Zafran - Contemporary Indian Cuisine with a Twist
Wednesday, February 8, 2012
The Indian Cuisines are always well acknowledged for their unique textures and flavours. For those looking to try Indian cuisine with unique flavours, Zafran offers you wholesome fresh and a delicious spread that will surely have you truly enticed.
The elegant and unique Zafran Indian Restaurant serves contemporary Indian cuisine, with a twist, brilliantly presented, with breath-taking Decor and Ambiance above Centrepoint (1st floor), Salmiya, Kuwait. Bursting with flavours, both the dishes and venue of Zafran engages guests in discovering the new flavour of India. The menu has been inspired by internationally acclaimed TV personality and twice Michelin-starred chef Atul Kochhar.
The décor is imbued with splashes of red, orange and dark wood, giving the restaurant a chic and sophisticated look. The vibrant colours and the soft lighting infuse the interior with a warm, orangey glow that is welcoming.
It offers a delectable journey of tastefully Indian cuisine at its best. Flavoured with exotic herbs and spices the dishes are absolutely sensational and are a testimony to the chef's skills at a mastery of flavour and texture. The minute you walk in Zafran, you will be soaked in magnificent majestic; such is the vibe of this restaurant. As we entered I was now confirmed that a fascinating culinary experience was awaiting me and guess what I was not disappointed at all.
At the entrance of Zafran Restaurant is the Lounge Area with open kitchen. On the right side is the Main Restaurant with 6 private cabins having 6 – 8 people’s capacity. All the cabins are uniquely decorated with a shadow of red, orange and black. They also have one VIP Cabin with 10 person’s capacity for meetings, get-together etc. They provide dedicated staffs for this VIP cabins with prior appointment. The other side of the restaurant dining area is a well decorated party hall. They can accommodate 80 to 100 people with live DJ Music at this party hall.
As we sat down in this sophisticated atmosphere and ready for our culinary journey to begin we received the menu card. As we looked into the menu we got the usual complimentary of “Papadum” but not with your usual dips. It had 3 Varity of dips – pickles and chutney. A different combination and I loved it.
Menu was exceptional. There was so many different things that we have never seen before. All dishes names were in Hindi and it was a unique Indian menu. As a complementary we even got vegetable cutlet with sweet chutney which had a distinct taste.
To start off we ordered Soups - Murgh Badami Shorba – Creamy Chicken Soup with ginger, almonds and saffron and Mahi Samundari. The soups were deep and rich in taste. For Appetizer we ordered Bhalla Papdi Chaat and Chicken Pakoras. Papdi Chaat was unique variety of Zafran. White lentil dumplings with wheat crisps, pomegranate, yoghurt and tamarind chutney, it just recreated the magic of sweet and tangy chatpata taste. Chicken Pakoras with a batter fried Chicken with a fig and berry chutney was just yummy.
We began our main course with Shrimp Biriyani – Shrimps cooked in oriental spices with saffron basmati rice. Kali Mirch Ka Murgh was a very good combination for Garlic Naan. In it, Chicken curry with pounded black pepper and fennel, enjoyed the tingling on our tongue of the spicy Chicken; Fried King Prawns infused with lime leaves was a variety I found at Zafran. They call it Limbu Jhingae. Their Zafran Special Fish and chips was also unique with marinated fish with saffron and chilli mayonnaise and potato wedges. All the cuisines at Zafran are presented in a stylised fashion and unique flavour.
As for the drinks, we picked Apple Mojito – Apple, mint and lime and Mint Cooler. To complete our meal, we were treated to a sweet bowl of Desert platter – 5 varieties of sweets. It had Gulab Jamoon, Kulfi, Shrikhand, Chocolate Cake and Gajar Halwa. We could taste all the fine desserts in one single item! This was an excellent dessert! I loved every bite.
All dishes that we ordered had something unique in them. They had a twist, a modern approach with traditional flavours. The spices used were to perfection giving a wonderful flavour and aroma to every dish. We got to explore new flavours of Indian Cuisine. The Presentation of each dish was excellent and the service was quick and good.
They have open Kitchen and you can get to see how the live Tandoori grilled food is prepared right in front of your eyes, quite a visual treat! They even have an attractive Juice counter in the party hall and a Sheesha Lounge in the outer area where you can choose from the Lounge Menu and sheesha.
Zafran certainly gives you an enriching experience, it's a wonderful place to celebrate, unwind, or just plain get together with your friends or family and have a great time. With an open kitchen dining and private dining area, Zafran makes a perfect place for a dine out.
For those who are worried about the heavy traffic in the heart of Salmiya, Zafran provides free valet parking; we need not worry about getting parking place at any time of the day. Situated right in the main Salem Al Mubarak Street of Salmiya, above Center Point, Zafran is a perfect place for all things Indian. Zafran restaurant also have a facebook page at www.facebook.com/Zafran.Kuwait where you can see regular updates and offers.
s
Deepika Nambiar is part of the IIK team and IWIK core team. She does regular contributions to the news portal IndiansinKuwait.com and also for Timesofindia.com.
View full profile