Ember-Grilled Oysters
৳890Cox's Bazar oysters over charcoal, kasundi butter, burnt lime and a scatter of fried shallot.
Allergens: Molluscs, mustard, dairy
Gulshan-2 · Open seven nights
Bengali cooking, finished over live fire
Sixty-year-old family recipes met a four-metre charcoal hearth. The result is the mustard, the smoke and the saffron you remember - plated the way Dhaka eats today.
100% Halal Kitchen
Confirmed in 2 Hours
Allergies Handled
No Card to Book
0+
Guests Served
0/5
Google Rating
0
Dishes on the Menu
0
Years on Road 11
Chef's table · Thursdays at 19:30
Seven courses, one hearth, twelve seats
Sit at the pass while Chef Arif cooks in front of you - hilsa cured that morning, kacchi lifted from the clay, nolen gur soufflé straight from the oven.
100% Halal Kitchen
Confirmed in 2 Hours
Allergies Handled
No Card to Book
0+
Guests Served
0/5
Google Rating
0
Dishes on the Menu
0
Years on Road 11
Private dining for 8 to 60 guests
The table everyone remembers afterwards
Mehendi dinners, board lunches, birthdays and anniversaries - a private room, a dedicated host and a menu written around your table.
100% Halal Kitchen
Confirmed in 2 Hours
Allergies Handled
No Card to Book
0+
Guests Served
0/5
Google Rating
0
Dishes on the Menu
0
Years on Road 11
As written about in
12
Years on Road 11
Our Story
A grandmother's recipe book and a four-metre hearth
Saffron & Ember began in 2014 as a twelve-seat supper club in a Banani flat. Chef Arif Chowdhury had come home from a decade in London kitchens with one conviction: the food he grew up eating did not need reinventing, it needed heat and honesty. His grandmother's notebook - kacchi, rezala, shorshe ilish, all written in cramped Bengali on grocery-shop paper - became the working menu.
Twelve years later the notebook is framed by the pass and the hearth burns charcoal from the same supplier in Savar. We buy hilsa from two families in Chandpur, vegetables from a co-operative in Manikganj, and we still cook everything to order. Nothing sits under a lamp, and nothing leaves the kitchen that Arif has not looked at.
Free cancellation, always
Change or cancel up to two hours before your sitting. No card, no deposit, no fee - even on a Friday night.
Valet parking on Road 11
Hand your keys over at the door from 18:00. Complimentary for parties of four or more.
Vegan and vegetarian menus
Not an afterthought - a separate seventeen-dish menu cooked on its own section of the hearth.
Zero-proof pairing list
Twelve house sodas, shrubs and cold-brew chai blends built to sit next to spice, poured by the glass or as a full pairing.
Arif Chowdhury
Chef-Patron & Founder
The Menu
Sixty-four dishes, one fire
The menu moves with the market, so a dish or two changes most weeks. Everything below is on tonight unless the board by the door says otherwise.
Beguni Fritters
৳420Aubergine in a gram-flour batter, tamarind and date chutney, green chilli salt.
Allergens: None
Herb Khichuri Arancini
৳520Last night's bhuna khichuri rolled, crumbed and fried, with a coriander and green-chilli emulsion.
Allergens: Gluten, dairy, egg
Sea Bass Crudo, Kasundi
৳780Bay of Bengal sea bass sliced thin, mustard kasundi, cucumber, mustard-oil pearls and puffed rice.
Allergens: Fish, mustard
Tandoori Chicken Skewers
৳980Overnight yoghurt and Kashmiri chilli marinade, finished with smoked butter and a squeeze of lemon.
Allergens: Dairy
The Ember Mixed Grill
Lamb chop, beef seekh, chicken tikka, tandoori prawn and grilled vegetables on one board, with three chutneys.
Allergens: Crustaceans, dairy, mustard
Charred Hilsa, Shorshe
৳1,650Chandpur hilsa wrapped in banana leaf and laid on the coals, mustard gravy poured at the table.
