Saffron Noodles and Sate & Saffron Thai Grilled Chicken

Su Mei Yu’s two very popular and successful restaurants reside on busy India Street. For those who don’t know who Su Mei Yu is, she’s the Author of the most enjoyable cookbook, Cracking the Coconut which I have on my list of cookbooks to purchase, she is also a regular contributor to Fine Cooking Magazine and the San Diego Union Tribune. In fact, I’ve had some success with Her recipes in Fine Cooking, but unfortunately, have not had very good meals at Saffron. I had first heard of Saffron Grilled Chicken while I was doing consulting work in San Diego back in ’99, and made sure to stop by there, and wondered what the big deal was about. In fact, I dropped by 4 times in the following months, and really never did figure out what the fuss was about. When Saffron Noodles opened we tried it out, but was again disappointed, the Pad Thai was overly sweet and the noodles were overcooked, the drunken noodles were okay, but no better then I’ve had in a many other places. So I beg the question; can you enjoy someones cookbook and recipes, yet not enjoy the restaurants they own? So in my dogged determination to find some redeeming dish at Saffron, we decided another meal was in order.

Saffron Noodles and Sate is the newer of Su Mei Yu’s two restaurants. While Saffron Chicken is more of a take-out "joint", Saffron Noodles has a very nice dining area, adorned with artwork, and very relaxed, though the restaurant personnel are some of the fastest I’ve ever encountered.

Noodles and Sate features, what else, many noodle dishes:

As well as many specials. The Missus decided to order the "Duck Soup Special", according to the sign, people wait the entire year for this soup which is only served for a limited time($7.00):

A small pile of moist and tasty chopped duck lay in the middle a medium sized bowl of soup. The thin rice noodles were a bit strange, kind of mushy, they reminded me of somen. After a quick taste of the soup, the Missus exclaimed; "Oh my God"! I responded with; "Wow, is it that good". The reply? "This is terrible, it tastes like soy sauce water, and the noodles suck!" A quick taste verified what she said. No amount of fried shallot, Thai basil, or anything could save this watery broth. We finished the duck, and left most of the soup and noodles. The most revealing comment? "I’d rather have 100 bowls of Pho’ than this!" If you’ve ever noticed; most of my Pho posts are done solo…….

I ordered Pad See-Eew with Chicken($7.70):

A very small plate of noodles with 5 florets of broccoli, as well as cross cut stems. The chicken was very moist and tender, though. Though the menu had a "chili pepper" on it, this dish was not spicy at all, but that could be based on my palate. In my mind, Pad See Eew is a deceptively easy dish. Simply, rice noodles flavored with soy sauce and/or fish sauce, sugar or other sweetening agent, and broccoli. But Pad See Eew also represents a sort of an understanding of the cuisine, and when done well, is delici-yoso beyond words. The best Pad See Eew I’ve had so far were at Lotus of Siam in Las Vegas, and Krua Thai in West Covina. I’ve not yet experienced the ultimate "wok hay" version that Elmo, from Monster Munching has, but maybe someday. To be very brief, the Pad See Eew was very mildy flavored (I dare say bland), and very tame. I found the portion size to be very small.

I left hungry and we ended up at Gaglione Brothers.

Still convinced that Saffron must have something going for it, I recently went to Saffron Grilled Chicken during a recent lunch hour.

What I found interesting was that a rotisserie is actually used to cook the chicken. The "Guys" working here are super fast, I was in and out in 3 minutes flat!

I ordered the 2 Thigh Chicken Combination($5.70):

I choose the "Peanut sauce" for my chicken. I’d been disappointed in the Sriracha and other sauces I had before, and was told that the peanut sauce was the way to go. Basically, the sauce is a red curry, peanut, and coconut milk based sauce, and tasted pretty good. The chicken, even though it was dark meat was on the dry side, and tasted very bland without the added sauces. Just to confirm I had another co-worker taste the chicken, and asked Her if it was better then Costco’s Rotisserie Chicken. The answer? "No way!"

The best item on the plate was the "Cambodian Salad", a nice mixed salad of cabbage, carrots, in a very refreshing sweet-sour dressing. Too bad, I only got a small container of it, but I’d come back just for that.

I also ordered a skewer of Chicken Sate, without checking out the price – it was 4 bucks!

What I got were two very dry chicken tenderloins, seasoned with what seemed to be a yellow curry based sauce.

I really want to enjoy Saffron, but have always left disappointed. I’m sorry to say I think we’re done here.

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

Saffron Thai Grilled Chicken
3731 India St.
San Diego, CA 92103