A Saffron Thread Fresh Indian

So I gave it 3 stars, but I was really hoping to give it 4 or 5.
The good:
Friendly service.
Decent prices.
Seemed clean.
Tandoori chicken: flavorful
The bad:
Tandoori chicken: because it was still attached to the bone, and a bigger piece, deep center, there were some red…
Long wait: so think they started cooking the chicken when I ordered, so waited ~30 min for take out
I really wanted to like the restaurant. If I was to try them again, I’d order veggie dish, and stuff already cooked lol

Prices are great for TriBeCa. Unfortunately the food
Lacked flavor. Shrimp vinadallo did not taste like a vindaloo dish at all. They just added some red coloring to it. Chicken tikka wasn’t great either. Samosa was okay. Pay more and go to Benares or somewhere else !

I wasn’t expecting to love this place as much as I did.
I went on a Friday evening to get a quick dinner before meeting up for a movie at Battery Park.
Warning: HUGE portions. Get less than you think you need!
Anyway, this place totally hit the spot — friendly staff, decent food in huge portions. I had aloo gobi and naan and absolutely could not finish it all by myself.
The place was quiet when I got there — one young professionalish type just off of work and two construction guys who knew the staff.
Tip:
Didn’t realize it was BYOB. Everyone else there had a bottle of wine and were drinking out of plastic cups. I’ll remember next time. Totes charming.

The owner and staff are great ! Food is always delicious fresh and AUTHENTIC. From the vindaloo to the assorted vegetable dishes you will be happy. Lunch specials for under $ 10 and ready for immediate consumption !! You won’t be disappointed.

The raita was very thin. Vegetable jalfreze was a slick of oil and potatoes with very few spices. It was so bland — didn’t taste like South Asian food at all. The portions were very large for a sum of 12 dollars, enough for two people, but I’d rather have higher quality food that feeds just one.

What a gem in the heart of the city! This was the best Indian food I’ve ever had. The flavor was incredible and they were able to provide options for the degree of heat you want. Portions were large and the menu was extensive. Prices were very reasonable. Can’t wait to visit again!!!

I came here with my parents and food was good. But the waitress kept forgetting stuff. I had to wait for 15 mins and then realized she didn’t catch the order properly. My mom also ordered for veggie biryani but instead of giving that they gave us plain rice. Not a total let down but it could have been better. Also they don’t give 10% discounts for Unilocal checkins.

My go to eat-​in fast Indian-​Chinese place in the neighborhood. Used to pop in regularly when I worked downtown.
The lunch special is reasonably priced.

Came in here on the recommendation of Unilocal… must say isn’t a bad place. A little pricey but again your in Manhattan, I opted for the lamb curry which was really amazing, with the rice and a spinach side called saag paneer and a chickpea side called channa massala it was very delightful. The place is spacious and looks very clean. If I’m ever in Manhattan I wouldn’t mind stopping by again. And Id recommend to anyone.

Amazing food in this place!
Have been coming here for the past year and never had a negative experience. Food is ALWAYS fresh and tasty.
Best place to eat Indian food in the downtown area.
Prices are very fair to the quality of food provided.

Sooo much food. It really is a great bargain! But you probably won’t finish your lunch…
Saffron is basically a mini Indian buffet with some items made to order. Doesn’t disappoint, but I feel their prices are a bit high other than the value platter. The platter comes with two veggie dishes, one meat, basmati rice and naan. And it’s filling. Eat up or save some for later.
Bangers: samosas, roti roll, saag paneer (spinach), channa masala (chickpeas), chicken tikka/​tikka masala. I LOVE their naan. Some days I just get naan and a side of rice.
Employees, I’m guessing are smiling on the inside, but still are nice. There aren’t too many tables, about 5 or 6, and some stools so eating in isn’t always available.

The best «homely» Indian restaurant near TriBeCa. They make the best goat curry (called «Goat Hundi» in their menu) in the entire world. Daal Tadka is also too good. I can eat them everyday.
The ambience and settings are not at all good though. I prefer taking foods out rather than eating their.

Very good portion of lunch special, three dishes over rice with a big warm garlic naan ends up to $ 9. Certainly cant be as cheap as any other food trucks around, but considering the tidiness of the envionment and size and taste (less salty than regular indian meals) I would give it 3.8 out of 5.

Good addition to Chambers Street. Liked the food. True, inside looks a little tired.

Run down, sure. Not quite a restaurant and more of a take-​out place, sure.
Don’t let that deter you. The book on the cover is deceiving. It’s what’s inside that matters or should I say the food on the inside that matters.
Here’s what good: the food. It’s not just good, its surprisingly superb. I recommend getting the platter, you can choose one chicken/​meat and two veggie dishes and it comes with rice (have your main dish poured over rice) and some of the best naan that I have had: fluffy, the right amount of oil and slight crispiness – simply blissful and will put you on cloud nine when dipped in their curry sauce. Oh and the [naan] piece that I was served was almost bigger than my face. What’s better is that you get all that for $ 9. Yup, you heard that right.
The dishes I had 1) Chicken Curry, what wasn’t to like. Solid curry sauce, the right amount of spices with a little kick and the chicken was super tender. It was solid and tasty all the way out and compliments the naan perfectly. Someone knows what they are doing in the kitchen. Yum! 2) Vegetable Zalfrazie, which is described as fresh sauteed mixed veggies cooked with exotic spices. The description didn’t disappoint. Think of an array of veggies playing in a pool of curry /​exotic spice sauce, also with a little kick. It was almost as good as the Chicken Curry and made for a great supplement.
If you can look past the somewhat rundown interior and the lack of seating ala restaurant style, you are in for a treat. This place is a hidden gem. If you work in TriBeCa or you are in the area, I strongly recommend this place for dinner or lunch. The $ 9 special is all day everyday, the only thing that changes are dishes in the buffet that you choose amongst to come with the platter. This place is a hidden gem and you won’t find a better deal, certainly for Indian food of this caliber.
I’m pretty sure I’m not only going back but because I work in Tribeca, I will make Saffron Thread a weekly tradition. :)
Also, I read reviews that the lady at the counter/​register was rude. I didn’t find this to be the case at all. Just the opposite actually; she could tell I was a Saffron newbie and took the time to explain each dish and how the platter system worked. She was very friendly and carried a smile on her face.

