Saffrani

Saffrani

11 South College Street, Edinburgh, EH8 9AA

Telephone 0131 667 1597
Food served Mon–Sun noon–11pm
Pre-theatre times 5.30–7.30pm (only on Festival Theatre performance days)
Average price £5.90 (set lunch); £16 (evening meal)
Pre-theatre price £10.95
Website saffrani.co.uk

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Eating & Drinking Guide

The 2013 edition of The List's Eating & Drinking Guide is out now – only £5.95 (+p&p).

This review is taken from the 2012 edition.

This small restaurant tucked away off Nicolson Street has retained its all-round quality through a recent change in ownership, with an extensive list of curries from a variety of Indian regions. To start, chicken chat is a substantial dish of spicy marinated chicken pieces with puffed up puri bread to scoop it up, and tandoori lamb chops are sufficiently charred but still tender. King prawn makhari is one of the milder options, with a creamy tomato base flavoured with fenugreek, while their lamb rogan josh is rich, heavy with chili and coriander. A previous emphasis on seafood has fallen away a little, though Goan fish curry is particularly notable, with large chunks of salmon and white fish in a coconut sauce. These are all very reasonably priced, with each being plenty to share between two. Finish off with a typical Indian dessert such as mango kulfi – not home-made, but still refreshing.

High point: Generous curry portions
Low point: Off the beaten track location can result in a subdued atmosphere

Number of wines sold by the glass: 3
Delivery: ask for details
Provides: Vegetarian options (at least ¼ main courses), Gluten-free options, Children's high chairs, Pre-theatre menu
Music on stereo: Indian classical music
Capacity: 30
Largest group: 40
Open since: 2004
House wine: £11.95 per bottle
BYOB: Free corkage

Comments & ratings

9. cathymcdon – 14 Dec 2011, 2:31pm Saffrani Report: definitely the best curry restaurant in Edinburgh!!! Had the most amazing Indian seafood experience ever. and also a very fine selection of wines. Excellent service and attention from the waiters complement to the food. I had made it a point to recommend this restaurant to all my friends and it is definitely a must try. The food is served really warm and they also have a excellent range of starters.
PS: Don't miss out on the Mango Kulfi dessert which is simply the best Indian dessert I have ever tasted!!!!

8. DavidMorg – 6 Dec 2011, 11:25am Saffrani Report

I had gone to Saffrani restaurant a couple of weeks earlier with my wife. This is a restaurant where you get absolute value for money. The food is excellent and its all moderately priced. The meat samosas and lamb jalfrezi were amazingly good. Having tried a variety of Indian restaurants in Edinburgh, i would say that I had the best Tandoori chicken from here.
To top it all, the service was excellent, they have a good selection of drinks. I had the kingfisher beer and my wife had wine.

It would be a sin not to mention about the mango kulfi which was suggested by the waiter to be one of the best Indian desserts. It is definitely one of the best desserts I have ever had. Make sure to try the mango kulfi if you happen to visit Saffrani!!!

7. Peja – 20 Jun 2011, 10:37am Report: This was our first visit to Saffrani and we will not be returning. The service was friendly and efficient but the food was dreadful. My Tandori salmon Tikka was overcooked and tasted strongly of stale fish and my partner's Aubergine Pakora was soggy and tasteless. My Goan Fish curry was inedible - small pieces of unidentifiable grey fish floating in a vaguely coconuty brown sludge, I complained and to give them credit we were not charged for it. My partner's chicken Jaipuri was OKish. To describe themselves as a specialist seafood restaurant is a joke. I wish we had read the previous review before deciding to go there. Something has gone badly wrong.

6. Samcrumb – 24 Apr 2011, 4:12pm Saffrani Report: Oh, dear. We have been going to Saffrani's for years but on Saturday we had the worst Indian meal ever. The vegetable pakoras were just ok but the 'sauce' was a dish of cold, chopped tinned tomatoes probably mixed with ground chilli. The main dishes were barely adequate, small, lacking in flavour. My lamb rogan josh, for example, was swamped in tomato and had no fresh coriander. The nan breads were dry and didn't taste freshly made. We asked if there was a new chef but all they said was the menu had changed. The waiting staff, though clearly keen to please, were amateurish and clumsy. Not recommended and we do not intend returning.

5. MartinL – 10 Aug 2009, 5:34pm Saffrani Report

My friend and I ate at Saffrani on Saturday. We arrived at about 9.20pm, and the restaurant was about half full, yet it still took time to see if we could actually eat or not.

Our drinks took some time to come, then our starters a fair while longer. My fish pakora was alright. My friend's starter also OK.

Our main courses also took quite a while to arrive. My lamb biryani was fairly lacklustre, with overcooked rice, and a tomato and onion sauce. My friend's lamb kofta came as uncooked, cold lamb balls. When this was pointed out to the manager, it was taken away, and he was offered a lamb bhuna in it's place. No apology was offered whatsoever.

Given the other restaurants in the area (Mother India, for example), there is no way I'd eat there again. The cynic in me thinks they were simply punting out sub-standard food during the Festival to non-regulars. The couple sitting beside us were also unimpressed with their food, and had no plans to return.

Bill came to £50 for two starters, two main courses, rice and four beers. We decided not to leave any tip.

Overall, the experience was like I can imagine when Indian restaurants first came to prominence: patrons would have limited knowledge of the cuisine, and limited expectations. These days we have some excellent Indian restaurants. This is clearly not one of them.

4. ouime – 24 Feb 2009, 4:11pm Report: this is the best indian food I've ever had. 4 people; brilliant food & drink; £100.

3. EckyP – 7 Feb 2009, 4:16pm Saffrani Report: We eat in Saffrani on a regular basis and find the food delicious. Friendly service and the bill for two courses and a bottle of wine for two people is around £40.
Worth every penny

2. NeilT – 13 Nov 2008, 2:42pm Report

I checked with several North Indian friends and they said they'd never put cream in their food but Saffrani does. So its not authentic as it claims to be. I had lamb passander which was laden with cream, almost sickly and devoid of any chilli heat. And some stuffed aubergene thing that was bland and dull.

Some other diners had fish and seemed happy. Maybe this is a better option.

The bill came to 50 for 2 of us - 2 beers, water and two courses. That's way too much for a dinner.

Someone told me the mosque kitchen (round the corner) offers authentic north indian food.

1. Restaurant Reviewer – 30 Apr 2008, 3:16pm Report

This is probably the best Indian Restaurant in Edinburgh, however, what it lacks is its location, but makes up for that with the quality of the food.

It's not on a main road or thoroughfare, but don't let that put you off. You'll find it tucked just behind the Royal Museum of Scotland and the Festival Theatre.

Friendly and inviting staff - and great food. No artificial flavouring here just fresh tasting food...oh and ice cold Kingfisher on tap as well!

Average rating 3/5 from 5 reviews of Saffrani.

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