Saffron South — Restaurant in Austin

Best Indian food in Austin. From what I understand, Indian food can be subtly different depending upon the region and this restaurant mostly represents Southern India regions.

We have been to the other location of which we are big fans and I can say they are extremely consistent with their food. This visit we came on a Saturday evening and although they were busy, we were able to get a table quickly with no reservations.

I'm sure everything on the menu is great, but our favorites are Chicken Tikka Masala and the Chicken Murg Shahi Korma and the Garlic Naan is amazing! This time we also had the Chicken Biryani.

If you enjoy Chicken Tikka Masala, you need to come here! We order it "medium" spice and it's just the right amount. Even if you don't like things spicy, I recommend getting it medium. I have never had Chicken Murg before Saffron but it's boneless with a creamy cashew and pistachio sauce. Again, recommend ordering it medium spice. It's a chicken dish identical to the Tikka Masala but just a different sauce, but it's an amazing sauce!

It's obvious they make the Naan bread and bake it fresh when you order it. I've had garlic naan before and at other places, you can barely taste the garlic and the breads taste like they have been premade. This the naan bread here tastes fresh out of the oven and made the minute you order and not made ahead of time. The Biryani is also very good.

If you have never had Indian food before, you will be pleasantly surprised if you come here and just start with the Chicken Tikka Masala and naan bread. If you enjoy Indian food, you must come here. We live about 45 minutes away and this is our "go to" for Indian food.

The only thing we don't like is the way they handle the check. The servers are very friendly, but when it's time for the check, they bring it to you with an electronic device and the server just stands there hovering over you. It's incredibly annoying to have someone standing there who won't go away until you have decided on a tip and paid. I couldn't even see how to review the check so I just have to assume I'm not being charged for anything I didn't order. The other Saffron will leave the bill, like EVERY other restaurant, allow you time to look the bill over and take your time. But here, they stand over you and won't leave until you have selected a tip and...

Food was average tasting, nothing spectacular, but was fresh and hot. Samosas had a sauce mixed in- a bit unusual but ok, kabobs flavor good but over cooked, naan excellent, and pani puri was horrible.

The service, specifically our server, was the worst part of the experIence. He was abrupt, rude, rushing us to order, standing over our table at times, and acting like he was doing us a favor. ZERO personality nor greeting, no thank you or have a nice day at the end, and the cherry on top was his high expectations for a tip. I paid and purposely left 10% as we were highly uncomfortable the entire time. The only positive keeping us there were the other staff members who were trying to make up for his behavior.

The most surprising part of the entire experience? We had 3 Caucasian couples sitting right across from us and he was kinder, more gentle, patient, and wasn’t rushing them. He treated them like customers. Blatant disparate treatment to your...

Our usual spot for Indian food has been off the last few times, so we decided to try finding a new one and I think this place is going to be it!

To start we got Gobi Manchurian (it has a pepper symbol next to it but I don’t think we would register that as being “spicy”). For the mains, Lamb Rogan Josh, and Murg Shahi Korma along with naan. SO good. Our server was kind enough to recommend the main dishes.

Both of us ordered the “medium spice” level and thought that was perfect for us. We maybe even could have gone a little bit more, and we are not “spicy food” people. I think the most spice level I still enjoy is maybe a little Cholula on something. Seriously, just order at least medium spice. So much flavor.

Also, for the price you get a lot more naan than we’re used to, so we probably would have been fine with just one order, but they were really tasty and we have plenty for leftovers :)

We will most...