Saffron Indian Kitchen — Restaurant in Hoover

This place's lunch buffet was recommended to us, so we tried it out for the first time today. I guess it depends on what you look for in an Indian buffet.....for me, this wasn't it, but I can see why it may be for some. Let me break it down for you.

If you are like me and what makes an Indian buffet is super fresh nann and yummy sauces to dip the nann in, then, well, go to Taj. I don't need a lot of variety or a lot of different proteins, I just need a few quality, fresh, yummy hot dishes and always hot and fresh nanns. Taj fits the bill. Saffron....not so much.

You know they say first impression is the lasting impression? Well, it's true. We walked into the restaurant at 11:49am on a Friday. Hit the buffet immediately and the first thing we saw was a tray meant for nann. There were 6 pieces of nann in it. They looked flat, old, and cold. So I skipped over it temporarily, hoping it would be refilled. Got a little bit of about 9 different dishes to try and then circle back to the same sad 6 pieces of nann. So I got a couple as....well, a girl has got to have some nann. Maybe they will taste better than they look.

So I sat down with my variety plate to try. Most items were cool to cold. Nann tasted as bad as it looked. I ended up with about 3 dishes out of the 9 that I thought were decent. Then fresh nann finally came out, so that was pretty good to go with the 3 decent dishes. Moving on to dessert. They have this mango ice cream that looked good, so I got some to try. It was like yogurt texture and cool but not icy. Later I saw a new pan and it was actually frozen, that's when I realized what I got wasn't how it was supposed to be, it was just that it has been there so long that it all melted. Lack of quality control was evident based on the cool/cold dishes and melted ice cream. I was not impressed overall and neither was my SO.

So, under what situations would I go back to Saffron? Well, personally, under no situations. I don't want to have to keep an eye out for nanns, hoping some fresh ones will come out while I am having my meal. I also like all of my hot food to actually be hot and I found Taj to do a much better job in this area. However, if you don't care about fresh nann and you don't mind your food being on the cool/cold side, Saffron definitely does have more variety and is on par in terms of quality compared to most buffets.

The restaurant itself is open and bright during the day. The employees are very nice and quick to clear dirty plates off of tables. No issues...

As someone of indian origin, I went there with huge expectations knowing their highly priced lunch buffet which includes goat curry. However, the ac wasn’t working in a summer noon. When I went there I immediately noticed some key items were out and wasn’t being refilled for some time which is very unnatural. My friend who went there few times before told me it’s their old tactics for people to keep eating all the rubbish foods while they deliberately wait on refilling the good items. I took it upon me to let them know twice that some items were actually out for some time though it is their responsibility to notice them. As I am a food critic myself and I see things in a eatery like this with keen eyes, I could not help noticing that they refilled the goat curry so slowly that people were literally talking about it and the servers refilled the goat curry only a few pieces at a time (good for around 3 people) while the room had 20 people, and they wait again, saying it is being cooked. I was surprised, it is not likely for a buffet staff to cook so many batches of goat curry with 15/2 mins gaps (would be highly inefficient), then I understood that they had enough cooked, they only bringing out little by little just to save some money on the goat (customers gets frustrated and eats other cheap items). The staff was completely unfriendly.

I think restaurants can adopt cheap tactics, but in such cases they should not charge more than the other indian buffets in the city. If you would charge a premium for something, you better provide service for that, not play hide n seek with customers and their psychology.

I would not recommend anybody to go there and taste their food, even though I liked two items from their buffet menu. The only reason I recommend this is- cheap tactics should be punished by food lovers, let them learn their lesson, and maybe after two more years they...

Oh da lolly, y’all. The Ham has a few Indian restaurants that are tried and true (looking at you Taj and Bayleaf) but please come try this place it is a hidden gem. First: the staff. Every waiter trips over themselves to serve you. They are quick, kind, and you get served like you’re paying $$$$ for a dinner. It’s phenomenal. Second: the food. I have eaten at Indian restaurants across the world. Saffron is legit. Quality ingredients, generous portion sizes. The only thing I miss from the menu are dosa but I bet if you asked they would make it. I order vindaloo every time and say I need it spicy. It’s spot on. I actually have leftovers in the fridge from tonight and am about to go eat it bc it’s that good and I do not get excited about food. Third: it’s never busy during dinner so you get a nice, peaceful meal. Like I said, I have eaten at Indian restaurants in other countries. The food has always been delicious. The best comparison I can give is Indian cuisine to me is like Mexican cuisine for others. I will never say no. Saffron exceeds the taste and experience of what I have had elsewhere. Gosh just go. You won’t regret it. PS. If you can get Ernesto as a waiter expect a great experience. He never lets your glass get empty and is so charming....