Let’s Do Lunch : Zaaffran, Darling Harbour
6 November 2008
10 Comments
Modern Indian ? Does it work ?
Every year during Good Food Month, there is a frantic period of decision making. It’s hard to visit every single restaurant which is going against the norm to create unique and exciting dishes for the food loving public of Sydney during October. Due to the fact we were coming towards the end of Good Food Month, a flick of the coin resulted in our visit to Zaafran (Heads for Zaafran and Tails for Aria, which we subsequently visit anyway which I will cover in a later post).
Tropical Lobster and Prawns glazed in the clay oven; Mixed Salad, Spiced Potato Wedges; Freshly Baked Mushroom Flatbread with Truffle Butter (sauces were Garlic Chutney, Mint Chutney, and Beetroot Raita)
This dish was an array of beautiful colours and differing food textures. The prawn and lobster was delicately spicy and amalgamated nicely with the garlic, mint and beetroot sauces. These sauces were delicious and provided a moist offering to the golden brown crunchy wedges as well. A minor disappointment was the mushroom flatbread with truffle butter as I found it rather unexciting. I also had a bit of truffle finding the butter. In saying that, the bread was a nice companion to the fantastic sauces as mentioned previously.
Gulab Aur Elaichi Kulfi (Creme Brulee flavoured with Rose and Cardamom)
Apologies for the poor description, but the creme brulee did indeed taste very ‘rosy’ and was something which I haven’t quite tasted before so it was an interesting choice of flavour. The creme itself was delicious, very creamy. I was somewhat let down by the lack of cameralisation as you can probably see in the photo. I’m a sucker for a good creme brulee and that usually means a crunchy hard coating on top.
Gulab Aur Elaichi Kulfi (Kulfi with a twist, flavoured with Rose Petals and Green Cardamom), Aam Ki Kulfi (Mango Kulfi), Zaafran Sensation Ice Cream (Pistachio with Saffron, Cardamom and Almond)
Once again Zaafran has gone against the status quo and utilised some daring ingredients in it’s creations. My colleague was intrigued with the flavours but couldn’t exactly pin point anything good or bad about the Ice Cream. He suggested that the rose petals were indeed an acquired taste which took some time getting use to. The addition of the biscuit was a good ‘chaser’ in order to digest the rose petals among the other flavours of which the pistachio was a highlight.
World's Smallest Dessert (Pistachio)
They say sharing is caring, but not with this dish. At least this dessert lived up to its name. A single scoop of pistachio ice cream laced my bowl. To their credit, it tasted fantastic and was rich in pistachio flavour with a nice balance of creaminess.
Gulab Jamun (Milk Dumplings Flavoured with Saffron and Cardamom)
These dumplings were soaked in a sugar syrup and as a result were copiously rich and sweet. This would of been perfect with a cup of tea or coffee.
The food at Zaaffran is interesting, as they utilise daring ingredients with subtle yet amoratic flavourings. I’d be interested in knowing whether Indian food usually uses rose petals or not. I still prefer my local Indian joints in Harris Park, but in saying that Zaaffan has a host of awards and accolades to suggest that they know a thing or two about Indian food.
Zaaffran
Lvl 2, 345
Harbourside Shopping Centre, Darling Harbour
NSW 2000 Australia
Ph : (02) 9211-8900
Web: http://www.zaaffran.com & http://www.zaaffran.com.au
Howard
squishies
Lorraine E
frank || 
Arwen from Hoglet K
belle
sydneyguyrojoe || 
Sydney Accommodation
Sorry, but serving a single scoop of icecream in a high end restaurant with no garnish? That’s just cheap!