New Tastes

To the left is a picture of my plate filled with almost every piece of food that Saffron's lunch buffet had to offer.

It was a little bit of an adventure trying to actually get to Saffron's first, though. I went with Brooklynn and assumed that I knew more than her GPS (I swear it was trying to get us lost). Eventually we found it, though, and were pleasantly surprised by the atmosphere we found in the restaurant. The decorations and even the waiters' uniforms were appealing to look at, though Brooklynn and I both felt a little under dressed when we looked at some of the other customers.

I found the my first bites of each different piece of food to be equally as interesting as the last. My mouth was not used to the amount of spices that it picked up, but I enjoyed almost all of it. I noticed a large difference between eating some of the food without bread versus with (usually I enjoyed it more with bread - I ate a lot of naan bread).

At the buffet, there were large cauldron-looking pots that each food was in and above them were the names of the food and their ingredients. I am now going to name them off and tell you what I thought of each...

Saffron Rice: Not a big deal. It really just tasted like regular white rice and I enjoyed combining it with some of the other food.
 Began Bhartha: Sounds gross but really was not too bad. It had smoked eggplant in it which I did not really like the texture of, but I liked the rest of the tastes.
Pindi Channa: Other than the bread, this was actually my favorite choice. "Chickpeas simmered in a savory secret blend of fresh herbs and exotic spices". Maybe it's because I have actually had chickpeas before, but I actually really enjoyed the texture and the flavors. Still best with bread
Navrathan Korma: Brooklynn and I were not really sure how to feel about this one. We did not want to dislike it, but it definitely wasn't a favorite. "Mixed vegetables smothered in a yogurt coconut milk sauce with nuts & raisins". Maybe it was the yogurt coconut milk sauce that ruined it... That just sounds weird.
Raita: This was definitely not a favorite at all. Neither of us liked it or even took more than one taste of it. "Low fat home made yogurt with cucumber & fresh mint"
Badami Kheer: Another one that we didn't like. Well, we liked it at first but then we got a chunk of something with a terrible flavor and instantly pushed our bowls away. "Almond nut pudding with raisins & nuts"
Lamb Keema: If I had to describe how this one looked I would say "mush". It wasn't bad. Same spice filled flavor as the rest, but I think it was slightly more plain which, surprisingly, made me like it less. "Ground lamb simmered in spices & fresh herbs topped with fresh cilantro"
Tandoori Chicken: I know that this was Brooklynn's favorite, probably because it was the most recognizable food. The chicken was a shockingly bright red color, which was actually kind of pretty. "Chicken marinated in our special house marinade & yogurt, then baked to perfection in the clay oven". I wonder what their obsession with yogurt is all about...

Other than these foods there was a fruit and vegetable salad. I didn't really try it but Brooklynn did and she didn't spit it back out so I guess it must have been ok.
Overall I really enjoyed Saffron's. I love being risky with my food and am open to trying almost anything, so I had fun with this experience. In the future, I will probably try to drag people along to restaurants with different cultural food more often.