SAFFRON KITCHEN, RESTAURANT & BAR

Delicious Afghan food, they have the best variety of sides of anywhere I've been in the city. Which is important, good afghan food has lots of sides! Everything I tried was super delicious, best mantu and kabli I've found in the city. And the drinks menu has a lot of really unique non-alcoholic variety, which is so rare. And somehow even better than the food was the staff, who made us feel so welcome. This was just such a warm place. There was also a lot of care put into the outdoor space with plants around the edges. You could hear the birds singing in the background and it was a lovely ambiance. The restaurant was full and we could still hear the birds and one another without having to shout.

Being in this restaurant felt like being in a close friend’s home. All of the staff were incredibly nice and they felt like family of a really, really close friend if not family of my own. The food was absolutely delicious. I ended up over-eating because of how good it was lol. I didn’t particularly enjoy their Greek 510 drink, but that was just because of my own taste preferences there was nothing wrong with the drink. Also they were nice enough to make me a new drink which I just settled for what I knew and got a margarita. myself, and my two friends thoroughly enjoyed the food, the atmosphere, and the service. One of my friends even connected with one of the other diners who paid our bill, it was a huge heartwarming surprise to find out at the end of our meal when we asked for the check that it was paid already. The guest who paid was already gone so we couldn’t thank them personally but we are so grateful and I am planning to pay it forward. I absolutely can’t wait to come back here.

The food is delicious and we really enjoyed our time.

If you ever wanted to experience authentic Afghan food, definitely go to Saffron Kitchen. There are many Afghan restaurants in California and all across the country but Saffron stands out for many reasons. The number one reason is that the owner and manager of the restaurant has come from the heart of Afghan culture and knows everything about flavors of traditional Afghan food. On top of his skills and knowledge, he is extremely passionate about his work and infuses that passion into the food and you can taste it. This is the only Afghan restaurant that has a bar where you can enjoy your Afghan meal with the drink of your choice. Definitely try MANTU and BOLANI with the green and red sauce as your appetizer. And when you are done with the main course, I shall say go for the FERNI and BAKLAVA with green tea and thank me later.

Excellent staff, good ambiance, but for the cost I was severely underwhelmed by how flavorless and not tender my lamb quabuli pallaw dish was :( I even made it a point to ask the kitchen if the lamb was meant to lack seasoning/softness and they said that traditionally speaking yes, that is how it is prepared. Cool. No problem. But then charging $24 for something so easy to make where the meat has no salt and isn’t even soft?? Nah, that’s no fun. Spoiler: I’m from India and have had similar dishes for a fraction of the cost and 10x the flavorful beauty. (Also, the cocktail I was recommended to try was certainly beautiful tasting, but again, not worth $16!)

Great food and taste felt like a homemade food, will for sure comeback

Fantastic food. Very friendly. Excellent neighborhood spot.

We had a fabulous lunch at Saffron Kitchen. The service and everything we ate was delicious. We started with the Mantu, which was the most delicious dumplings we’ve ever tasted. Perhaps it’s because this might have been the first time we ate in such a fantastic Afgan restaurant! When we looked at the dessert menu options, the manager encouraged us to try their Fermi, a milk pudding. Based on his recommendation, we decided to try it and it was outstanding. However, when we went to pay, our server said the Fermi was “ on the house”! When I went to thank the manager, he told us that he was delighted that we enjoyed our lunch and hoped we enjoyed our visit with our daughter. We were very touched by his generosity and by our absolutely delicious lunch.