Zafferano Ristorante — Restaurant in Fitchburg

We were very excited to try some good Indian Italian fusion. Unfortunately, we were left wanting on all fronts. We tried the paneer caprese, mango lasssi, butter chicken shakshouka, masala chicken Parmesan, and the lamb kheema pizza as well as a round of lassi and naans for the table. Service was basically non existent until it came time to pay, and overall food quality was subpar at best.

Starting out, the menu looked impressive without being overwhelming we were confused to learn that the butter chicken pizza which they prominently display and advertise did not in fact contain any chicken, nor could any be added. Similarly, none of the other menu items seem to support modification to add a protein upon request (with the understanding that it would be an additional charge)—we were quickly shut down with a simple no on each question.

Regardless, the paneer caprese was about as close to a caprese salad as calling a McDouble your daily serving of vegetables. While technically some of the elements were there (there was basil placed on the plate), none of the flavors evoked a sense of caprese. The red sauce on the paneer was not strongly tomato flavored, and it severely lacked salt. The sauce served alongside was good, but once again just not caprese inspired or even adjacent. The two skewers we received for 18 dollars further added insult to injury—the total of 10 pieces meant that we were paying $1.80 for a very mediocre bite of paneer with some misc sauces. There was also an inexplicable piece of bell pepper sandwiched in between as well. Finally, the temperature difference was unpleasant—some bites were fridge cold while others were decently warm.

The lassi came out next. It was fine, but lacked the tang of a good homemade yogurt, and felt underwhelming compared to other mango lassis in Madison. No taste or semblance of saffron as advertised—the lassis elsewhere is a deeper color without any additions. The naan was a similar story—an ok naan, but the Trader Joe’s frozen naan would honestly pass as better. The so called garlic naan was simply a piece of naan with raw minced garlic on top, meaning that the raw garlic flavor overpowered anything else in the bread. The pacing of the dishes was completely off—we were stuck with our naan for a good 10 minutes before any entree arrived, and that was 15 minutes after finishing our appetizer.

For entrees, my friend described the best thing on her masala Parmesan as being the Parmesan cheese on top. The pizza looked pallid and underbaked, and it’s best described as a lamb sausage pizza—not a good one at that. The spice blend was not reminiscent of any Indian cooking, but more a traditional Italian sausage. Finally, the shakshouka came out in a small cast iron dish. Nice presentation, but the poor technique was further exposed. The eggs stuck to the bottom, and were fully cooked through around half way up while being borderline raw on top (think extremely runny yolk and white). Not a pleasant textural experience.

We would have raised that and the fact that we never received the toast that theoretically accompanied it to our server, but she was nowhere to be found until it was time to pay. We saw her assisting other tables, yet we could not seem to flag her down. When we were about done and mentioned the toast, she asked if we wanted to add 1 or 2 pieces, implying we wanted to order additional toast instead of simply receiving what comes with the entree. Upon its arrival, we were underwhelmed to see a single slice of Italian bread cut in half and barely toasted. That pretty perfectly summed up our experience.

Given the large neon sign in the dining room that states “butter chicken on a pizza would slap”, I can say I agree in theory, but most definitely not in practice. I hardly ever leave an establishment this underwhelmed and unimpressed, but I truly wish I had just stayed home. We will not be returning and personally, there is far better Indian and Italian food in Madison without having to try and eat half under cooked/half over cooked eggs and under...

I remember the days of my youth…the days when my mother would tell me that she would be making my favorite meal that evening. Throughout the rest of my day, I would fantasize about sharing that meal with my family in the evening. I had a similar experience this week, looking forward to coming here and trying their food. Unfortunately, that dream was shattered rather quickly by the tough and yet uncooked eggplant parmesan, and the vacuum puffed samosa calzones. I never again want to bite into just dough, while awaiting the promise of potatoey goodness. I will preface this review by saying that italian food is neither spicy nor heavily spiced, so I understand that the restaurant has to some success been able to cater to their customer base by marrying Indo-Italian cuisine in a mild at best spice level.