Allergens: Fish, mustard
Clay-Oven Bread Basket
৳320Butter naan, roghni, sheermal and a garlic kulcha, brought out hot as each one comes off the wall.
Allergens: Gluten, dairy, sesame
Kacchi Biryani, Mutton
৳1,450Raw marinated mutton and chinigura rice sealed under dough with saffron, kewra and ghee-fried potato. The dish we are known for.
Allergens: Dairy, gluten (seal), tree nuts
Bhuna Khichuri & Beef
৳890Slow-fried moong dal and rice with a beef bhuna cooked down for five hours, served with achar and a fried egg.
Allergens: Egg, mustard
Saffron Vegetable Pulao
৳750Chinigura rice with saffron, roasted cashew, sultana and the week's vegetables from Manikganj.
Allergens: Tree nuts
Slow-Fired Beef Short Rib
৳2,150Twelve hours over dying coals, glazed in tamarind and jaggery, with burnt-onion mash and pickled mooli.
Allergens: Dairy, mustard
Lamb Shank Rezala
৳1,890White rezala of yoghurt, cashew and green cardamom, finished with kewra water. Falls off the bone with a spoon.
Allergens: Dairy, tree nuts
Garden of Gulshan
৳980Nine vegetables from the co-operative, cooked nine ways across the hearth, with coconut-curry leaf broth poured at the table.
Allergens: None
Nolen Gur Soufflé
৳620Date-palm jaggery soufflé with a cold nolen gur ice cream dropped into the middle at the table. Twenty minutes to make.
Allergens: Egg, dairy, gluten
Rose & Pistachio Meringue
৳580Crushed meringue, rose-water cream, Iranian pistachio and a berry compote sharp enough to cut the sweetness.
Allergens: Egg, dairy, tree nuts
Cardamom Tiramisu
৳560Cold-brew masala chai in place of espresso, mascarpone whipped with green cardamom, cocoa from Chattogram.
Allergens: Egg, dairy, gluten
Tamarind & Smoked Chilli Highball
৳480Tamarind shrub, smoked bird's-eye tincture, lime and soda over a single clear block.
Allergens: None
Saffron Lassi Martini
৳420Kashmiri saffron steeped in sweet lassi, shaken hard and served straight up with a pistachio dust rim.
Allergens: Dairy, tree nuts
Cold-Brew Chai Negroni
৳450Twelve-hour cold-brew masala chai, bitter orange, gentian and clove syrup. Bitter, spiced and entirely alcohol-free.
Allergens: None
Ways to Eat With Us
One kitchen, eight ways to sit down
Lunch on a deadline, seven courses at the pass, or the clay ovens loaded into a van and driven to your garden - it all comes off the same fire.
Dinner Service
The full à la carte menu from 18:30, with the hearth in full view and the last order taken thirty minutes before close.
from ৳1,800 pp
Book a Table
Chef's Table Experience
Twelve seats at the pass, seven courses, and Chef Arif cooking an arm's length in front of you. Thursdays only.
৳4,900 pp
Reserve a Seat
Weekend Brunch
Saturday 12:00 to 16:00. Clay-oven breads, egg bhuna, chotpoti and bottomless masala chai for the whole table.
৳1,450 pp
Book Brunch
Private Dining & Events
Two private rooms and a rooftop terrace for eight to sixty guests, with a dedicated host and a menu written for your table.
from ৳6,500 pp
Plan an Event
Corporate & Board Lunches
Fixed-time three-course lunches for teams who have a 15:00 meeting. Invoiced monthly, seated on the minute.
৳1,950 pp
Open an Account
Outdoor Catering
The clay ovens travel. Holud ceremonies, garden weddings and corporate launches across Dhaka, cooked live on site.
from ৳2,400 pp
Request a Quote
Cooking Masterclass
A Saturday morning at the hearth learning kacchi, shorshe ilish and the three bhortas we will not put on the menu.
৳3,200 pp
Join the Next Class
Gift Vouchers
Any value, valid for a year, delivered by hand in Gulshan or by email in ninety seconds.
from ৳2,000
Buy a Voucher
Why Saffron & Ember
The difference is everything you cannot see from the table
Where the fish came from, how long the biryani has been in the clay, and who read your allergy note before the kitchen did. That is the whole business.
