Wild Saffron makes approachable and highly flavoured food. While good tasting, I did hesitate to think that the approach to the main dishes was over the top. Something like a kid high on sugar at a birthday party, the seasoning and food combination over stimulated my palate and I was largely unable to enjoy the independent components of the dishes.  The food was good and there are greater food crimes than this, but I did feel sad for my poor sablefish who was getting assaulted by a mass of other flavours.

The menus that Wild Saffron are featuring for Dine Around are identical apart from the mains. My dinner guest Ryan, went for the lower priced option with salmon. Much like my dish, I thought the flavours were a bit overwhelming. The quinoa base, was interesting, but overpowered the fish. Similarly, the scallop accompaniment, seemed lost. The highly seasoned lentil crust, was more like a paste and would have been better if it was milder and crispier.

So about my sad sablefish. I liked all the components of the dish in theory and in practice when I was able to identify them. The lobster and fennel preserve salad, was light and nice, but was quickly toppled by the rest of the dish. The mushroom barley risotto was yummy too, but in combination with everything else served to make the dish heavy. The sui choy and the mango chutney drizzle, I feel, were the main culprits to assault that occurred on my fish. The sui choy, a wonderful vegetable, is simply to strongly flavoured for fish and the mango drizzle, way to sweet.

You can tell that they've put a lot of effort into these dishes. I respect their commitment to serving interesting food as part of the Dine Around menu. The first course prawn and lobster bisque was nice and simple and the desserts, interesting and thoughtfully prepared. Despite my criticism, these are good menus, executed well - just a bit busy with reference to style and method.

Wild Saffron is a comfortable place to dine. The lounge like atmosphere has a fairly informal effect, that suits a variety of diners. All of the Swan's beer menu is available in the restaurant, as well as good selection of reasonably priced wines by the glass and the bottle. Showy wines are not part of their mandate, nothing is fantastically expensive and everything is relatively familiar, without being entirely ho-hum.

The service on this night, was a little unusual. I couldn't quite peg the personality of our server and his timing was a little off. A legitimate complaint and likely a symptom of Dine Around - being asked for my dessert order before I've eaten the appetizer. If it's not a soufflé, then I don't think this is proper etiquette. Sure, it saves the server time,  but it's not about the server.  Generally, however he was friendly and the service competent.

Value of Food: 78/100 (The two menus were too similar to justify a $10 price difference, they should offered a flashier appetizer with the higher priced menu)

Quality of Food: 81/100

Service: 70/100

Ambiance: 73/100

Wine and beer list: 75/100 

  Reviewed: February 18, 2006