keep coming...

Good food, mostly, but the wait staff was inattentive. We waited for almost 10 minutes to be seated without anyone even showing up, despite just 3 tables having guests. We finally had to flag someone down to be seated. After we sat down, things seemed to go better, but then our waitress disappeared entirely for a vast stretch of time and we had to ask someone else to assist us. I asked our waitress and another for some paper napkins, and while both said they would be right back with them, neither ever brought them. We ordered desert, but it was a mixed bag. The pistachio ice cream was not good at all. The mango ice cream was not emulsified -- there were large ice crystals throughout. The brownie with coconut ice cream was good (both the brownie and coconut ice cream), but they were served with whipped cream from a can -- not a good choice for a presumably more up-scale establishment. After we received our check, we waited for more than 10 minutes and our waitress never showed up to collect it and charge our card. We flagged down another waitress who had her hands full and she said she would take care of it shortly, but after 5 more minutes, we flagged down someone who looked like a manager who then took care of it. We almost left without paying, simply because we were tired of sitting there. Other issues: the entryway door had cracked glass in it and a hand-written sign hanging on it, taped to the glass; the carpet was atrocious; the bathrooms looked half-assed; the lighting looked piece-meal and unfocused. It was the most run-down "up-scale" eating establishment I think I have ever been to. The only reason I am giving it 2 stars instead of 1 is because the appetizers and entrées...