0%
Repeat Guests
0
Producers We Buy From
Everything cooked to order
No holding cabinets, no pre-portioned curries. Your kacchi goes into the clay when you order it, which is why it takes forty minutes and why it tastes the way it does.
We know where the fish came from
Hilsa from two named families in Chandpur, vegetables from a Manikganj co-operative, charcoal from Savar. Ask any server and they can tell you.
Allergies taken seriously
Every dish has a written allergen record. Tell us once at booking and the kitchen, the host and your server all see it before you sit down.
A real person confirms your table
No booking widget that silently overbooks. Someone from the host desk calls you within two hours, every time.
Halal, certified and audited
The whole supply chain is halal-certified and independently audited each year. The certificate hangs by the entrance, not in a drawer.
Nothing goes to landfill
Trimmings become stock, stock becomes staff dinner, and what is left is composted with a Mohakhali urban farm. We have sent no food waste to landfill since 2022.
Tonight's sittings are filling up
Weekend tables go within about three days. Pick a date now and change it later - there is no cancellation fee and no card required.
Reservations
Book your table in under a minute
No card, no deposit, no cancellation fee. Someone from the host desk calls you back within two hours to confirm.
We use your details only to confirm your table and note your allergies. No card is taken to book, and we never sell your data.
Secure 256-bit Booking
No Card Details Taken
Your Data Is Never Sold
Allergy Notes Kept Private
Tonight at Saffron & Ember
Opening hours
| Monday Lunch 12:00-15:30, dinner from 18:30 | 12:00 - 23:00 |
| Tuesday | 12:00 - 23:00 |
| Wednesday | 12:00 - 23:00 |
| Thursday Chef's table sitting at 19:30 | 12:00 - 23:30 |
| Friday (today) Opens after Jumu'ah prayers | 13:30 - 23:59 |
| Saturday Weekend brunch 12:00-16:00 | 12:00 - 23:59 |
| Sunday | 12:00 - 23:00 |
Find us
House 42, Road 11, Gulshan-2Dhaka 1212, Bangladesh
Getting here
Valet parking from 18:00, complimentary for four or more. Four minutes on foot from the Gulshan-2 circle.
How Booking Works
From "shall we go out?" to sitting down
Five steps, one of which is just handing over your car keys.
Pick a date and a sitting
Choose your date, time and number of guests. Lunch runs from 12:00, dinner sittings start at 18:30 and the last table goes down ninety minutes before close.
We call to confirm
Someone from the host desk rings you within two hours to confirm the table and check anything unusual - a wheelchair, a high chair, a proposal.
Tell us about allergies
Anything you flag goes onto the ticket before the kitchen sees it. Coeliac, nut, shellfish and dairy adaptations are prepared on a separate section.
Arrive and hand over the keys
Valet from 18:00 on Road 11. Your table is held for twenty minutes past your sitting time - just call if the traffic on Gulshan Avenue has other ideas.
The table is yours
Two and a half hours for dinner, three for the chef's table. Nobody will hover, and nobody will turn your table out from under you.
What Comes With the Table
Included, whichever night you come
None of this is a premium add-on or a members' perk. It is simply how the restaurant runs.
Free cancellation, always
Change or cancel up to two hours before your sitting. No card, no deposit, no fee - even on a Friday night.
Valet parking on Road 11
Hand your keys over at the door from 18:00. Complimentary for parties of four or more.
Vegan and vegetarian menus
Not an afterthought - a separate seventeen-dish menu cooked on its own section of the hearth.
Zero-proof pairing list
Twelve house sodas, shrubs and cold-brew chai blends built to sit next to spice, poured by the glass or as a full pairing.
Children genuinely welcome
High chairs, a real kids' menu off the same hearth, and staff who will not sigh when a toddler drops a naan.
Celebrations remembered
Tell us it is a birthday or an anniversary and we will bring out the nolen gur soufflé with a candle. No charge, no singing unless you ask.
