Located in Chinatown, Zaffron is a decent place to get Indian food with mediocre service. Ray and I came here to get lunch. When we walked in there were two other tables already eating and no wait staff to be found. We decided it would be appropriate to go ahead and seat ourselves. I would of grabbed menus, but they were no where to be found. It took a while for the waiter to come out and when he did it took a while for him to notice us, as he was a one man team. Finally I got up to ask for some menus and to let our presence to known. He said there were no menus, just buffet for lunch. Well that fucking blows. I’m not a fan of buffets for many reasons. Buffets tend to keep food warm. That’s not good enough for me. Temperature is a huge issue for me. I prefer my food piping hot and made just for me because I love to share food, but with those I know. Anyway, needless to say, I wanted to leave but Ray, I know he wanted to stay.

Here’s a picture of the buffet. It’s small, yet very charming and does the job.

Here’s a closer picture from the opposite angle. There were two rice dishes and two meat dishes, other than that everything else was vegetable. I liked the trio of sauces that were offered. I love variety of sauces and condiments.

Naan was extra, which I hate paying extra for bread at a buffet. If anything it should be given for free, especially at a buffet, it’s bread for peaks sake, flour, water, and not a lot of money to make. But I do want to say that it was hot and delicious. If you haven’t had a chance to taste Indian bread your really missing out. This place does it right, there’s a few places that fuck it up, like Indian Bazaar Madras Curry and Indian Food Curry and BBQ. In my opinion, Indian bread should always be hot, that’s what I’m use to and that’s what I expect, especially if you have to pay for it. I think the bread cost around $4.00.

Here’s my trio of sauces. I could eat them as is, they were that good. Ray hated it.

Ray’s plate. He loves chicken and got plenty of it.

And here’s my plate. That little meat ball in the middle tasted just like an Italian meat ball. It was still really good, just not what I expected from an Indian place.

Overall, I was content with this place. I know I would of been happier if I had been able to order off the menu. I don’t think I would come back for lunch, but most definitely for dinner. Off the top of my head, I think the buffet cost $8.95, include the bread, Rays drink, tax and tip, this place isn’t so cheap anymore. If I’m paying $30.00 for just lunch I want to be fulfilled.

Ready for another quick story? Before we leave I get up to take pictures of the buffet. The Indian guy comes out of the kitchen wondering why the hell I’m taking a picture of his buffet. I tell him that it’s my first time to eat Indian food, which is a total lie, and seemed to be a good reason for taking pictures. He runs behind the counter comes back with this laminated paper, tells me they won a few awards, I don’t know if this was meant to be the award or not and shows me the laminated paper. I go, “wow, that’s great, may I take this.” He goes, “no.” “Then I will take a picture,” I say, held it up and snapped my camera. Before we left I asked him to hold up the paper and pose for me.

There you have it folks. Curry will keep your mind sharp.

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Zaffron
69 North King Street
Honolulu, HI 96817
(808) 533-6635

So our friend Val finally decided to bless us with her presence one day. She picked us up and we headed out for some Indian. I was psyched because I love Indian but don’t get to eat it often.
India Bazarr is a boxy place to get fast food for a somewhat decent price. It was hidden in the between a tiny strip of businesses perpendicular between Beritannia and S King Street. There is no menu as the food is laid out before you on top of a steamed table behind a glass counter. Names of the food is written on folded paper and placed in front of each item. Here’s the menu: veggie plate: rice and three vegetarian dishes for $7.00 and the chicken plate: rice, chicken and two vegetarian dishes for $7.25. There’s no table service, you just order, pay and eat. Ray and I got the chicken plate.

If you’ve been reading my blog then you will know that In my professional opinion Indian food is not the same without some hot, fresh, nan to tie it all together. It’s like Mexican food with no tortillas. Well this place had paratha nan and, like Indian Food, it was limp and room temperature with no soul and to top it off, cost $1.50 each. Ray and I got two each along with some orange pop to wash it down. Now this place started off to a good $7.25 start, but then you add the bread, drink and sauces that I was charged for and my new found excitement for this place slowly starts to dwindle. Oh, and yes I did say that I was charged for a small, 2 oz thing of sauce. If you don’t already know, I am a condiment whore. I love sauces, especially specialty sauces. There were a few different kinds so of course I asked for each one, and was charged a buck for each one, I think, it could of been .50 cents. All I know is that it was a small amount, dried up, and I was charged, yet another nickel and dime place.

As for the food, it was o.k. I didn’t love it, I didn’t hate it, however, it was not worth the 30 dollars we ended up paying for when everything was said and done. Oh well, Val still gets kudos for the suggestion, coming by to see us and good looks. Good job Val.

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2320 S King St #B4
Honolulu, HI 96826
(808) 949-4840

Where I’m from, there’s one Indian restaurant for every hooker, not that I’ve ever even seen a hooker at an Indian restaurant but the numbers are about the same. There’s not many Indian places to roam to here on Oahu but at least there’s better looking hookers. The fist Indian place I found was too expensive to write about so I kept searching. I did, however, run into another Indian restaurant the other day in China Town. Shane, Ray and I went to Maunakea Market Place on Maunakea Street. We followed our instincts through two sets of red doors that led us to a secret underground food court, or at least that’s what it felt like. The place was dark and dingy. A mixture of lumpias, basil and fish filled the air. I was in hole in the wall central and I could not have been happier. I quickly scanned the isle for all that this place had to offer me. There was a mixture of Filipino, Chinese, Vietnamese, Korean and even to my surprise, Indian food. If your not familiar with Indian food I think It would be best for you to mentally prepare yourself beforehand. Their dishes tend to be shades of greens, yellow and brown and consists of meat or vegetables usually in some sort of sauce. So picture meat chunks in dark sauce. It’s like sick baby hippo shit, and yes, I do know what sick baby hippo shit looks like; I see it all the time. Yum, not hippo baby shit but Indian food. It’s delicious. It just takes getting use to looking at if your not accustom to it, or at least it did for me. I haven’t had Indian since I’ve moved, so of course I had to have it.

This place was called Indian Food Curry and BBQ, not much thought put into naming it but hey nothing wrong with keeping it simple. Ray and Shane joined my band wagon and decided upon Indian as well. The food laid behind a glass window, where you pick two choices for $5.00, three choices for $6.00 or all you can eat for $6.99. I choose all you can eat. I was given rice and a little of everything else. If you’ve already had Indian before then you would know that It’s not worth having unless you have it with nann, which is delicious, hot, mouth watering, melts in your mouth, bread, at least that’s the nann the bay area has spoiled me with. The nann here was not hot out of the oven and cost an extra $1.oo. I was hungry and so excited to eat Indian, so the first few bites were amazing but as I kept eating I soon lost interest.

Honestly, the food was satisfactory. Service, though, was fabulous. It was obviously family owned and operated. The father was kind and generous. His daughter came over later and gave me a sugary treat on the house after I had already sat down to eat. I want to say that my experience overall was delightful. I love hole in the wall places that are family owned and operated especially when it’s done with a smile and that was exactly what this place was. For directions click below.

Indian Food Curry and BBQ