Saffron

Eleftherias 50, LEMESOS (LIMASSOL), 96293737
Mon-Sat 12:15:00, 18:00-23:00
How long have I been waitng for this I don’t even know. When I asked about Indian food they told me to drive to Larnaca. Or Pissouri. Then Larnaca again. Even Paphos! I never complained about driving hours for good food but let’s face it, sometimes you just want to go local. Saffron, the sister restaurant of the one in Pissouri may not be 100% perfect but it’s definitely a positive addition to the city of Limassol.
As you enter the ambiance has very positive elements which suit the origin of the restaurant. The orange walls and the brown colours and the high ceilings were definitely adding to the whole concept. I found that the echo was a bit weird probably because of the ceramic floors which caused it to lack cosiness and made it more casual. Nevertheless I mostly cared about the food.
The menu was so attractive I literally wanted to eat it as it contained an indulgent list of starters, authentic dishes, tandoor dishes and curry dishes…yum! My only issues with the menu is that there were only 2 of us making it physically impossible to try a lot.
The owner who also took our order was Indian, a very positive sign. The second good sign was that when we asked for recommendations he was very good at suggesting what we should try given our preferences.
The poppadoms with two home-made dips were also a good nibble to get us in the “Indian mood”.
The Tandoori tiger prawns were a good starter marinated overnight in a spicy yogurt served with fresh herb sauce and a sweet(ish) jam. Wherever we go Mr Proud Cypriot MUST try the lamb chops so we ordered the Tandoori lamb chops. They were decent but not the best I’ve had.Right when I started to worry a bit the main dishes came, and the highlight of our meal. The Balti dish with lamb with medium hot tomato gracy onion, garlic and Indian spices was delicious, served hot with a rich and very Indian flavour. The Lamb Rogan, a suggestion from the owner for something more authentic was equally good. It was boneless lamb in an onion sauce with ginger and coriander. Finally we ordered the Aloo Gobi with cauliflower, potato, garlic, ginger and Indian spices to try a veggie dish. We had everything with rice and tasty Naan bread. I promised myself (and made Mr Proud Cypriot promise) that we would return for more curry dishes and of course the all time classic, Biryani that we didn’t get to try.The service was ok, clearly understaffed but we didn’t care as we went clearly for the food. My advice is try a starter but have more main dishes and don’t be scared to try. I used the words “onion” and “garlic” too many times but the truth is all the ingredients and flavours were well balanced.
It’s not the best Indian food I’ve ever had but it’s the best I’ve had recently and that’s quite good. So if you, like me, are desperate for Indian, go!
We paid 40euros for the above, a glass of wine and 2 cokes (the wine was me!).