SaffronSips Indian Restaurant & Bar

It does seem that our tastebuds had definitely been a little bit on the more adventurous side of the late — it hasn’t been too long ago that our tastebuds have been exposed to that of Burmese cuisine, and we are already feeling the thrill of trying out dishes from cuisines of various cultures that we aren’t too familiar with. SaffronSips Indian Restaurant & Bar is quite a new addition to the Bedok Reservoir Village neighbourhood; this would be the same area where one would be able to find other F&B establishments such as the outlet of Reiwa Soba and the outlet of Refuel Cafe there, as well as Scoopy Doo — these folks had actually taken over the former premises of the now-defunct location of Burp Kitchen & Bar there. There has been quite a fair bit of work done to the space; SaffronSips Indian Restaurant & Bar had pretty much ditched the industrial vibes that Burp Kitchen & Bar had adopted for the space, replacing with one that exudes a strong Indian influence with the use of patterned wallpapers that adorn the walls of the entire space while the dining furniture features the use of yellow and orange colours that matched well with the wooden accents in its fittings. There are a mix of booth seating and tables that also come with usual dining chairs — all the seating being cushioned for the comfort of its patrons; one can also find a television installed at above the bar counter that shows music videos as well. An establishment that focuses on serving up Indian cuisine, the menu is segregated into sections dedicated to Bar Bites, Tandoori (Vegetarian and Non-vegetarian), Vegetarian, Non-Vegetarian, Pulao & Briyani, and Roti & Naan. There is quite an extensive selection of beverages that are made available at SaffronSips Indian Restaurant & Bar that is categorised into Soft Drinks, Hot Drinks, Mocktail, Cocktail, Tequilla, Blended Whiskey, Vodka, Apertif, White Win, Single Malt Whiskey, Red Wine, Rum, Brandy, Liqueur, Gin, Draught Beer and Bottle Beer.

Whilst we hadn’t visited many Indian restaurants throughout our lifetime, there are some dishes such as the Butter Chicken and the Palak Paneer which we are more familiar with — that being said, we thought we would want to go a little more adventurous during our visit to SaffronSips Indian Restaurant & Bar; partially to not waste our efforts in wanting to explore into a cuisine that we aren’t too familiar with. SaffronSips Indian Restaurant & Bar lists the Lasooni Ghost under the Non-Vegetarian section of the menu; we did find out that the more common spelling of the dish on Google seems to be “Lasooni Gohst” instead. A dish that typically comes serve with mutton, some sources also describe the dish as garlic-flavoured lamb — the aesthetic of the dish being rather similar to that of Butter Chicken though less vibrant with a “browner” hue. Being a dish that comes with a good load of gravy, this would be one of those dishes that would be best paired with a bread item so that one can mop up all of that gravy that comes with it. Some might call the Lasooni Ghost to be fairly similar to a curry considering the flavours from the spices typically used for Lasooni Ghost — think turmeric, cardamom, Garam Masala, and bay leaves. The overall combination of flavours was one that was nutty, smoky and lightly garlicky on top of those notes from the aforementioned elements; the gravy being thick and rich — we were also pretty impressed with how fork tender the mutton was without carrying an overwhelming gaminess of lamb that we typically would have found to be intimidating.

During our visit to SaffronSips Indian Restaurant & Bar, we had also given the Malai Soy Chap a go; this was an item that is listed under the Tandoori (Vegetarian) section of the menu. It seems that the typical spelling of the dish is Malai Soy Chaap; some sources describe the Soy Chaap to be a meat substitute that is made from soybean and wheat flour. This does make the Soy Chap come with a texture that resembles that of fish cake; a tad firm to chew through but with a very slight bounciness as well. Being a tandoori dish, this also meant that the Malai Soy Chaap had been roasted — pretty obvious from the chargrill marks that one can find on them. Replicating that of the Malai Chicken, the Malai Soy Chap comes with a thickened sauce that typically sees the use of yogurt, ginger garlic paste and Garam Masala; flavours are rich but not too heavy with a slight nuttiness and a bit of tang from the yogurt, while there is that typical hint of spices that one would detect in the ending notes here that is usually associated with Indian cuisine. Dipping them in the green chutney also adds a very refreshing minty hint of flavours that takes away some of the heavier notes of the dish.

We found ourselves going for two different items from the Roti & Naan section of the menu here; the Kulchas (Onion) and the Lacha Paratha (Butter). The Lacha Paratha can be described as a flatbread that is more similar to the likes of Roti Prata in its form but employs the use of wheat flour — hence also a bit chewier and less crisp with a doughier flavour at least for the one that we have had at SaffronSips Indian Restaurant & Bar. Meanwhile, the Kulcha is similar to the Naan but the Kulcha is made from refined white flour and plain water rather than whole wheat flour and a mix of milk and yogurt. The Kulcha from SaffronSips Indian Restaurant & Bar does end up being really similar to that of a Pita flatbread where it is fluffy, chewy and crisp — opting for the variant with onions also sees bits of onions that has been mixed with chili powder and ghee that gives a lightly spicy note and a zing that we really liked and also preferred over the Lacha Paratha (Butter). We do have very little exposure to Indian cuisine considering how it is something that we do not typically end up with of a usual basis — as such, we probably would not be the ones to make comparisons between the food that SaffronSips Indian Restaurant & Bar offers against other Indian establishments around the island serving up similar fare. That being said, the flavours and textures of the food that we had tried at SaffronSips Indian Restaurant & Bar was a hit for our tastebuds — we also did not find the flavours of the dishes that we had tried to be intimidating considering our unfamiliarity with Indian cuisine as well. To top the dining experience off, we do feel the hospitality that the staff are bringing out to their diners — they were also actively gathering feedback on their food as well. We also loved how the space had been kept spick and span — something that reassures the patrons about the food here. Whilst being more of a proper Indian restaurant than the more commonly-found Indian-Muslim dining establishments that one would usually find in the heartlands, SaffronSips Indian Restaurant & Bar is an Indian restaurant that is worth giving a shot for a proper experience on Indian cuisine for those whom do not mind spending a little more; an establishment that we would keep in mind if craving for Indian cuisine whilst around Bedok!