The fiance and I have been wanting to try different Indian restaurants lately! After looking around at some delivery apps, we picked Saffron Indian Cuisine.

The restaurant is located on Kingsway in Burnaby, a few blocks from Metrotown and beside Nando’s. I took this picture for this post a couple of weeks after we ordered delivery.

Samosas: The samosas were packed and plump, but it could have used more spices and flavour. Considering how Indian food is very aromatic and fragrant, the samosas were on the bland side.

Chicken korma: The chicken korma was delicious! The sauce was fragrant and flavourful, with a nice spicy kick. It came with a side of fluffy basmati rice, which was a deciding factor in us choosing this restaurant because many chicken korma dishes at other restaurants didn’t come with rice.

We enjoyed the chicken korma the most and had plenty of leftovers for lunch the next day.

Chicken biryani: I always order chicken biryani because it’s my favourite and I also like to compare different restaurants. Unfortunately, I found the chicken biryani here to be disappointing.

The rice was too oily and wet, so it lacked the fluffiness I was looking for in a biryani. Flavourwise, it was fragrant and tasty but I was not a fan of the wet rice.

---

Overall, I found Saffron to be meh. Nothing special or nothing extremely bad. It wouldn’t be a top pick for Indian food and I’d like to try other places instead of ordering from them again. 

Indian food is only something I’ve been having for the past two years or so. Turns out I have been missing out for most of my life because it is so fragrant and delicious! I am wanting to try more Indian restaurants to review so please let me know if you have any favorites.

We originally had plans to get Red Robin’s with Sangria and Lager, but last minute I saw an ad for Indian food and began craving for it. Fortunately, everyone else was down for Indian too so we found a place that did delivery near their place, Desi Turka.

Desi Turka is located on the border of New West and Burnaby. We ordered delivery so we didn’t go into the restaurant, but it seems like they have some dine in specials during the week.

We each picked an entree and shared everything!

Chicken biryani: I absolutely love my chicken biryani, and it is what I usually order. Some places can be hit or miss though so I was hoping Desi Turka would be the former. The portion was huge! The takeout box was jam packed to the brim, as evident in this photo.

The chicken biryani was absolutely delicious and writing about it is making my mouth water. The basmati rice was incredibly fluffy and fragrant with all the spices and herbs they used. The chicken was juicy, tender and very flavourful although there could have been a few more pieces.

I’ve had biryani at other restaurants that was so oily that you couldn’t tell the rice was fluffy. I’m happy to say this was not the case and this dish was perfect.

Goat curry: Lager loves his goat, but Sangria and the fiance are vehemently opposed to goat. I am neutral so I had some of the goat curry. The curry was very flavourful and fragrant, and good to mix with our naan bread and rice.

Goat meat tends to be tougher than beef or pork but I found it to be alright. I personally wouldn’t order a dish to myself but if it was on the table, I’d have some.

Butter chicken: Sangria picked the butter chicken. The butter chicken was more mild in spice and less fragrant than the biryani and curry. It was creamy and had a silky smooth, well rounded flavour to it.

I personally prefer my Indian food to be more spicy and fragrant, but the butter chicken was delicious!

Chicken korma: The fiance picked the chicken korma and it was also delicious. He couldn’t have enough of it! Chicken korma is made with a creamy sauce and is less spicy than curry. The chicken was also very tender and juicy in this dish.

Vegetable samosa: We were pleasantly surprised when we saw that we got two samosas instead of one! This was absolutely delicious and fragrant with all the different herbs and spices used.

Garlic naan: The garlic butter naan bread was so good! It was thick and chewy, perfect for dipping with the goat curry, butter chicken and chicken korma. The garlic complemented the sauces in the other dish well.

Roti bread: The roti bread was forgettable and meh. The garlic naan was a lot better.

We were really happy with Desi Turka. The food was delicious, flavorful and the portions were big. Too bad they don’t deliver to our area or I would get it more regularly.

Konnichiwa from Osaka, Japan! The fiance and I are back in Japan! I have a backlog of food posts though in my absence. Stay tuned for Japan posts next month!

While looking for a place to have dinner, Applesauce and Jalapeno suggested Dosa Corner. We have never been here and it had great reviews, so off we went!

Dosa Corner is very hidden, quietly tucked away at the end of Fraser Street by SW Marine Drive. This wouldn’t be a restaurant where someone would just happen to stumble upon, as this was an industrial area (unless you work around here I suppose).

Yet, the restaurant was completely full and busy! They don’t take reservations, so we came a bit before 7pm to beat the dinner rush. We had to wait about 5 minutes while they cleared the table. A line was forming during and after our dinner.

