Zaffron Restaurant

Food was very good in my opinion — I have a sesame allergy and they were easily able to accommodate it when I ordered bread and so on. I ordered lamb shank with dill rice and it was a very large portion — meat was very tender and the rice was good, not too oily at all which I find is the problem with some other places I otherwise like. Yoghurt/​eggplant dip is good but could use a bit more seasoning; I find it is good if you accompany it with some of the parsley/​onions given with the appetizer. My father ordered a lentil stew which he said was very good. Salad shirazi is also excellent.
The atmosphere can be a bit strange though, there seems to be a very large part of the restaurant with big seating areas, I guess for big parties or something, and if you come on a slow night (I came early on a Friday evening in the middle of January, there were only two other tables at the time) it can look very dark and empty.
The waiter was a polite young guy. No complaints about him.
Overall I would recommend this place, esp for stews and so on — the décor could use a bit of an update however.

I had a party with 28 guests at Zaffron Restaurant in January of 2015. I was really impressed by the quality of food and the level of service and entertainment. I highly recommend Zaffron Restaurant to whomever is looking to throw a Persian style party of great food and fun.
My experience:
1. I am a visitor to Toronto, I had to make the reservation over the phone. I spoke with the restaurant owner/​manager who offered a personalized attention to my requests.
2. The service was perfect; two very professional and friendly servers were assigned to our four tables. They went above and beyond their call of duty to make sure all of our guests were receiving the best service possible.
3. The food (both appetizers and main courses) was super tasty came in large portions.
4. The price was reasonable and fair.
5. Lady Toktam (the singer/​entertainer) was absolutely stunning. Beautiful voice, great selection of songs, such graceful attitude, she is a gem! We really enjoyed listening to her and dancing to her sons.

Super inconsistent.
On the good days, food is a little dry but good. Used to be a really great restaurant but they’ve run down on their chicness.
They have annoying singers on Friday nights. Come on Zaffron, you’re classier than that…

I’m Persian so I grew up with Kabobs/​rice and stew all my life.
The koobideh was super dry and by the time I ate half way it was hard. The chicken was nice and juicy. Salad Shirazi (cucumbers, tomato, onions, dry mint, S/​P with lemon/​olive oil dressing) please don’t ruin the salad by using lemon juice from a bottle!
Not my go-​to for Persian food.

It wasn’t a bad experience, but I would not return.
The food was great! My problem was with the unclear way they sell it — the set up of wrong expectations led to an overall unpleasant experience.
We had ordered — 4 skewers that our waiter suggested, the taadig appetizer, 2 vegeterian appetizers (olives, and a yogurt blend — both terrific!), 2 glasses of house wine and a beer. That was $ 160, for 3 people, for a large lunch.
For the 4 «skewers”/kebobs, it actually was charged as 3 full dinner sized meals, which the waiter didn’t make clear. If we knew that it actually was charged as 3 meals, we wouldn’t have ordered as much. One of the 4 «skewers» was a rack of lamb, which was $ 28, which may be fair for a rack of lamb — but highly unexpected when you’re thinking you’re ordering kebabs. It was unfortunate that such a huge amount of food was suggested for lunch as well.
While the food was delicious — fresh, great, large portions (as they should be for the price…), clearly prepared with knowledge and ability — I am still unlikely to return because of how I felt after due to my incorrect expectations of meal size/​price.
My recommendation is if you go, do not take suggestions from the waiter but order specifically off the menu as to have a clear understanding — and expectation — of what you’re getting.
It was not too loud, it was not too busy, and the house wine was A-​OK.

This place sucks real big — no respect for culture — specifically ordered different Kebobs — chicken and beef and these guys mix it all in one box — waste for all at home who do not eat beef — 3 people went hungry after ordering $ 150 worth food in 5 persons !! Called them but no remorse — «sue us if you can»

Outdated tables and chairs, very dark and unpleasant atmosphere… the food is by far the worst persian food Ive had… no taste at all. Washrooms were very dirty and smelly. Its very expensive for the food and service received. Will never return.

We have always had a great experience here. The eggplant kabob appetizer with walnuts and pomegranate paste is to die for. Food is consistently excellent. Fresh baked sesame bread straight from the wood oven. Highly recommend.

Phenomenal food and service. Very cordial and inviting atmosphere and wait staff. Will definitely go there again when in Toronto!!!

Food, price, and ambience similar to Shomal North on yonge and steeles. Some differences are that this place plays live music and has an Italian menu where you can order wood oven pizza. I enjoyed the beef kebobs and rice a lot. The kebobs had good flavour. The egg plant dish was okay. Didnt have much taste. Bread was a bit dry.
Service could have been better. Waiter was a bit cold and wasn’t attentive. I had to ask for my water to be filled instead of him checking to see if we needed more. The hostess was nice. Greeted us as we walked in ans said good bye with a smile when we left.
There’s parking in the back of the restaurant.

the most low quality catering in persian catagory. we had party on persian new year and every one paid for the food to be cater through this place.
the food was not even enough for everybody and the quality was bad.
I feel so bad for this business,

I recently had dinner at Zaffron and overall it was a pleasant experience and I walked away having enjoyed my meal. The space inside the restaurant was inviting and comfortable. The service was excellent as it was very attentive and friendly. Above all the food was well cooked and presented. I’m not an expert when it comes to Persian food, but I found the food to be quite good and satisfying. The flatbread was very good. The kebabs were sumptuously savoury and the rice was delicious! All in all, I’m not sure you could ask for more when going out for a nice dinner. Definitely recommended.

