Raita On

Among the vegetarian entrées, I liked the palak paneer, spinach and cubes of homemade cheese with ginger and garlic. While this is served in a tomato-based sauce, the spinach sort of wilts into its own sauce, which you can then wrap around the cheese cubes for a cool textural contrast, albeit with a mostly spinach flavor. Channa aloo (chickpeas and potatoes in a sauce of tomatoes and onions) was too mild for my taste, but if I hadn't already sampled the baingan bhartha on the buffet, I gladly would have ordered it as a main course.

Saffron's naan is excellent, especially the version that's topped with garlic. (There's even garlic-cheese naan, a decidedly Western variation stuffed with mozzarella.) I also liked the more humble roti, thin whole-wheat bread.

If you enjoy a Kingfisher or Taj Mahal or any other beer (or wine) with your Indian meal, know that as I write this, Saffron has yet to acquire its liquor license. Our server said we could certainly bring our own beverages.

I can't remember ever having room for dessert at an Indian restaurant, and Saffron was no different, but on our second visit our server brought us three different desserts to try. If you've only had one dessert at an Indian restaurant, it was probably shahi jamun, a dense ball of pastry dough served in rose-flavored syrup. This is reliably tasty, even if the last thing you want after pakora and lamb vindaloo is a heavy doughnut in syrup. Lighter and more complex is saffron-infused rice pudding.

The third dessert, ras malai, was new to me, a sphere roughly as big as the shahi jamun, but much lighter. The texture suggests rice, perhaps softened with coconut milk; in fact, it's made from cheese. It made for an interesting, though not especially flavorful, change of pace. If Saffron doesn't offer many changes of pace from the Indian restaurants you already know, it still affords the pleasures of a complex cuisine prepared well. Satisfying. Delicious. Timeless.