As stated previously, the eggplant dish was both fried but uncooked, making it difficult to chew, with the saving grace of the masala sauce that accompanied it. I likely will never order the mini samosa calzones, unless they show me a sample cross section of a heftily filled pastry. The paneer ravioli piccata was decent in flavor, but the pasta itself was much too thick, and not even al dente, just raw.

When it came to appetizers, I’ve already spoken about the shakespearean tragedy that was the samosa calzones. But the community was advertised paneer caparese skewers and what we were served was just grilled cheese on a stick. Which, don’t get me wrong. We live in Wisconsin; if you don’t eat cheese then you are in the wrong place. But there was nothing resembling caprese about the dish, and a missed opportunity was wasted here on serving charred tomatoes on the skewer with the paneer, and accompanied with that delicious chutney that they served on most of their appetizers. The pav bhaji was essentially some dip served with hot dog buns, which rendered the question, which was another missed opportunity with serving the dip with some spiced breadsticks to better marry the two cuisines.

We saw a glimmer of light with their pizzas. The saag paneer wasn’t outstanding, but I would eat it again, I think the sauce itself is missing acidity, maybe it would benefit from accompanying with additional lemon zest on top, or a gremolata. I absolutely loved the malai kofta pizza though. The curry sauce was perfectly balanced with just a hint of sweetness, and quite substantial chunks of cottage cheese bites on top. This was for me the star of the night.

Othello said it best…”out, out brief candle” because we decided to order dessert. We got the chai panna cotta that was maybe 60% set, which maybe would have been passable if we had ordered melted ice cream. Based on the temperature of the dessert I am pretty sure this was an oversight on the gelatin content, and is an easy fix because the actual flavor was subtle, and pleasant. And the tiramisu, while the flavor was that of its namesake, was completely frozen, and not particularly pleasant to chew through icy crystals.

I would like to end this on a hopeful note though. The restaurant just opened and is getting its bearings. I will be back to try some additional menu items, and hope they make improvements on the quality of the food served. It is a great concept and it’s something I have been experimenting and developing recipes for a while now. Maybe I will amend this review in the future. Until then, farewell...

I was very excited about our dinner on Valentine's evening here and had made the reservation almost a week in advance. We ordered two tamarind amaretto sours, a chicken 555 for appetizer, a butter chicken pizza and a spaghetti with lamb meatballs. Here's my review of individual items- Drinks - 100/10. Absolutely amazing. Period. Appetizer -9/10. The chicken 555 was alright. Nothing out of the world, you can get the exact same thing (maybe even with the option to customise spice level) at other Indian restaurants like Thalaivas or Amber. Chicken was cooked right, juicy and not dry. Butter chicken pizza - As much as I'd have liked to give this a 10/10, I can "maybe" give this a 6/10. Sauce definitely came out of a jar and was not made from scratch. Can use some butter/cream on top to make it better/taste more like pizza and butter chicken. It came topped with wilted cilantro. Wilted -not fresh! The chicken was kinda dry and barely had any smoky flavour. Is it worth the $19? Absolutely not. Would I buy it again? Yes- if it was under $10!

Spaghetti with lamb meatballs - This was a 2/10. This dish is priced at $21. It was served as a MOUNTAIN of store bought (and not freshly made) spaghetti. And what tasted like uncooked spaghetti sauce from a jar, super watery and looked questionable . Not freshly made. It was WATERY (you can literally see it in the picture). And 4 meatballs the size of a dime each. The meatballs themselves were delicious but nothing else tasted or looked even palatable.

Did we send the food back? - We had asked for recommendations from the server before ordering and she was quite confused and didn't seem to have any recommendations. When we didn't like the main course, we called our server (I don't remember her name, but she was wearing two long pigtails and was quite hard to track down), she said this in the exact words "yes, the spaghetti has been coming out like this all evening and we can't do anything about it. You're not the only one to complain and all the servers think the same". We were not offered any further explanation or compensation or anything else.

Summary- go here for the drinks and apps....