Spotted in Guiseley Train Station

Pretty Sweet

Saffron Desi - Guiseley

Over the years I must have eaten more curry here at Saffron Desi than anywhere else!  It's my local curry restaurant you see - me living in Guiseley.  Eat ins and take aways, we've had them all. Sorry for not blogging sooner.

Saffron Desi, however, does have it's roots in Bradford, and is a genuine Bradford Curry eating establishment - see here.  NB.  Saffron Desi opened the Guiseley branch a good few years ago now, and I understand the original Leeds Road, Bradford Saffron Desi has now closed.

Naans on sticks - Excellent.

At Saffron Desi you get a very good quality meal, with excellent service and an overall splendidly trendy experience.  I have always been happy here.  Over the years the Mrs and I must have sampled the majority of the menu, but stand out dishes for us, and the ones we re-visit time and time again are, for starters, the Saffron Mixed Grill.  It is a massive, packed to the rafters sizzler with chops, fish, kebabs and tikka etc.  It is not for the people with weak constitution!  Rather for those with a bottomless appetite.  The Grill alone can fill you if you're not on top of your game!  But as with everything in life, size isn't everything, and the Mixed Grill is great tasting too.  All spicy and carcoaly - very nice.  For mains, the stand out dishes for us are the Vensi and the Saffron Ka Khana.  The Vensi is not a dish you'll come across very often - indeed a quick Google search produced very little info - but it is a brill dish.  It is a creamy dish - which I don't often favour - but it has heat and sourness, which gives it a real kick.  Comes garnished with peppers too, which add another dimension and flavour.  It is one of our favourites.   Secondly the Ka Khana, which is your more traditional Bradford Curry in a thick onion/tomato based sauce, and is a 'complex dish of many individually roasted ingredients' apparently - or something like that.  It is dark and rich and very tasty.   As always, the above are accompanied with a garlic naan on a stick (a nod to Akbars??) which is always warm, fresh, fluffy and, above all, bery garlicy.

Saffron Achari

The Lamb Saffron Achari I had recently was perhaps not in the same league as those discussed above evenif it was listed on the Saffron Specialities - Award Winning Dishes section of the menu.  Different to other Acharis I have had in Bradford recently, it ticked all the right boxes on the menu, with mention of yoghurt marinades, pickle masala and a dash of cream, but it was rather too creamy for me, and not quite as butt puckeringly sour as I would have liked either!  Having said that, it was still very good, a perfectly good take on an Achari - worth a try if you are a fan of this variety.  Perhaps ask for extra sour when ordering?

It is great to have such a quality establishment on ones doorstep.

A Curry Hunt - Tiffin Box, Guiseley

The Tiffin Box

AAarrrghhh!  Hungry!  

A Sunday afternoon to early evening in-laws wedding anniversary party, with some associated drinking, had left me starved!  By the time we'd got home, and got daughter Izzy to bed, the wife Lynda had flaked out asleep, it had started snowing and it was getting late.  Also, had no cash and, crucially,  desperately needed a curry.  

Seemingly exhausting the often utilised  computer/takeaway/credit card options - a task beyond my comprehension at this hour on this day, I booted up and set out on foot into the blizzard.

Up until recently all the curry outlets in Guiseley were proper restaurants only, so there has never been an option for a cheap and quick, basic sit down curry locally.    This has changed to a degree with the opening of The Tiffin Box.

Curry needed

Lamb and Spinach, and Garlic Naan

 

To be honest, The Tiffin Box is definitely more takeaway than curry house, but the introduction of a few tables and chairs in the shop front, adorned with sauces etc, certainly makes it more inviting for a sit down.

On a Sunday night mission - bang on the Northern Soul
and off we go

Wandering in I got the immediate impression they were about to shut up shop, but I was warmly welcomed non the less, and asked what I fancied.  Feeling awkward, I just ask for what ever would be easiest for them... but nothing seemed too much trouble, and not being in the mood to peruse the menu, I just went for my staple Lamb and Spinach, and Garlic Naan.

I took my seat and patiently waited.  I wasn't sure what to expect, whether my food would just come in a takeaway foil container, and would sit and eat it from said receptacle or whether it would be plated?

Snowy Guiseley

I was pleased to see my curry arrive steaming hot on an actual plate with accompanying naan adjacent.  Both looked very fresh and good quality.  And indeed they were, and as good as anything served in my favoured Bradfordian eaters.

Thick and full of meat and herbs, it was definitely in the camp of the more modern looking curries, with many of the ingredients on display, rather than homogeneous mass.  There was heat there too, and it was, not to put too finer point on it, quite lovely.

I may have found my new local curry takeaway/cafe stop.  Watch this space.