Set Menus
Three ways to eat, priced per guest
Prices include service and VAT - the number below is the number on the bill. À la carte is always available alongside every set menu.
Ember Lunch
Three courses from the day menu, on the table inside an hour.
৳1,450
per guest
- One small plate, one main, one dessert included
- Clay-oven bread basket for the table included
- Bottomless masala chai or lime soda included
- Served within 55 minutes, guaranteed included
- Vegan and gluten-free versions of every course included
- Seat at the chef's table not included
- Private room not included
Most booked
Chef's Table Tasting
Seven courses at the pass, cooked and explained by Chef Arif. Thursdays, twelve seats.
৳4,900
৳5,800
per guest
- Seven courses, including two off-menu dishes included
- Zero-proof pairing with every course included
- Seated at the pass, facing the hearth included
- Three hours, no turn on your seat included
- Menu signed by the kitchen to take home included
- Complimentary valet parking included
- Private room not included
Private Dining
A room of your own for eight to sixty guests, with a menu written around your table.
৳6,500
per guest
- Everything in the Chef's Table Tasting included
- Exclusive use of a private room or the terrace included
- Menu designed with you, tasted in advance included
- Dedicated host and two servers for your room included
- Florals, printed menus and table styling included
- Sound system and screen for speeches included
- Valet parking for every guest included
Every set menu has a vegan, vegetarian and gluten-free version at the same price. Children under ten eat from the same menu at half price.
The Room
Come and see where you will be sitting
Sixty-four covers downstairs, thirty-six on the roof and twelve at the pass. No filters, no stock photography - this is the restaurant as it is on a Thursday night.
Private Events
The same room, dressed for your night
Drag the handle to see what our events team does with a private room between lunch service and your first guest arriving.
The Rose Room, styled for a holud
Our largest private room seats sixty. Drag the handle to see what our events team did with it for a two-hundred-guest holud in January.
The terrace, dressed for a wedding dinner
Thirty-six covers on the roof, turned around in four hours between lunch service and a March wedding reception.
Guest Reviews
What people say on the way out
4.8 average from
6 verified reviews
The kacchi is the best I have had outside my own family's kitchen, and I say that as someone who is unbearable about kacchi. Forty minutes is not a wait, it is a promise that nobody reheated it.
Nabila Rahman
Google Reviews
We run board lunches here twice a month. Twelve people, three courses, out by 14:45 without anyone ever feeling rushed. The kitchen has never once made us late for a meeting.
Imtiaz Karim
Google Reviews
The charred hilsa arrives in banana leaf and the mustard goes on at the table, so you get the smell before the taste. That is a restaurant that understands what it is doing.
Sadia Haque
The Plate Review
I proposed at the chef's table. I told the host desk at booking, and by the time we sat down the whole kitchen knew and nobody gave it away. The soufflé came out with a ring on the plate. Flawless.
Tanvir Alam
TripAdvisor
I have been sick after eating out more times than I can count. Here they read the allergen record back to me before I ordered and cooked my food on a separate section. Six years, never once a problem.
Farzana Islam
Google Reviews
Outstanding food and genuinely warm service. It is loud in the main room when it is full on a Friday - ask for the terrace if you want to hear the person across from you. The mixed grill is enormous.
Rashed Mahmud
Google Reviews
The Kitchen
The people cooking your dinner
Nine chefs, one hearth, and a head chef who is at the Chandpur fish landing before dawn.
Arif Chowdhury
Chef-Patron & Founder
Le Cordon Bleu London
Ten years in London kitchens, then home to cook his grandmother's notebook over charcoal. Arif still works the pass six nights a week.
Nusrat Jahan
Head Chef
15 years, Bengali & coastal
Runs the hearth and the daily catch board. If the hilsa is not right at the Chandpur landing at 05:00, Nusrat is the one who changes the menu.
Rashid Uddin
Pastry Chef
Formerly Taj Bengal, Kolkata
Reworked the nolen gur soufflé forty-one times before it went on the menu. It has not changed since.
