Saffron Indian Cuisine — Restaurant in Dr. Phillips

Indian cuisine is the best cuisine on the planet. That's my opinion. Now, I just have to explore all the best Indian places in Orlando and see what they have to offer me. I'm very rarely in this part of town, but I just happened to be around for something, so I was like, omg, let me Finally stop in and see what all the fuss is about.

It's in one of those Sand Lake strip malls that has a bunch of 'fancy' restaurants, and the inside of this place did feel very swanky. Clean, minimal, slightly Bollywood. I felt very at peace and ready in inhale some delicious food.

I started off with the Saffron Mix Platter (Assorted platter with samosa | veg tiki | onion bhajiya | vegetable pakora). I could have eaten pounds of all this stuff. An almost tempura-like vegetable item, Indian onion rings, and a potato ball. Very, very good stuff.

And also, if you have never had a samosa before, (Pyramid shaped pastry stuffed | Potatoes | Green peas | Spices), you're missing out on an ethnic food item that is one of the best in the world, rivaling falafel and churros, in my opinion.

So, on to the couple of entrees I ordered. First, the Chicken Korma (Chicken breast | Cashew paste | Rich creamy sauce). Tender, white meat chicken is the main protein here. The sauce it's served in is very mild, very creamy, and a little cashewy, which adds to the creaminess. Think almond milk vs cashew milk. It's a little of that comparative creaminess.

This was served with a side bowl of basmati rice. Oh so good.

Thennn, the main event, the Goat Biryani (Goat | Saffron rice | Aromatic spices). My favorite meal of all time. It's basically a saffron-heavy fried rice with bone-in goat that falls off that bone because of how soft it is. Crazy pungent Indian spices and super crispy onion straws on top. You must try biryani. If you're not sure about the goat, get chicken, get shrimp. Whatever it takes.

I realize that this seems like a long ad for Indian food, instead of a review for a restaurant. I know. I'm sorry. I'm just so passionate about all of this. I showed up at Saffron wanting a five star meal, and I got a...

Been a few times with friends, and has consistently delivered upon some great Indian food; reasonably priced, in a convenient location and something for everyone. However, the general service and attitude of staff is abhorrent - so unlikely to return again.

On Friday, we were paying for our meal amongst four friends; requesting two bills, but instead receiving four. We chose to pay two of these via the QR codes on the receipt via Apple Pay ($22.98, $34), whilst the other two were paid with our server ($22.98, $20) - just as we were preparing to leave, we were told that we hadn't paid; despite showing them the receipts, as well as the bank statement showing we had - they continually reiterated that we hadn't, stating a variety of reasons such as a declined payment, pending, etc. None of this was true.

Five minutes later (after one of the staff took my friend's phone) a suited gentleman came to the table - reiterating that we "hadn't paid", and that instead one of the two $22.98 bills had been paid twice (with one showing as open). This is when the card machine was brandished, whilst the gentleman continually repeated the same explanation - but provided no additional details, other than he wanted $22.98 and that he'd "void the other transaction" (of $22.98 - i.e., we'd paid $45.96 against a $22.98 bill).

Ultimately, the staff made a mistake by taking payment for the wrong bill at the table - which is an easy mistake when there's two that's $22.98. However, instead of acknowledging the mistake on their part and re-allocating the payment, or even cancelling the outstanding bill (as it had been paid), they instead chose to overtly demand payment - providing no void receipt, apology, or otherwise. Five days later, the double charge remains on my friend's account - this is being followed up with, with the bank.

Poor service; poor attitude - won't...

First the good. Service. The servers are always polite and welcoming. Now the bad. I don't know why I keep convincing myself to come back to this place as it regresses every single time. This experience was bad. The food was horrendous. I ordered to go and here are the issues by dish Butter chicken - watery and bland Chicken Tikka masala - exactly the same as butter chicken I ordered the ctm medium both were mild. Here's what they did. They thought they could pass off the same sauce for butter chicken and ctm to an unassuming customer. How deceitful, lazy and disgusting for a business to do this. The mutter paneer had oil floating the top, the butter naan was dry as heck and the only half decent dish was a veggie korma. I didn't even call to tell them my issue because they obviously don't take criticism seriously. I've lost count now of how many times they've fallen short and as I said it gets worse and worse. My fault for continuing to go here. If you want great Indian food...go to naan stopp in windermere, Bombay street kitchen or Tamara. I'm sorry to say saffron but this spot is pure garbage now and the deceit is shocking....