Zaffron An Indian Delight

August 06, 1999

Straight talk by: Bob Jones

Saffron is the most expensive of the common spices and properly so because it only blooms three weeks of the year and the tendrils have to be harvested by hand. Only three stigma -- the source of the spice -- are produced by each plant.

Think about that as you enjoy your India black tea with cardomon and saffron at Zaffron , the ethnic restaurant that has taken a place as a significant eatery at 69 N. King St. in Honoluluâs Chinatown.

A friend had taken me there for lunch when it opened four years ago but I wasnât impressed. There were six choices of Indian plate lunches served on paper plates, with plastic utensils, and a paper cup for water. I went back to eating off a silver platter at the India Bazaar after that one!

Luckily, Zaffron has now passed into the hands of Taiyab and Sheila Khan, Fijians of Indian descent, and their theme of "Finest Indian Cuisine" is accurate. Now you get a ceramic plate, silverware, and the kind of food thatâs a good attraction for Chinatown.

First of all, the interior is warm and best appreciated at night with candlelit tables and soft lighting. Next, owner Tai Khan, is the very model of a good restaurant host. Heâs an environmental scientist by training and did his MA in microbiology at Eastern Michiganâs Ypsilanti campus. Heâs a natural greeter!

Now to the food. Lunchtime, they still offer six plate orders from vegetarian curry to a mixed plate of curries, chole, aloo sabzi and their exotic chicken biryani rice. $7 for the first five, and $7.50 for the full mixed plate. You can also order items a la carte. Downtown workers and mayor Jeremy Harris are among the regulars.

Itâs the Thursday, Friday, Saturday buffet dinner that I highly commend for your Indian dining experience. $15 per person, tax, black tea, and dessert included. Vegetarian and carnivore. All nicely separated so thereâs no confusion.

Six vegetarian entrees of the usual Indian persuasion. And, ah, the meats! Beef and chicken curry. Tandoori chicken (always too dry for my taste but Iâve never found it any other way in an Indian restaurant), goat curry balls, and lamb curry.

The little extras include vegetable samosas, raita of cucumber and yoghurt, aloo partha, great naan breads in both plain flour and whole wheat, salad, and mouth-burning mint chutney (a spoonful of yoghurt will rescue your tongue.) The night we went the desserts were puddings, one of rice and the other of semolina.

Zaffronâs does not have a liquor license but there is a package store a half-block makai with a good choice of quart bottles of imported beer.

Do not leave the place without trying the Indian black tea I mentioned earlier. Even if you are not a regular tea drinker. This one is almost a mystical experience!

And, yes, they have take-out, or will deliver, and cater for private events.

I didnât ask why a microbiologist would leave the microscope and go into the risky restaurant business, but Iâm happy that Tai Khan did and pleased to recommend this place to you with no reservations other than a hope that Tai will start heating his dinner plates and maybe turn up the flame a bit under his food warmers.

Speaking of reservations, Tai says you need them Saturday nights. Call 533-6635.

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