Saffron Indian Cuisine — Restaurant in Town and Country

What a restaurant! I am no foodie, but I have been to most St. Louis Indian restaurants, and perhaps 50 outside of St. Louis. I went on a Sunday with my spouse. A few thoughts having just come home after the night out: Tasteful, comforting, even a bit beautiful decor. Tables, drapes, wall art, menus, business cards, bathrooms, flatware. The attention to detail in so many different respects makes this place have an inviting look. The whole place smells great like a hint of a sweat vegetable biryani. The prices are totally reasonable, with inexpensive appetizers as low cost as 4 dollars, and several under 6, entrees mostly between 9 for one vegetarian dish and maybe 16 for the more intensive meat dishes. Our entrees were somewhere between those prices. Sodas cost less than 2, and lassis and such are not pricey. Water was immediately poured on seating. The other drinks were served promptly and were made perfectly regardless of price point. I used to frequent a take-away joint where they displayed an article claiming that their food was way better than it needed to be, particularly at the price. That is what this place lives up to. Staff are well-coordinated and professional, working seamlessly as a team. It ought to go without saying, but this also meant that they were helpful, well dressed, answered questions, and let us also have a pleasant private dinner. Appetizers, like all the food we bought had produce that tastes fresh, is not over or under-cooked. We got the dal soup, a chicken pakora, and a cauliflour pakora, all of which was well made and not even slightly overcooked -- which says a lot. I don't know the origin for sure, but the chutneys tasted like they had been made in house rather than from a jar. We got the tandoori mixed grill and palak paneer. The rice was perfectly made -- with saffron, as the name of the restaurant suggests might be case, and other gentle flavoring. Generous portions for both entrees and a common plate of rice. Spicing was as hot as expectations, with a full set of spice notes, which can be difficult to pull off for people like myself at the 2/5 range. The palak was smooth but not oily, and the paneer (I believe) received a very very gentle frying. Nothing served to us was overly pungent, over- or under-cooked, over or under spiced, (though I did have to add black pepper and (gratis) chutneys to my pakora,) or tasted anything less than fresh. I don't exactly believe in 5 star reviews, but this restaurant does not deserve to be rated lower than other restaurants...

If I could give 0 stars I would!! I am visiting st.Louis and this place was close by so tried ordering over phone. Since it was July 4th, they said we close Kitchen @7. Fair enough so I asked for take out. Upon reaching there for takeout I see they are already letting walk-in guests dine in.

After I picked my take out, I see chicken instead of paneer. I am pure vegetarian and so is my husband and baby. We all had to sleep without eating all the food we had ordered. While the container had “paneer makhni”written on it. Not sure how one can make such mistakes when you not even that busy!!

Either you don’t value your customers or that’s how your restaurant and staff works! Give whatever that comes on your mind, irrespective to orders.

I will not recommend this place!!! If you go, double check your orders.

I called on Jul 5,2021 to mention about this wrong order. The owner/manager was so rude. He said why didn’t you call us if the order was wrong, we were here till 8:30PM. People like you will walk in anytime and ask for food it was a holiday day you need to understand. Post any review I don’t care.

I am shocked and surprised how they treat their customers. All they care is MONEY!!! I usually don’t post reviews, but this one definitely needed an attention and awareness for other customers visiting this place.

Editing this as I add to response of owner: FYI, I was told the restaurant closes at “7:00 PM” due to July 4th when I had called to check if they were open for dine in. I had asked if I can place to-go order as I am traveling, which was acknowledged. With given information, there was no way I knew they were open till 8:30PM (as the owner says, to call and request for refund) either update your google page hours or pass on accurate information when the customer calls in for order.

I am not one of those who just walks in, I call, confirm and make sure the restaurant is open for dine in or take out.

It’s just easy to say you should have called. The time is gone and when I called, you made me feel like I was begging for free food, when I called next day morning it was to make the management aware about the mistake. Seems this happens on daily basis at your place and you think all the customers who write review are free food seekers. Change your mindset for customers who provide feedback, it will help you grow...

I do not know how this place is still in business - the customer service is terrible. I repeat TERRIBLE. The manager is extremely rude and disrespectful to customers. I went in for the lunch buffet yesterday. After finishing my first plate of food, in which I left a couple half eaten pieces of chicken, the server (whom I didn't know was the manager at the time) comes over to clear my dish and says to me "SHAME ON ME FOR HAVING YOU COME HERE, LOOK AT ALL THE FOOD YOU WASTED" and then walks away. As you can imagine, I was in complete shock - I only had 1 plate of food, it's not like I had several, and I was not brought up to waste food. If I don't finish something on my plate, there's a really valid reason for it. The next waiter that comes by, I ask him to have the manager or owner come out.

The guy that cleared my plate ended up being the manager, so I let him know how extremely rude I found his comment to be. He said that I was wasting food and that "THIS IS AN ALL YOU CAN EAT BUFFET, NOT AN ALL YOU CAN WASTE BUFFET." I am not sure how a couple half eaten pieces of chicken (that I didn't eat because they were dry) can be deemed wasteful, however, my response to him was that I don't appreciate how he is treating me and how he is not only neglecting to rectify the situation, but is making it worse by attacking me more. I informed him that I will never come back and will be leaving a review regarding my experience, in which his response was "I DON'T CARE." I asked him how he could not care that he would be getting a terrible review, in this day in age where EVERYONE checks reviews before dining at places, and he repeats "I DON'T CARE" and walks away. He WALKED AWAY. Not to be seen again. I don't know how he can be in his line of business and treat people the way he does.

Please think twice before dining at this restaurant. The food is fine but there are many other AMAZING Indian places in the St. Louis area - don't go to a place where they treat you terribly and don't particularly care if you come back or not.

Oh, and Mr. Manager, if you're reading this - I hope you feel good about defending those half-eaten pieces of chicken. I hope it was worth losing customers over because you'll never see me...