Sree Saffron — Restaurant in Meridian Charter Township

Big talk for a small restaurant. Good intentions, bad food. The mirch from the salan and panner from the butter masala decided to walk out! Having heard of a new Indian restaurant in town, I decided to give it a try. Hoping for a breath of fresh air to welcome another Indian restaurant we went there for dinner on 3/ 4 for dinner around 7pm. The restaurant had opened only on 3/2 and anyone would think the service and food will be good. Well, it was not. When we went in, there wasn’t much crowd, but soon the restaurant was full. Though it appeared that except for us, the rest of them were the obligated folks – friends and family. The buffet had a usual spread as any other Indian restaurant. Being vegetarians, our spread was restricted to – Chutneys and raita – coconut chutney and tomato chutney were okay. Cucumber raita was good, not sour or runny like most other places would have it. Onion pakoda/bajji – soggy, cold and greasy. Fried idly – I didn’t get the point of this dish. Fried pieces of idly with red food coloring and no taste. Panner butter masala – we had to scuba dive into the container to fish out panner pieces. After about a dozen dives we rescued about 6 pieces of panner. Channa masala – just plain salty. Couldn’t taste anything except for the salt. Bhindi masla – there was no okra instead had big chunks of eggplant. The gravy had some seasoning, but the eggplant had no salt and was tasteless. The gravy was nothing except oil. Mirch ka salan – supposed to be chillies in gravy. But this was just a big container full of liquid with no chillies. On checking with the owner we were told that mirch ka salan is just a spicy gravy but Food Network, google and wiki tell me otherwise. Sambar – did not seem appetizing – lacked any form of vegies and had only dal, so skipped it. Panner biryani – spiced rice with rubbery bits of panner. There were four different biryanis, all seemed to have the same rice base with a different topping. Curd rice – surprising good! Kesaribath – okay. No great shakes. Rice kheer – the rice had sunk to the bottom of the container. And the milk was separate and floating on top with the ghee. It appeared like two different dishes. Sharbath – tasted like izzi or sparkle water mixed with frozen fruit punch, there was nothing sharbathi about this. The restaurant did not have any silverware. They had paper and plastic cutlery instead. In a way it seems good because one doesn’t have to worry about the hygiene and if they are cleaned well. But again on the note of hygiene, accidently a few cups fell off the table and the staff picked up the cups from the floor and stacked it back in the buffet. I didn’t grab another cup after that! Every table had open jugs of water. These were already on the table. I had no idea when it was last filled or who had handled it before. I had to wait to get back home to hydrate! They served naan at the table and had a tawa heating some form of kebab. But overall, the impression I got was they were not cooking the food at the restaurant and were bringing it from outside. Maybe this would change after the first week. The owner was boasting on hosting 160 dishes soon. Seems like a nightmare to even imagine how they would taste or be handled. Maybe the panner biryani formula would work – same base with a different topping. Or maybe it would turn to be the case of panner butter masala without the panner or mirch ka salan without the mirch. The ambiance is shoddy with tables literally touching one another. I could have easily digressed and joined a conversation in either of the table next to us. The buffet was $11. To think that it would total to almost $100 if I went there ten times a year, is a lot of money for substandard food. I am happy to have tried the restaurant and will not go again. I don’t recommend this to anyone wanting to try good Indian food. The food was so bad that I did not feel like taking any pictures of...

Update on 2.18.2025

We had the chance to visit this fantastic gem of a restaurant again today just before they closed at 2:30pm. We heard they are under new management and perhaps a new owner? Well either way or under prior owner or management, the food was simply the BEST ever today!!! We ordered Chili Chicken, Vegetable Samosas and Butter Chicken! All was nothing short of superb! Piping hot, fresh and fantastic flavor and spice levels. Served with a smile and excellent service even though we arrived just prior to the mid day break at 2:30. We cannot recommend them higher, they should get TEN STARS! Thanks so much! A Great meal!!!

Update on 7.24.2024 , our family has always enjoyed this restaurant and we eat here often. We dined here again last night and apparently there has been a change in ownership that we did not know about somewhere along the line. The restaurant was spotlessly clean and the food was beyond compare as usual, we had Vegetable Samosas, Chili Chicken and Butter Chicken with Rice. After just eating out of state at other Indian restaurants, we were reminded again of why Sree Saffron is our favorite. Excellent and friendly, fast service with food that is just fantastic!

We have dined at multitudes of different Indian restaurants in many states, so we have a fairly high bar for what we enjoy now. Sree Saffron was a genuinely wonderful food experience. A no frills seating area with timely delivery of authentic, Freshly prepared, piping hot, spiced to order selections from a highly diverse menu created for both vegetarian and non-vegetarian alike.

We were very pleased with portion sizes and the array of flavors at hand were impressive. Priced moderately and plenty to take home for leftovers. This is a hidden Gem of Hannah plaza and a terrific stop if you are in the area around MSU. I highly recommend this restaurant in your quest for the best in Michigan Indian cuisine. Five stars and we...

I spoilt my lovely evening being here. First the temperature… hotels are expected to maintain at 72 F, but it’s in cold and when we asked to increase the owner denied.

Second the food, ordered in a line like soup, appetiser, food and drink. 15 minutes after appetiser was served soup steps in which is mediocre.

The main course was literal joke. As the quality of starter was bad asked the best they could make, taking their suggestions as it is, we get a half cooked phomphret, that’s disgusting. The owner justified saying as it shouldn’t burn on top it’s left uncooked inside… wow !

The biryani: my first time in life just looked like rasam rice with some pieces of chicken n a little masala. Pathetic !

The owner turned rude: started saying it’s their style and they got over with 1000s in same way … it’s our mistake to expect quality.

After the bill, when I suggested that was rude he came back at me saying, for MSU this is enough …. Also as my table was full asking to keep on other table, was rude it seems…

He said on my face that me expecting better was my mistake …

Thank you for the best endeavour…

Never again go with any expectations, not even a taste like pedigree… go with open mind and burn ur card, come back crying but not complaining…

Reply for owner:

Ofcourse would sound fake review after spending a $ 96.01 on your restaurant !

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