Because of this restaurant, I look forward to Wednesdays.
On that magical day of the week, I’m able to order vegetable biryani. For the unfamiliar, I’d describe vegetable biryani is an Indian veggie stir fried rice. I have a thing for veg stir fried rice anyway, so maybe I was fated to love Saffron Thread’s version of biryani. They serve other stuff here too. The spinach is really good, same for the stewed eggplant, and the curried cauliflower, those are my favorite.
If you go in looking for a particular dish, be sure to check for the daily specials before you get your hopes up.
Also, I can’t comment on the meat selection since I’m vegetarian and never tried it. But as a vegetarian, I’ve always had several delicious choices available to me.

Went back here, on a Tuesday like last time. Had the special which for 9 bucks comes with a meat entrée and 2 vegetable entrees (as well as rice and naan.) Excellent deal.
Had the egg curry, the sag paneer, and the big portion (your first order, the one they ask if you want over rice) was the kari Pakora.
Egg curry (guess) was solid, curry had good flavors but there wasn’t much well big pieces of egg. I don’t know whether it is traditional but maybe cut up some of the pieces so you don’t get half/​¾ths of an egg in a small portion? If it isn’t, than this was fine. it was probably the least memorable but it was anything but not-​flavorful. 3.5
Sag paneer (Paneer, a milky hard cheese in spinach) was solid as well. Great flavors of spinach and the paneer was the perfect tendency. If anything, it was a bit buttery (but it’s better to be too soft than too hard.) 4.0
Kari Pakora (Pakora, being chickpea fritters in a curry sauce [in this case a buttery yellow sauce with saffron and some spices) was excellent and I was happy it was the main portion. Sauce was one of the better ones I have had and the pakora’s were well spiced and loaded with chickpeas. 4.5
Rice was fluffy and the naan was solid, for free naan I don’t mind the solo serving, especially for a good one.
For the deal together, I’d give it a 4.0 for the flavor but a 4.6 due to the excellent prices.
The sweet lassi was fine but the portion was just a little small for the price. Flavor was fine though. 3.7
You might wonder now why this place has a 5 not a 4, as it rounds to a 4.15. Well, it’s the combination of dishes, the low price for the area, the fact that they have an amazing consistent Carrot Halwa (5 stars) really helps me rate this place so well.
4.5

Worst place to order from!
The food is decent but the management is rude nd so unprofessional.
The lady on the desk seems absolutely uneducated. does not know how to talk to a customer. She’s rude nd just not co– operative!

Food: 3 stars for the food (although I only had one lunch special… so this may not be a fair barometer). If you need a change from Chipotle this is a good option. Ordinarily I avoid Indian for lunch during he week, just because it can be heavy and spicy… a little much when you have to return to work. But this place serves light and not overly spiced food. So I guess this is good and bad. Good because it makes it an easy place to grab some Indian food for lunch while not feeling like crap after and bad in the sense that some of the dishes were kinda uninspiring in the flavor department. Saag Paneer was delicious. CTM was tasty and light. Naan was good. In general the food was good, but not so good that I’m running to go back.
Value: $ 9 lunch special. I’m used to Pakistani Tea House prices so I thought this was a bit much. Overall the prices were reasonable, portion was fair, but by no means large (with the notable exception of the largest piece of Naan I have ever seen) that came with the lunch. I was full, but not stuffed when done.
Service: Exceptional. The owner was very nice and you could tell takes great pride/​care in the place. I like supporting small businesses like this.
Heath Grade: A. The place looked very clean.

Indian Chinese has come so far in New York that the only thing Saffron can legitimately say to herald its arrival is that it’s the «first of its kind in TriBeCa.»
This cuts a whole half-​mile off of the previously not very far commute to get this once rare type of dry-​rub chili mega fusion.
Ordering off the rather perfunctory selection of dishes on offer here, makes it too easy to miss why people used travel thousands of miles for this stuff. Simply put — this isn’t spicy enough. This isn’t case where an American is trying to get the Thais to simply their complex varieties of spiciness to make everything taste like fire, but just a truism of this cuisine. Indian-​style Chinese combines the chili and curry masalas of the sub-​Continent with the wok cooking and peppers of the Middle Kingdom. The first time I dish cuisine — in a Delhi back alley — I literally cried from the spice.
Chili chicken here is much closer to a slightly tarted up version of sesame chicken. Yes, the temperature is hot, but the flavor profile isn’t memorable or pain inducing in the slightest.
The rather clinical surroundings and lack of a crowd at 6 pm on a Wednesday confirm what this place is — another Seamless-​driven place for bankers to add to the late rotation. The traditional Indian entrees on the steam table looked fine — there are worse options within a couple blocks — although they won’t stand out in a pretty crowd great of generic Punjabi eateries.
While it might not be possible after a long investment banking shift, I’d anyone intrigued by the new menu here to head for Flushing and Jackson Heights, where real Indian Chinese is available. It’s a painful, but ultimately very rewarding experience.