Saffrani

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• What are these?

• Average price 2 courses: £5.95/7.95 (set lunch) / £16
• House wine: £10.95 per bottle

• Hitlisted
• High point: The fantastic home-made pistachio ice-cream
• Low point: The bathrooms are rather cold in winter
• Food served: Mon-Sat noon-2pm, 5.30-10.30pm; Sun 5.30-10.30pm
• Open since: 2004
• Also offers: Childrens portions, Take away, Pre-theatre menu

The List's Eating & Drinking Guide 2008 is now in the shops.

This review is from the 2007 edition.

Saffrani deserves a great reputation for its warm welcome almost as much as its enticing menu. Owner Khalil Mansoori is also the head chef, and he has created an extensive selection of considered classic Indian dishes alongside exciting new flavours. To start, for example, the Jheenga Kauri are whole king prawns in their shells, char-grilled so the shell blackens and the flesh softens to a melt-in-the-mouth texture. This barbecue effect is offset by a rich topping of cool yoghurt and almond sauce. The Bataire (marinated quail) is saturated with spices - but be ready to get your hands messy tearing into it. Main courses are even more wonderful, their sauces given bite by perfectly cooked, identifiable herbs and spices - so often not the case in conventional Indian restaurants. The murgh taryaki is a tender tikka chicken with an exciting dash of green chilli and a subtle kick of ginger and garlic, while the sindh ki soghat features soft fenugreek-infused chunks of halibut teamed with spinach, neither of which is too soft or soggy. The small dining room is merely cosy, rather than intimate, but otherwise complaints are hard to come by.