Tanvir Hossain
Grill Master
12 years on the coals
Has kept the hearth alight since the day it was built. Judges doneness by sound, which is unnerving until you taste the result.
Farhana Kabir
Head of Guest Experience
Events & private dining
Runs the host desk and every private event. She is the voice on the phone when we confirm your table, and she remembers your name.
Certifications & Awards
Certified, inspected and occasionally given a trophy
Food safety & certification
Halal Certification
HACCP Certified Kitchen
BSTI Food Safety Licence
Grade A Hygiene Rating
Awards
Restaurant of the Year, Dhaka
Best Live-Fire Kitchen in South Asia
Chef of the Year - Arif Chowdhury
Zero-Waste Kitchen Commendation
Frequently Asked Questions
Ask your question
Straight answers, before you book
If your question is not here, message the host desk on WhatsApp - somebody reads it during service and replies the same evening.
Walk-ins are welcome and we hold a few tables back for them, but Thursday through Saturday we are usually full by 19:00. Booking takes about a minute and costs nothing, so it is worth doing.
No. We have never taken a card to book, including on weekends and during Ramadan. Cancel or change your booking up to two hours before your sitting and there is no fee.
Two and a half hours for dinner, three hours for the chef's table, and as long as you like at lunch. If the table after yours has not arrived, we will not move you.
Yes, entirely. Every supplier in the chain is halal-certified and the certification is audited annually by the Islamic Foundation Bangladesh. No alcohol is served or used anywhere in the kitchen or the bar.
Yes. Every dish has a written allergen record, and nut, dairy, shellfish and gluten adaptations are prepared on a separate section of the pass with dedicated equipment. Flag it when you book so the kitchen has it in writing before service.
Seventeen dishes, cooked on their own section of the hearth - not a curry with the meat left out. The Garden of Gulshan tasting plate is entirely vegan and one of our top five sellers.
Because it is not cooked until you order it. Raw marinated mutton and rice are sealed under dough and go into the clay when the ticket comes in. Anything faster than that has been sitting somewhere, and you can taste the difference.
Valet parking on Road 11 from 18:00, complimentary for parties of four or more. There is also metered street parking on Road 11 and the Gulshan-2 circle car park is a four-minute walk.
The ground floor, the main dining room and the accessible washroom are all step-free from the Road 11 entrance. The rooftop terrace is reached by lift. Tell us when you book and we will seat you where the route is shortest.
Two private rooms take eight to sixty seated, and the rooftop terrace takes thirty-six. For larger events we close the main room, which seats up to one hundred and forty. Menus are designed with you and tasted in advance at no charge.
The Journal
Notes from the pass
Written by the people who cook here, not by a content agency.
Why we buy hilsa from two families and nobody else
Every March we drive to Chandpur before dawn to argue about fish. Here is what twelve years of that has taught us about sourcing.
Read the piece
What actually happens in the kitchen between 18:00 and midnight
Four hundred plates, nine chefs, one hearth. An honest account of a Friday night from the other side of the pass.
Read the piece
How to order for a table of eight without over-ordering
Almost every large table orders too much food and the wrong balance of it. Here is what we would order if we were sitting down with you.
Read the piece
Visit & Enquiries
Events, catering and everything else
Booking a normal table? The form above is quicker. This one is for private dining, catering, press, or anything that needs a conversation first.
We use your details only to confirm your table and note your allergies. No card is taken to book, and we never sell your data.
Secure 256-bit Booking
No Card Details Taken
Your Data Is Never Sold
Allergy Notes Kept Private
Find us on Road 11
Visit us
House 42, Road 11Gulshan-2
Dhaka, Dhaka Division 1212
Bangladesh
Opening hours
| Monday | 12:00 - 23:00 |
| Tuesday | 12:00 - 23:00 |
| Wednesday | 12:00 - 23:00 |
| Thursday | 12:00 - 23:30 |
| Friday (today) | 13:30 - 23:59 |
| Saturday | 12:00 - 23:59 |
| Sunday | 12:00 - 23:00 |