I’ve come here probably 10 times before. They have changed the interior lately and now they have live music on Saturdays. We came on a Sunday, so I cannot comment on the music, but the music they had tonight was a Persian mix and I thought how great that we came on a Sunday, cause you probably wouldn’t be able to hear each other. The service is great as usual.
I always had some sort of kabab and salad, but tonight I decided to get adventurous and ordered steak and fries and it was just A-​OK. I know what good steak tastes like and what I had was not quite what I had in mind. Their bread and Mirza ghasemi is excellent though, so is their kabab options. I’m most likely going back to the old kabab if I come here again. I’m curious about their pizza too.

I’ve only tried the Persian food here, and it’s always been very tasty. The kebabs are perfectly cooked. The lavash flat bread is amazing. The yogurt drink (similar to a salty lassi) is addictive.

I ate here today with one of my friends… the food was okay nothing wrong with that. However, the servant was very rude. After I had paid, almost 6 dollars tip, approximately 7% of our total bill! I got approached on my way out by a servant asking how the food was… I answered that it was okay thank you.
Next thing, I see he is complaining that the tip is very low and that it should be at least 10%…which is redicilous… I pay according to what pleases me, there is no such mandatory tipping rule.
I suggest that they put the mandatory 10% tipping on their menu if they are so worried that people have to pay 10% tip… a very unpleasant approach and unprofessional… and shameful.

The food is great! I love the atmosphere in the restaurant. It has a classy look to it without being pretentious.
The kebabs are always the winner! Their stew is also better than most persian stew I ever had.
The servers are very polite and the food arrives unexpectedly quickly.
The only bone I have to pick with this restaurant is the parking lot; it has a lot of potholes. Other than that, all is well.

Went on a Friday night, place had a few tables full of people. Atmosphere was good and there was a live band.
The live band was a guy singing his heart out on the piano.
Food was great, better then most Persian restaurants I have had in the Toronto area. I would definitely come back in the summer when the patio is open!

November 18^th EDIT: A company employee private messaged me this:
«The next time you come in, appetizers on us, ask for MARIUS. Can you please change your star rating… ?» Are you serious?!? No I won’t.
September 20^th: Went here for a birthday party with a group of about 10 ppl. I had previously reserved by calling. Most of us stuck with kabob plates, but even then the prices were expensive ($ 22~ for lamb??).
The server took our order and suggested us some «complimentary» appetizers with bread (there were olives, grilled eggplant and some others — most were really good). I thought that was a nice gesture. Anyway we got our food and it was delicious! The meat was tender and juicy, the rice was great too. Since it was a birthday, I asked for a slice of cake to be brought out and he said what’s the name I should put on it, I told him and he said great. I even asked how big the slice is since I didn’t — he made a triangle with his hands and I was like great. Guess what we got?! A WHOLE CAKE! I couldn’t even say no because he wrote «HBD _​_​_​_​!» on it. No one wanted the cake since we were already full from the free appetizers and entrees. We cut it and it was delicious but we didn’t really need a whole cake!
Anyway, we asked for the bill and we got one bill even though we asked mostly separates. Then the server said he cannot reprint separately, so we sat there trying to calculate who pays what.
Wait, there’s more, they charged us for the appetizers, I inquired and he said «the bread was complimentary, not the appetizers». He didn’t say it that way when he offered! Oh, the cake was $ 30 by the way.
The way they are sneakily putting in appetizers and bringing out whole cakes instead of slices — I would never return or recommend this place. The total bill ended up being about $ 300~ and we ended up with a cake we didn’t really want. Woop.

I really enjoyed this restaurant. I came for lunch with a friend and there were only a few other seats taken, so we had great service. We ordered sabzi, kashkeh-​boudemjan, and fessenjoun. The eggplant in the k-​b was perfect which is great as I’m a big eggplant fan. The other dishes were done well too and we left pretty happy.
In addition, the price is reasonable for the portion size and the atmosphere is quite nice.

I’ve had a good experience the last few times I’ve been here.
The restaurant overall doesn’t deserve more than 3 stars, but the fact that they have cooked some of the dishes with great consistency for over 10 years is appreciable.
Overall kabob dishes are the best bet at Zaffron and you can be assured of decent service. What raises the bar and makes the 4* rating for me though, are a series of appetizers. The kashke-​bademjan: grilled eggplant with whipped whey dip and herbs is the best one I’ve had in the city and tastes great with the in-​house baked flatbread. The yogurt with shallots is also very good hear. Perhaps a great place to pick up appetizers to complement a meal you’re making at home.
Still a bit too pricy!