Before venturing forth to San Diego, I canvassed many Bay Area friends for food recommendations. Be it restaurants, cafes, farmers markets, or drive-thrus, I wanted to be armed with lots of places to eat.

At the top of the list was Saffron Noodles and Saté, which came highly recommended by a designer friend who knows and likes her food. Not only did she give me the name and address of the place but she was even ready with specific dish advice. Also, her art background compelled her to tell me that the owner, Su-Mei Yu, is friends with Dale Chihuly and that the place is packed full of his stunning glass creations.

Last night, a group of us descended on the unassuming and tucked away Saffron and not one person left unhappy or hungry. Acting on the given advice, I ordered the Vegetarian Drunken Noodles (which had five chili peppers next to its listing on the menu, so Mark was quite happily sweating as he ate), the Pad Thai (because I can't resist it in any restaurant that offers it), and two ginormous chicken satés.

Our patient friends -- who had arrived well ahead of us due to our getting completely lost thanks to some TOTALLY erroneous directions from Mapquest via the restaurant's website that had us down by the WATERFRONT instead of in the Mission Hills neighborhood -- were nice enough to order us a plate of vegetarian egg rolls to keep us conscious until our order was up. The menu at Saffron calls these "Fantastic Egg Rolls" and they were. There was something stuffed deep down in there that made them taste unlike any other egg roll I've ever had. It was very subtle and unexpected -- a spice of some sort, like cinnamon or cloves. Damn tasty.

The Drunken Noodles with tofu were spicy and savory with vegetables so fresh, it's hard to believe there isn't a burgeoning garden out back of the restaurant. Normally, tofu scares the hell out of me, but the light, garlicky sauce was so yum that I actually sought out all the firm tofu bits in this dish. There wasn't much tofu left for Mark when we exchanged plates midway through our meal. Although it was served with a little container of fresh, minced green Thai chiles, the Pad Thai was plenty spicy for our seasoned palates but not so hot that it overwhelmed the dish. What I appreciated most about our two dishes was that the noodles were neither overcooked and mushy, nor were they clumped together in big sticky knots. They were loose, perfectly cooked and not made heavy by too much oil or sauce on either dish.

Saffron Noodles and Saté has another place right next door called Thai Grilled Chicken that's more food stand than restaurant. This is where you can order, among other things, Cambodian salad and grilled chicken with a choice of six dipping sauces. I'm so tickled by their menu offerings of "Rainy day half chicken" and "Monday Night Football whole chicken" that we're going to go out of our way to go back to Mission Hills (not the WATERFRONT) and sample their reportedly tasty bird bits. Hey, at $5.89 for half a chicken or $2.50 for "Rainy day chicken soup," who in their hungry mind could resist?

Saffron Noodles and Sate
3737 India Street
San Diego, CA 92103