Saffron Indian Bistro

Let me start off by saying when it comes to Indian food, I know basically nothing. I know some of the spices and ingredients they use and have heard the names of some of the dishes, but that's about it. So when I heard about dinner at Saffron Indian Bistro (4532 Columbus Street VA Beach 23462 757-644-6904), I was stoked. When we got there you could smell the spices in the air to include curry, they were obviously busy with a large party of about 15-20, and all dining seats were full. Because they were so busy they were running late with the reservations we had, so we took refuge at the bar. With the owner behind a nicely stocked bar to include a decent little tap selection that included Harpoon I.P.A. which I opted for. The owner was nice and definitely willing to answer our questions as well as had a few recommendations that ended up being very good.
On this evening there were 5 of us dining, the Lee's (Scott & Heather) and the Jones' (Adam & Erin) and myself. The Lee's and myself had never eaten Indian food before and the Jones' have had Indian cuisine both in Cali and locally however never at Saffron, so they were very helpful when it came to ordering. The restaurant is located in the old Johnny Rockets at Town Center, and is a chill spot with with yellow and dark red walls and a cool shadow box with different spices used in Indian cooking on the wall. There are a couple of 2 top tables, a couple larger tables for larger parties and several booths. I will say they seem to be in need of a host/hostess as it seemed to be kinda chaotic at the front door with people waiting for tables and no one really there to take care of things.
We started off with the owners recommendations of the assorted vegetable bites which included a samosa (a potato & pea stuffed pie shell) not that great kind of bland and the shell was greasy. I was told by Erin that it was not a very good samosa from what she has had before. It also had 2 tikki's (mini potato cake) or as we decided to call it "the best knish we ever had" they were very tasty with a crispy outside and nice soft inside. 2 paneer pakora (home made cheese breaded with lentil flour and fried) not that good, very bland and i guess it's the lentil flour that doesn't crisp very well. Then the 4 vegetable pakora's (kinda like a fritter of broccoli, spinach, and i think eggplant) they are very tasty by themselves but went very well the the fruity, slightly tangy tamarind sauce. We also went with another recommendation of malai kabob (chicken breast pieces marinated in cashew nuts and special seasoning and broiled in tandoor) which came with several tandoor or grilled veggies such as baby corn, corn kernels, onions, red and green peppers. The chicken was juicy and very tasty with a great flavor from the tandoor, it also came with a slice of lemon and when that was spritzed over the chicken and veggies it added a whole different level to it, and to me changed the flavor in a good way. The owner definitely hit the mark with those suggestions.
Must admit that once we got away from the bar and were seated at a table the service definitely went down hill. After bringing us our appetizers the waiter never came back to ask how everything was or check on the bottle wine that was being enjoyed or if I needed another I.P.A., after I flagged him down for another beer and another bottle of wine he did ask how everything was. I am assuming it was unexpectedly busy and that is why service was not as good as it should have been. When it came to dinner we all decided on something different since it is family style, I decided on the lamb biryani (a traditional rice dish made from basmati rice, saffron, cardamom, and spices). It was tasty, the lamb was very tender, and it came fully equipped with a creeper spiciness, after eating a few bites the heat starts coming on. It isn't very spicy but just enough to know it's there, it comes with raita ( home made yogurt with herbs, chopped tomato, and chopped cuccumber) to help ease any heat. There was also Chicken saagwala (chicken cooked with spinach and herbs) in this case it wasn't bad, but at the same time it just didn't have as much flavor as i was expecting and Adam said that it wasn't one of the better saagwala's he's had. There was a big plate of jasmine rice served with everything and the saagwala went good on top of the rice, just wasn't that flavorful. Also scallop mango (scallops cooked in a special mango
and ginger sauce) was ordered and I thought they were very tasty, but I was the minority on that dish as no one else cared for it. It did have a heavy clove flavor and there was a hint of curry and ginger, mango was not that noticeable, again this went very well over the jasmine rice. We also partook in baingan bhartha (eggplant roasted in tandoor oven then mashed and sautéed with garlic,onions, tomatoes and spices) it was very good and one of everyone's favorites at the table. A hint of cumin could definitely be tasted and it had a bit of heat with it, and i thought was a very tasty side dish to accompany everything else on the table. To go along with everything we also had a bread basket which is an assortment of naan (a flat bread cooked in the tandoor), in the basket there was garlic naan, plain naan, and aloo naan (suppose to be naan stuffed with spicy potatoes) I don't think we got that kind though. We had ordered another dish and mango lassi's, but they never showed, and it was a good thing the other dish never showed up cause we had plenty with what we did get. However the mango lassi (a yogurt drink that is meant to cool and cleanse the palate kinda like pickled ginger to sushi) could've been used when the dinner first got to the table, but they were eventually brought out when we brought it to the waiters attention about the other dish not making it to the table.
All in all I thought this was a very good dinner and I left in desperate need of a nap, but since this was my first experience with Indian food I have nothing to compare to, as well as I am not 100% sure of the foods authenticity and it's also called an Indian bistro so I'm guessing it's kind of a fusion thing. The Jones' said it wasn't bad and that some dishes fell flat in comparison and some were better than others they have had. Adam asked for the saagwala to be medium-spicy and there was hardly any spice at all to it, however for the Lee's and myself it being our first experience with Indian food we were not disappointed with it and I will definitely be back. I do wanna make a note on something that the 5 of us kind of talked about and that is cows are suppose to be a sacred animal in India, yet they do have beef dishes on the menu. My theory on that is, I'm not asking the pope for his opinion on a good porno and I'm not eating beef from an Indian restaurant.

Amen ( I will pass the word like a collection plate in church)

there is a kids menu

no smoking

I would make reservations to be on the safe side.