Saffron — Restaurant in San Carlos

I am a rental business owner and I was working solo in San Carlos for a event that I wasn't invited to.

I had some down time before the event ended and my tummy was grumbly. Being a total white chick foodie, whose younger step-children resist trying anything outside their comfort zone, I rarely get to eat Indian food. When Saffron popped up on my quick restaurant Google search, I knew I was going there. My large box truck doesn't fit in any parking structures, so I had to park a couple blocks away on the street. As soon as I walked in, the Host (I think is also the manager) sat me at the only open 2-seat table which was right near the kitchen. Yay! I get my food ASAP and being at the back also meant that every other time a server walked by my table to the kitchen I was attended to.

There were several groups of people, many of them including young children. Everyone seemed to be happy and full except this one guy. He was either eyeballing me or staring at kitchen, I couldn't tell but I tried to ignore him.

I am not vegetarian but I love Paneer so I ordered a Taj Mahal beer, Lahsooni Saag Paneer with Garlic Naan and after had Gulab Jamun (honey-soaked cake balls, served super hot!) I don't know if I ate it correctly, as I poured the green goo (saag?) from my spoon onto a chunk of naan and ate it like a nacho. I figured since I wasn't sharing, I could spoon it right out of the bowl into my mouth if I wanted (and I did when I ran out of naan at the last bite!) The final price of my meal was a little higher than my usual blue-collar-budget spending but I thought all things considered, that it was a good value. The service was superb. The food was delicious. I'm not in San Carlos often but now I have a go-to place... As long as I can find parking! :) Thank you for...

I wish I could give a No star. The order taking person at the restaurant when I called by phone was not only rude but he spoke as if he doesnt care to take the order. the reason being that i was telling him the menu items one by one by asking my friends. He was so impatient to get off the call that he asked me to first decide upon the total order and then call him. Had he been in India I could have went up to the restaurant and taught him how we place orders, and how keen people are to take business. i placed the order even after this guy being stupidly reluctant, because you know we are Indians and we love Indian food and basically had no choice since we were new to the city and it costed us somewhere about 500 USD, in which he forgot to deliver 3-4 items couple of lassis included.

These Indians who run the restaurant abroad take us for granted. had there been an American he would have sued them and owned his wife and kids. I dont want to generalize but this guy for sure doent deserve any business from us.

I couldnt have expected anything better from you. Your food (taste and quality)and service both sucks. I'll keep my attitude and I know where I deserve more respect and take it there. Your response itself reflects the personality of your restaurant, unapologetic (even after not delivering the full order and taking the full payment), uncouth, uncivilised, and your attitude towards customers is barbaric.

And yes BTW your chefs have some serious hair loss problems. You may want to take care of...

I have been a Saffron customer for years, and I thought the food was slowly going downhill, but my most recent order was the last straw. First of all, they put sugar in everything. There's sugar in the chicken tikka masala. There's sugar in the raita, which is common, but it doesn't need it. And while the dishes we ordered had appropriate levels of heat, they did not have appropriate seasonings. The saag paneer was just a mush of oil, garlic, and salt, with not many other flavors. The chicken tikka masala was more flavorful, but mostly spicy and sugary with very little Garam masala or other traditional spices. Worst of all, and most upsetting to me, was the raita. It was very sweet, of course, and had a strange sort of flavor... There was yogurt in it to be sure, but I couldn't put my finger on it until I went to put it away after the meal. It was a little warmer than when we started and it almost tasted like mayonnaise. It was disgusting. The people who own Saffron own some other restaurants that I have also really enjoyed over the years. Some of these places are quite good, and I don't want to be unfair, but this meal was so underwhelming and not nearly as good as what I can get nearby at other Indian restaurants. It's just a disappointment to see the quality of the food decline. And while I don't like to complain about restaurants raising prices because everybody is in the same boat, saffron is quite expensive for what...