Tiger beer: Jalapeno started off with a Singaporean beer, Tiger. We’ve never heard or had it before, so he gave us a few sips. The beer reminded me of a pale ale, which I love. There were also some tropical hints to it. I’d order this if I saw it again!

Chicken masala dosa: You can’t go to a place called Dosa Corner and not get a dosa. The dosa was delicious. The boneless chicken was so incredibly juicy and tender.

In addition, the spices used were so aromatic and tasty. Apart from the boneless chicken, the dosa was also stuffed with some spiced mash potatoes and some sauce.

There were also two sauces and a soup. From the left, the green sauce was a coconut chutney, which helped cool down your mouth. The middle was a sambar – a savoury, lentil based soup. We ended up using it as a sauce because it would be too salty to drink by itself. I am not sure what the second sauce on the right was called, but it was quite gingery.

Chicken korma: The chicken korma was one of their chicken curry dishes. What separated the chicken korma and the other chicken curries was that it contains coconut milk. We decided on this one because we love coconut milk in our curries.

Just like the chicken dosa, the chicken here was also very tender and juicy. It was delicious and I wish I could tell you what kind of fragrant spices they cooked it with, but I am not sure!

This dish also came with a naan bread, rice, and papadum which is a salty, thin, crispy flatbread. At around $14, it was a great value and also very filling!

Spinach masala dosa: Jalapeno and Applesauce ordered the vegetarian spinach masala dosa. Their dosa came in a triangular shape. They enjoyed their dosa and had no complaints about it.

Okra curry: Jalapeno and Applesauce ordered okra curry, which was vegetarian and also came with naan bread, rice, and papadum. They enjoyed their curry a lot as well. I had a bite of the this, and although I am usually not a fan of okra, it was good with the curry.

We left very satisfied and full after Dosa Corner. The food was delicious, filling, and cheap. I’d definitely come back!

For the Dine Out festival this year (2018), I didn’t really go anywhere because I wanted to save my moolah. However, on the second last day of the festival, I was feeling a bit food-venterous so I decided to look up the $20 menus. Chutney Villa caught my eye because I have never been to an Indian restaurant before, and because it looked like a good value for $20 each.

I gave them a call in the late afternoon and luckily, they were able to squish the two of us in just a bit before 6pm!

Chutney Villa is located in the central part of the city, just off Main and Broadway. There wasn’t a parking lot and only paid meter parking, which kinda sucked because that area is always busy and hard to find spots. But since we got there right before the dinner rush, we found a parking spot nearby.

Our noses were greeted right away with aromatic spices! The restaurant was also clean and well maintained.

Please keep in mind that this is my first time at an Indian restaurant. With that said, I don’t have much to compare to.  The boyfriend has also only been to an Indian restaurant once many many years ago. Also, this was a special dine out only menu so the descriptions will be brief.
Meen Puttu Steamed Ling Cod: This was quite interesting! I would describe it as shredded fish mixed with shredded coconut and spices. I enjoyed the savoury spices with a hint of sweetness from the shredded coconut. The only negative was that I found it to be a bit dry.
Dosa: First time trying a dosa! It was pretty good, similar to a crepe but a bit crispier. There was a dallop of spiced mash potato inside which I loved.
Mangalore Curry: Mmmmm, this was so good. This was a full flavoured chicken curry with many different types of delicious spices and chili peppers. The chicken was so tender, soft and marinated really well. It packed a good amount of spice. I enjoyed the side sauces, most notably the yogurt-style one because it helped cool down my mouth in between bites!

I would definitely order this again and typing about it is making me really hungry and wanting to order it again…. <3
Fish curry: The boyfriend’s fish curry was delicious as well! Very aromatic too. Compared to my chicken curry, his fish curry sauce was slightly sweeter and a tad less spicy. His curry also came with the same side dishes. We were both really full because the curry was quite heavy.

Oh yeah, there was also a small side of cooled sweet potato. It reminded me of the Korean banchan ones. Along with the yogurt sauce, they really helped cool down our spicy mouths.
Gulab Jamun: A classic Indian dessert. It is a milk solid, soaked in sugar syrup. The texture reminded me more of bread than a milk syrup. The boyfriend really enjoyed this dessert but I found it way too sweet! But I also don’t have much of a sweet tooth.
Mango ice cream: This was described as hand churned and Indian style. Not too sure what Indian style entails, but I found it to be deliciously creamy and full of strong mango flavour. The mango flavour tasted more like real mango as opposed to artificial mango. It was the perfect dessert to cool down a spicy meal with.

All in all, we really enjoyed our visit to Chutney Villa. Service was quick and we were able to leave just before the DOVF crowd started to come. My first time going to an Indian restaurant was a success and we will probably go try another place in the future!

Yay!