Saffron Indian Bistro (Downtown Norfolk)
| Address: | 420 Monticello Ave #170, Norfolk, VA 23510, USA |
| Phone: | +1 757-321-7005 |
| Site: | saffronnorfolkva.com |
| Rating: | 4.1 |
| Working: | 11:30AM–2:30PM 11:30AM–2:30PM 11:30AM–2:30PM 11:30AM–2:30PM 11:30AM–2:30PM 12–3PM 12–3PM |
Location
Photos 100
Reviews 7
BR
Bree Calkins
Normally, I love Saffron and highly recommend it. However, tonight was a complete disappointment. I took my boyfriend there tonight for his birthday and was dismayed at the service. Our waiter informed me that our meals no longer come with Naan (which must be a recent change because it has before) and instead we would be charged for it. There must be a new chef because my boyfriends Chicken Biyurani was no where close to as good as the last time he had it. It had a lot of odd ingredients added to it thst werent there the first time. Our drinks did not get refilled, nor were we asked if we would like to refill the Naan we paid for. I informed the waiter that I had purchased a Groupon and he walked off with my phone for a long period of time - making me nervous about what was going on. He had said he needed to scan it and then came back with my phone and scanned it at the table. Why he had to walk off with it, I do not know. I paid our remaining balance with cash and the waiter asked if we were done and went to just take the money. I asked if he could give us change back and it was apparent that he was irritated. He brought me back a $10 bill and some coins as change. It seemed as though he expected me to leave him the entire $10 bill as tip. When my boyfriend asked him politely if he could give us change he stated that he could not because they did not have any $5 bills. I asked him for 10x $1 bills instead. He made us feel like we were a huge inconvenience at this point. Needless to say, the service was very disappointing with this visit and the change in menu policy was also upsetting. I dont think we will be visiting this restaurant anymore.
DU
Duncan Hubbell
Simply exceptional! We had tickets to the theater and had made reservations at The Bite. After sitting there for 12 minutes without a glass or water or anything else, we went to the Saffron Indian Bistro. When we walked in, we were pleasantly greeted at the front by a very friendly host and the most wonderful aromas of food and spices. While we did not have reservations, and the place was quite busy, we were still able to get a seat. After sitting without anything at The Bite and smelling the strong odor of fish, Saffron was just an incredible sensory experience. The food was just amazing. I am a very picky eater, but I chose the Tikki Chole as an apetizer. This dish was plentiful, incredibly tasty, and just a wonderful experience. I could have been happy just savoring that one dish all night. I then had the Tandoori Chicken. Again, superb! I had their signature mojito, and that too, was wonderful. Having lived in Burma for a couple of years, I had eaten a great deal of Indian food. Not since then have I had the pleasure of tasting such amazing food. Any time you are able, you should stop and enjoy the experience. The restaurant is well decorated. It is filled with enjoyable music, smells that will have you salivating, a wonderful staff, and quite reasonable prices. You do not have to like Indian food, you just have to like wonderful food. This place is just the best.
JA
Jay L
The food was very good but the service was definitely lacking. I was sympathetic at first as it looked like there were only two waiters working the floor, but the wait was ridiculous. We ordered at 6:30 and finally got our food at 7:20; an almost hour long wait. The table of four people next to us ordered after us and finished eating before we got our food. There were only 4 tables seated in the restaurant so its not like it was egregiously busy. The worst part was that I order a tea that didnt arrive until we got the bill which I had to mention to both the waiters multiple times. In their defense they did strike the tea from the bill and give us a $10 discount, but it was still a far more frustrating and time consuming meal than I was hoping for. Hopefully the next time we come back theyll be better staffed. Also as a final aside they ask how spicy you want your food on a scale of 1 to 5. I would recommend getting at least a 4 as their 3 is very subtle and borders on bland.
TI
Timmi Singh
Must try Butter Chicken and Lamb Chops, have tried bunch of Indian restaurants in US of A and the best was Rasika in DC but now I have new best which took over that We entered this business at 7:40 well greeted. and got a nice booth with some nice authentic classical Indian music was playing in background Then at 7:48 we got help from our server for ordering our meal(dinner), he order our meal and explained us about it. As well we got drink like godfather and Mango lime Gimlet The meal came out at 8:12 and had decent garnish with heart melting aroma, the first bite proved that the chef had vast knowledge of spices and balancing them in right manner. The lamb chops were perfectly well done and the butter chicken had a perfect spicy level. Our meal finished with dessert platter which had GajarHalwa, Rasmalai, GulabJamun, MangoKulfi and Kheer. In Total it was the best of the best.
AS
Ashish Gawas
The place is the best of all in Norfolk Its been more then 16 months been going to this place and never been disappointed. The food here has always been more than marvelous, the service has improved double the standards then what saffron had. Butter Chicken, Lamb Roganjosh, Chicken Keema Nan and desserts are mine Favorite, but the best of all and unbeatable is Goat Curry and Biryani must try stuff, in drinks the single malt Godfather drink is the best mango lime gimlet and rose Mojito is also good. The booths are little tight but good for me, they always play a nice authentic Indian Sitar in background music, the lunch is one I miss on every time but I promised myself that I will try it ones. They have new South Indian Menu too which has Dosa and Idli sambar Highly Recommended place for Indian Cuisine.
DE
Dean Claud
Had the opportunity to have dinner there three different times and the food was very good. The service not so much. The staff seemed frazzled and the wait for drinks, food, check, etc was painful. The last visit we were handed a drink menu with our food menus, but when it came to order a drink from the bar we were informed that there was no bartender and we could not order any cocktails, only beer. We also noticed quite a few times when people would arrive and ask to be seated, they were asked if they had a reservation and if not they were told to wait anywhere between 5 - 10 minutes, There were approximately 25 people in the entire restaurant the entire night. Overall the experience was underwhelming, but the food was good. Probably wont be returning based on our previous three experiences. Too bad.
JO
Joanna Lee
The WORST service Ever!! Food was ok overall but they took nearly 15 minutes to take order. I had to literally grab the waiter so I can order my food. That is not all, they took another 10 minutes to bring us one of the beverage we ordered and took another 15 minutes for the other. they missed one of the order and didnt even bring is the rice...Oh, we eaited another 15 minutes for the check but never got it so had to walk up to the front deak.... I am not sure what happened to this place but the service here is just horrible!!
