For various reasons, Valerie Safran and Marcie Turney decided to close Bindi, their indian restaurant. I’d never had a chance to go, so we stopped by on their last day in business. I’m happy to say that it was full and hopping. It was a beautiful space! And all of the food was delicious. It’s a shame to see it go!
E’s mango lassi. Who doesn’t like mango lassi?
Papadum with chutney for dipping. You know, it’s like the chips and salsa of indian food. I love this stuff.
We both ended up getting their prix-fixe, which has a limited menu, but pretty much covers most things from their regular menu. It’s not necessarily a better deal or anything, but I’ve just been into prix fixes lately. Here’s E’s spring pea and potato samosas, served with mango-date chutney and raita. These are adorably hot, flaky, and not greasy.
I got the salt roasted beet and mixed radish chaat. It’s a salad of local beets, watermelon, jicama, chutneys, sprouted moong, and yogurt. This thing was awesome. There are so many different flavors in this, it’s hard to describe.
E’s indian bbq braised shortrib with masala roasted potatos, grilled corn-cabbage slaw, and watermelon rind chutney. Bindi’s food is interesting because it doesn’t always look typically indian, and then you taste the intense indian flavors.
I got the seafood goozoo which comes with shrimp, scallops, and mussels in a spicy tomato-tamarind curry, with ginger, garlic, green mango, and lime rice. When I first tasted this, I wondered why this dish was being served at an indian restaurant. Then I moved onto the bottom of the bowl and then all the indian flavors hit me. This had tons of fresh seafood. I really enjoyed this.
The bread we got was a potato paratha. It was a slightly spicy potato griddle bread with ghee, sea salt, and a house raita. I love me some indian breads. They should be part of my daily life.
E gushed about the cardamom cake, so that’s what we both went with. It’s an individual sized warm cardamom cake topped with indian spiced chocolate pot de creme, salted caramel, cacao nib crumble, whipped cream, and a giant shard of sugar glass. Man alive, was this thing amazing! If the salted caramel budino is the must-have at barbuzzo, then this is the must-have at bindi. I hope that they end up still serving this at one of their other restaurants. This entire meal was lovely, and so was the service. I’m just happy that I got a chance to check it out! Bindi, we’ll miss you!

H/A and I headed over to nearby Saffron to stuff our faces. On a weeknight they were still doing brisk business. It’s nice to see this place busy. They had some monthly specials, as usual. When H/A ordered, the server complimented him on his pronunciation of the indian dishes.
we got one of the appetizer specials, the chicken and shrimp chaat. It’s a cold dish comprised of cubes of chicken tikka and shrimp tossed with cucumbers, tomatoes, chaat masala, and a touch of sour cream. It was ok but this didn’t excite me much. I think it would have been better just as a veggie salad as the chicken and the shrimp didn’t really kick this up any notches.
Here is the boti kabab masala. This is lean cubes of lamb marinated for 24 hours in yogurt and spices, baked on a skewer in a tandoor, and then finished in a tangy spicy sauce. The lamb was unbelievably tender and the flavor of this was pretty good. And there’s no veggies, it’s just straight up tender hunks of lamb and sauce, perfect for dipping your naan into! In this case, I got the spinach and cheese naan again. I had liked it the last time and I think it’s a nice alternative to plain naan or garlic naan. It has fresh spinach and homemade cheese. Eat it while it’s hot, people!
But you know what, hands down, with no doubt in my mind, the best dish at Saffron is the kadai paneer makhani. It’s got homemade cheese cubes cooked with bell peppers, onions, tomatoes, and freshly ground spices. There’s just something about this sauce that is unlike any other indian dish. It’s just the best! I would put this sauce on anything if I could buy it or figure out how to make it. It’s not like the sauce that came with the lamb, it’s not masala, it’s not korma, it’s not butter, it’s just the best indian sauce ever. Service is just fine here. They brought out the wrong bread at first but then fixed that right away. And they’re pretty good about filling up your waters. I will come back here for the kadai paneer makhani forever! 

It felt like I hadn’t eaten out in along time. And in a way, it was true. After all the holiday meals with family and post-holiday happenings that were not conducive for dining out, we finally had to escape. We went to Saffron again. I do not remember the menu looking this nice. Maybe I just didn’t pay attention last time.Although their plain naan is fine, I wanted to try something truly different. This is the spinach and cheese naan, and frankly, this is now my favorite kind of naan. Fresh spinach and ooey gooey mozzarella. This is seriously good.
J’s favorite dish, the kadai paneer makhani. Homemade cheese with green bell peppers and onions in a sweet and tangy tomato based sauce. I have to agree, this dish is pretty amazing.
I got the chicken korma because it’s one of those dishes I like to try at any and all indian restaurants. It’s really good at Saffron, but perhaps a bit on the safe side. They use really good quality ingredients here. And they don’t skimp with the rice either. They’ll bring out piles of it for you, if you ask.
Mango lassi and the rice pudding. I think this is the rice pudding they kept on trying to push on us last time. Both are good. But since I’m not a dessert person, I don’t really know. And on a thursday night, this place was still hopping. That makes me happy.