Saffron Bistro

I've been going through a rough patch recently, which should be pretty obvious from previous posts about comfort food and furry companions. But thank god for friends who willingly fill up my schedule to take my mind off troubles or to offer a listening ear. That implies more dinners and lunches taken outside with friends of course.

The most recent dinner I had with a friend brought me somewhere I hardly ventured - Boat Quay. While the very pub infested Circular Road was thronging with yuppies and expats, Saffron Bistro stood out not just as the only place serving decent food, but also as the only rather empty place. That made me feel a little doubtful about my friend's recommendation, but I decided to have a little more faith and went with it. Besides, I am a huge fan of saffron, using it in anything from ice creams to cakes to risottos.

We ended up ordering 2 starters - a fish cake with saffron cream sauce (pictured above) and a marinated cod fish wrapped in banana leaves. Both were amazingly tasty in their own way, the former being extremely rich (from the saffron cream) and perfectly crispy on the outside; the latter was uber fresh, soft yet succulent and tangy from the herbs, spices and (most probably) lemon juice. This started off the meal on the right footing, without even mentioning the complimentary mango lassi, spicy papadoms, mint yogurt sauce and sweet chutney.

Needless to say, I had high hopes for the main courses and was thankfully not let down. The saffron basmati rice was fluffy yet not dry, and went beautifully with the curries. Our Rogan Josh (lamb curry) was tender and tasty without being overly salty, while the vegetable dish had saffron and pear (or apple) chunks in it making it sweet, extremely unique and surprisingly good.

I loved that both dishes had generous amounts of sauce that I could douse my rice and naans (garlic, and herb) in. Notice how I've left out much description of the naans. That's just because I felt they were just alright. Not that they were bad, but they were forgettable. I'd have been perfectly happy with just that portion of rice, which was big enough for two to share.

This dinner was fabulous and I would love to bring friends back to Saffron Bistro. Although we were the only two customers in the restaurant for most of our dinner, the waiters were polite and left us alone to our conversation until they had to serve or clear the plates. We were greeted with smiles when we went in, during service and just before we left, making the whole experience a pleasure.

Saffron Bistro
50 Circular Road
Singapore 049405
Tel: 65365025