Zaffrani - London

This might be daring statement, but I believe this is the best Indian restaurant in town! Well, at least for me it is... I love this place so much! The service is superb, everything is super clean and so beautifully almost pampered.. You really can see how at Zaffrani 's take so much attention to provide genuinely impeccable service. Food wise, it has always been AWESOME!!! I mean, there is a choice from good old beloved 'plain Jane ' menu and some regional picks. The portions are smaller and organised almost as an Indian tapas place. The food is so tasty and I have to praise the coconut naan.. The best thing, I 've ever tasted from Indian cuisine.. Wine selection is pretty good as well!!

Best Indian restaurant I've been to in ages. We were warmly welcomed on entry and shown to our table in a relaxed yet smart restaurant. Straight away you get a sense that this place is going to deliver, it has that laid back confidence. Vegetarian mixed starters arrived, a mix of pakoras and almost tempura like vegetables, crisp textures and spices. The menu consists of classics plus regional specialities plus a good range of vegetarian options. Everything we ordered was excellent and well presented. Highlights included a lamb dish marinated in red wine with a sour cream and ginger sauce. Subtle and tender. Great bhindi dopiaza side dish and pilau rice packed with vegetables steamed in the rice. A good spicy chicken jalfrezi. Flavours well balanced and a notable lack of oiliness. Friendly and efficient staff and relaxed ambience overall. Good value given the high standard, definitely top notch. Looking forward to going back.

Definitely the best Indian in/around Upper Street. I'm not the best person to rate Indian restaurants as I don't like very spicy food, but that does mean that I often eat dishes which are a bit more subtle which don't respond to the approach of sticking in enough chillies and hoping that no-one notices... Zaffrani's milder dishes are not bland at all, they're subtly spiced and don't make you feel like you're eating a warm yoghurt while everyone around you is having spicy fun. I'm a particular fan of the biryanis which come in either mild or spicy varieties of chicken or lamb which is a really tasty, interesting meal with great veg curry sauce. My friends who eat the hotter stuff also love the place and comment that the you taste flavours and not just red sauce... Service is friendly and efficient, the place is packed quite tightly but never gets too loud or feels cramped... I've eaten here a lot and will continue to do so!

Very delicious food. Nice decor. Good value for money as well. Wine a bit on the expensive side.

Disappointing experience. I've become a big Indian food fan, so I was excited to run across this spot in the neighborhood. Atmosphere- the place could use some work. The menus weren't cleaned, they were torn and literally had sharpie hand written over things that are out. Just reprint new menus. Service- there is a younger guy that's in there that is very nice. The older guy with the mustache, not so much. He was huffy and rushed us and didn't answer our questions about the menu. It's a huge menu and we didn't understand some of the items. We just randomly ordered a few things because he made us so uncomfortable. Food- the paneer and spinach croquettes were tasty but could have used some salt. The chicken biryani was so damn hot. We asked him in advance how spicy it was and he gave us a noncommittal not too spicy and well it was. We had to order another raita just to eat it. The daal was interesting. It had too many vegetables for my taste. The man brought out a dish we had not ordered on accident. Because we had no explanation of the items we didn't even realize it. We were mid dishing it out when he came over and asked if we wanted to keep it since we didn't order it and then ended up just grabbing it since we didn't order it. Weird and bad service.