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Saffron Indian

4.9 (14 reviews)
Closed 11:00 am - 2:30 pm, 4:30 PM - 9:30 PM
Updated 1 month ago

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Steamed rice
Raquel

I love the food here! The place is so cute and comfortable. The food is amazing and so is the hospitality. I can't wait to try their weekend buffet. I usually just order to go. Today while i waited for my order, the owner kindly gave me veg pakoras to sample and I love them!!!! I will definitely add them to my next order! They also offer you water while you wait. What hospitality. The food is always fresh and very delicious. I always want to order from here. Can't wait to be back.

Chili chicken appetizer, finished with green onions and sesame seeds.
Tony S.

The furnishings here are pretty minimal. It's the old, somewhat rundown Barrell House with a few Indian flourishes added. Just know you're not going here for the atmosphere; you're here for very good Indian food in a friendly, family-run environment. We started with an appetizer of chili chicken. It was a large enough serving it could have been an entree. The chicken pieces were tender. The green peppers were absolutely lovely. The chili sauce had a touch of sweetness from the soy, but a good amount of heat from the chilis (we ordered it Medium heat), tempered a bit by the ginger. On top were green onions and sesame seeds. You could taste all the different spices. It was an excellent way to start our meal. For mains, we ordered 3 dishes. First was chicken tikka masala. We always order this at a new Indian restaurant in the same way some people order lasagna at a new Italian restaurant: it's a great way to establish the restaurant's baseline. Here, we found the masala sauce just a bit too much on the sweet side at first (again we had ordered medium heat). But an interesting thing happened: when we had a second taste after having other dishes, especially a more spicy chicken vindaloo, the masala sauce improved. It picked up a nice smoky taste rather than tasting as sweet. Whether that was from resting for a couple minutes or from exposure to the hotter dish, I can't say for sure. The chicken pieces were very tender and tasty. Speaking of the vindaloo, it was very good. The chicken itself seemed to have been cooked tandoori style prior to the sauce being added. That made for a great combination of the spicing on the chicken and the spicy vindaloo sauce. This had some real heat even as Medium because vindaloo by nature includes some hotter spices. There were a few small potatoes mixed in, as you would expect. The white rice served with these was nice and fluffy, with a few peas included. Last was a chicken biryani. While the serving size of the first two mains was ample, the size of the biryani was huge. You could eat this for a week. And I gladly would. My first impression of this was that it was good, but not great, at least compared to my favorite biryani from India Garden (also in Asheville). But as I ate more of it, it again grew on me. It's quite different from the one at India Garden, but very good in its own way. It's a bit heavier and with broccoli in it (the broccoli worked well in it). The chicken chunks in this dish were well seasoned, too. We usually like naan for soaking up sauce, but this time we chose onion kulcha instead of naan. It had a lot more character than a typical naan, even a garlic naan. Beer goes well with Indian food. We had 2 beers that were on tap from the former Barrel House: Blue Moon (great) and Salt Faced Mule (good, but a little on the light side). Finally, as a palette cleanser, we all shared a gulab jamun for dessert. The dough of the 3 dumplings was excellent. The sauce was not cloyingly sweet like it is at some Indian restaurants. Here it seemed to be more honey-based, so it was sweet, but light. That made for a very good ending to the meal. Service was good and prices are on par with other Indian restaurants in Asheville. It's great to have an Indian restaurant in the north of Asheville, as most are downtown, Tunnel Road or south. We'll definitely be back.

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3 months ago

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4 months ago

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5 months ago

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6 days ago

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1 month ago

Felipe's food. Warm and welcoming service. Very cheerful and festive atmosphere. Can't wait to go back

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4 months ago

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5 months ago

We really like Saffron Indian, it's good food with complex flavors and excellent service from the husband & wife proprietors.

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Chai Pani - Butter Chicken Thali

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Wow. Just wow! What a freaking 10/10 experience we had on our visit to Chai Pani. For starters, the…read moredecorations throughout were beautiful. As for food, I cannot recommend the matchstick okra fries enough. Even if you don't like okra, please give them a try. As someone who doesn't like okra normally, we were convinced by our waiter to give them a try and I am so glad that we did. So crispy and salty, just a wonderful way to start the evening. Highly recommend the chaat as well, full of flavor and a refreshing start before the main dishes arrived. They all sounded good, so really a personal preference on which to go with. For the main dish we opted for both Thali's, butter chicken and the saag paneer. Both were delicious and full of flavor, again I don't think you could wrong since you get a little of everything on your platter. Our service was phenomenal as well! Our waiter walked us through the menu, gave us recommendations, and was very attentive. Food came out super quick as well so all around 10/10. I will now be waiting ever so impatiently for our next visit to Asheville so that we can give more of the menu a try!!

