San Diego - Sadaf

We headed down 5th avenue and my ears perked up as I heard the slippery melodies of Iranian music wafting through the air. I turned and saw the Sadaf Restaurant (619-338-0008, 828 5th Ave). An attractive hostess and angry looking bouncer greeted us at the entrance. We paid the $7.00 cover charge and walked into the Gas Lamp district's only Persian nightclub.

There was a DJ who was spinning Persian pop-music and a dance floor that was packed, mostly with Persian women. As we sat at the bar and ordered drinks, I allowed myself to become hypnotized by their seductive gyrations. The place had a hip, upscale appearance and was filled with Persians of all ages as well as young, well-dressed yuppies.

I approached the manager, a man by the name of Amir, and told him that I had spoken with him on the phone earlier in the week. He widened his eyes and bellowed, "Oh yes," and then promptly turned and scampered off. I sat back down at the bar and turned to my left, where an attractive young lady with extremely short hair had sat down next to me.

"Hello. How are you?" I asked politely.

She smiled and answered, "Fine thank you."
"Are you Persian?"

"No, my boyfriend works here."

Well, so much for that idea, but we did have a friendly chat in which she told me that the place gets really packed on Saturday nights, and that the food is fantastic. After a few moments she left and told me that, "They are going to start playing a lot of American pop-music soon so I'm leaving. There is another club that plays Arabic music down the road." With that, she left and I once again turned towards the dance floor.

After studying the rhythmical twists of the hands in the dancers, I decided that I was ready to test out my skills on the dance floor. I approached a trio of heavyset women and began dancing with them. They looked at one another as if to say, "well, at least we have something to laugh about later." Then, they went and sat down. It was then that I made the executive decision that it was time to go home.