Saffron Restaurant and Cafe in Damansara Perdana is typically a Middle Easters & Iranian restaurant which recently have added a twist to their menu which have made them a very interesting place to dine. This restaurant is located along Jalan PJU 8/5G in Damansara Perdana and it is somewhere closer to the right end of the first block.
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| Saffron Restaurant in Damansara Perdana |
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| Some Seating Space Available Outside |
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| Interior of the restaurant |
I arrived her on a weekday at around 7 pm and it was quite deserted. Perhaps not many people know that there is a Middle Eastern restaurant here in this part of Damansara Perdana. The thing that attracted me the most was the banner at the entrance which said that they now serve Indian Banana Leaf meals and that too prepared by a chef from South India. Being attracted by the fact that a Middle Eastern restaurant is serving Indian food was the main factor that drew me here today. Once I arrived, I was greeted by the staffs and the lady boss. I must say that they were very friendly and nice and when I took my seat and having observed me to be profusely sweating, they went on to make sure that they switched on all the air conditioning units to ensure my dining comfort. The interior was also very nicely designed and it was kept very clean.
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| The Menu |
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| The Menu |
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| Some Iranian Dishes |
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| Some Western Dishes |
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| Mixed Cuisines |
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| Mixed Cuisines |
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| Middle Eastern Cuisine |
As you can from the menu above, they have a whole load of variety to offer and I feel that their prices are generally reasonable, especially for Damansara Perdana. Having decided to try their Banana Leaf set, I stuck to that. The Banana leaf set is sold for RM 12.90 during lunch hours and RM 15.90 for dinner which has a few extras. This set also comes with a drink.
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| Ice Lemon Tea |
The above Ice Lemon Tea is already included in the set. Generally, it was a little diluted and would have been way better if the concentration was kept to a notch higher. I would rate this drink at 6/10 .
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| The Banana Leaf being layed |
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| White Rice |
All the items comes in individual silver cutlery and I was pleased to see how neat they were. I was also pleasantly surprised to see that they use real Banana Leaves instead of the paper ones. The rice portion was really huge and I know for a fact that I could only eat a third of it. The only mistake they did was to place the Banana Leaf the wrong way and I corrected them and told them the significance of placing it right which they acknowledged and thanked me for. I do not blame them as none of them were Indians.
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| Vegetable Set |
In the above tray, there were five different vegetables, Chicken Curry and Sambar. Their Sambar was really nice and I would rate it at 9/10 . The Chicken Curry was just average and that would score a 5/10. The spices were a little off in this curry which gave it an off tangent taste. Generally the rest of the vegetables were quite good and they deserve an average of 8.5/10 . They have gone the extra mile in providing good vegetables instead of the common ones that we get at a typical Indian restaurant. Though each of those containers seem small, they were quite deep and thus the quantity was not as little as it seemed.
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| Bitter-guard Perattal |
There was also another small container containing the above Bitter Guard Perattal. This is one of my favourites and I am usually fussy about this, but pleasantly, it was very well prepared. Everything was just right about this dish and my ratings would be a 10/10.
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| Coconut Chutney |
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| Papadam & Moor Milagai |
The sides did't stop there. It continued with that small plate of Coconut Chutney was I found to be quite decent and also some Papadam and Preserved Chili's. The Coconut Chutney, I would rate it at 8.5/10 .
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| A Large Plate of Mutton Varuval |
With this set meal, you have a choice of Fish, Chicken or Mutton and I choose Mutton. I would say that their Mutton Varuval was nicely prepared. The spices were perfect, the meat tender and the gravy had seeped well into the meat. I would rate this at a 9/10 .
On the whole, for the mere price of RM 15.90, I got all that you see above which is a very good deal. The environment was also great and you do not get the rush that you get at those Indian restaurants out there. The service level was also very personal and I did not have to shout out to the waiters to top up some gravy of for anything else. I would definitely come back here again for their banana leaf meals. The only setback that I see is that they are closed on Sundays and that is when I would love to have a hefty lunch which would be just nice to head back and sleep through the afternoon. A strongly recommended place!
Address: No. 22A-1, Jalan PJU 8/5G, Damansara Perdana,
47820 Petaling Jaya, Selangor, Malaysia.
Opening Hours: 1130 - 2100 Daily (Closed on Sundays)
Telephone: +603 7732 3643