Just go with a plan to be uncomfortably full at the end, because the food is amazing and you will…read moreeat too much. Everything is fantastic. The staff is amazing. The vibe is great. They have excellent cocktails with their own twist on classics. The food is just incredible, TONS of flavor and truly elevated versions of classics. I have no idea what they make the dessert dumplings out of, but you lick the bowl clean.

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Mehfil - The front section of the restaurant

Mehfil

4.7(207 reviews)
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Full bar
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As we are on the mailing list for this restaurant, a favorite of ours; we learned and immediately…read moresigned up for their "SHAHI DAAWAT-KERALA" : an authentic culinary experience of the south of India. (Shahi Daawat means Royal Feast or Royal Banquet historically signifying grand meals from princely kitchens with rich dishes, luxurious presentation and cultural elements and often themed around specific Indian states of festivals and tracing back to royal recipes. Kerala is a coastal state on the south of India having a coastline of about 400 miles along the Arabian Sea. The food there being popular for their fresh ingredients, rich spices, coconut and seafood.) First of all we were both greeted with a beautiful and fragrant Jasmine garland by the owner and staff outfitted in typical dress and we were seated on a table with banana leaves as our plates for the first portion of the feast (yes; it was a feast!!!). The appetizers started arriving promptly with a variety of proteins starting with chicken deliciously seasoned and delightfully crunchy. The chicken was followed by Medu Vada with Coconut Chutney and Pan Roasted Prawns, Vada with Chutney and a delicious Mushroom Pepper Fry. Then the entrees began: Idli and Sambhar, Lamb Chettinad, Kadala (chickpea) Curry, Egg Roast, Pepper Chicken, Cabagge Thoran and Kerala Fish Curry. This was accompanied by Malabar Paratha and Lemon Rice. Although the portions of the individual items seemed small, cumulatively became overwhelming, but I would not change it at all. It seemed as if we were welcomed into someone's home and they were gladly sharing all of the dishes of their region. It was a magnificent and comprehensive compilation of dishes from Kerala and I am glad it was so!!! The desserts were three; Kozhikode Halwa (different than Halwa from Northern India; Kozhidode Halwa this delicacy melts in your mouth and it is popular not only in Kerala but in Arabia, Persia, and London. Food historian have traced its origins back to centuries ago), Coconut Burfi (a traditional treat made with coconuts milk and cardamom) and Coconut Kulfi (a delicious frozen coconut milk delight). During the meal the chef, (himself native of Goa, southern India), servers and the owner visited the tables to answer any questions. As if we were transported to a Restaurant in Kerala; It was a delightful, authentic and memorable experience, one that will not be forgotten! We will return to their next experience. Thank you Mehfil, as your full restaurant name suggests/meaning (Mehfil; Yaaron Ki... apno ki=A gathering of friends and loved ones) We definitely felt the love.

Came in Sunday afternoon and left... disappointed. The gobi manchurian and chili paneer were both…read moreoverly sweet, and both were ordered as a a "medium" but neither had any heat at all, which is almost impressive in the case of the chili paneer. My husband's chicken biryani was more like a curry rice, and the flavors were all wrong. My son's chicken tikka was fine, but that could be because it was ordered as "mild". Overall, I wouldn't recommend. For the high rating and the high price point I expected something more authentic.

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Mehfil - Our Tandoori dishes will keep you coming back.

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I think this place is up against it in a lot of ways. I didn't quite get the story as to how a…read moreNZ-based restaurant brand decided to open up in Asheville, but they did so right before the massive storm that flooded the region. Having said that, there are a lot of Indian restaurants in Asheville. One I liked just closed, while several others are routinely packed and this one isn't. I stopped in shortly after opening (but still before the arrival of some of their staff) to give them a chance. One might expect a New Zealand company to do well on dairy and perhaps they do, but I was tempted by a vegan menu and ordered some chickpeas and bread. My channa masala was freshly cooked, with a good mix of flavors and herbal notes, while a garlic naan, while not something I often order during my frequent Indian restaurant visits, was delicious. But for the money, which was more than standard for the area, I don't get it. They talk about using fresh local ingredients, which a lot of restaurants around here do, and I appreciate their open kitchen, but there was way too much salt in there. I'm skeptical that they're going to make it in a busy local restaurant scene. I wish them the best and there is some quality here, but as a reviewer I'm not optimistic.

Large windows illuminate the pleasantly spacious, comfortable interior of this new Indian…read morerestaurant on Rankin. One of the partners, Anil, told me that this store is preceded by two others in Auckland, NZ, and is the first and only US outpost. The Mango Lassi was delicious and beautifully presented. My Kundan Makhani Paneer had a moderate spicy kick with satisfying complexity and depth of flavor. The Kheer (traditional Indian rice pudding) was refreshing, with just the right level of sweetness. Service was top-notch; thanks, everyone, I'll be back!

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Saffron Indian - indpak - Updated May 2026

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