1430 Union St, San Diego, CA 92101
Pricing - $$/$$$ | Dining - Casual, To-Go | Cuisine - Desserts, Teas
http://www.extraordinarydesserts.com
[You can read the first review here.] It has become a San Diego tradition for me to hit up Extraordinary Desserts. I was down in SD for 5 days working the auto show at Camp Jeep so after training the first day, I dropped by this place to get some chocolate (it was National Chocolate Day!) dessert to share with Duc with wine. He was sweet enough to drive to SD to spend a day-ish with me on his day off. Anyhow, one of the things that I don't like about big cities is the whole parking situation! Though I had meant to stop in for grabbing desserts to go, I ended up staying for a drink and some bruschetta because I wanted to make full usage of the $1.25 I paid for an hour's time of parking. Thus, I sat at the bar in a forever-alone type of way by eating and drinking.
So, I went ahead and ordered their buffalo mozzarella bruschetta and funghi misti bruschetta ($6 during happy hour). I also saw that they had Oaked Arrogant Bastard for only $3 at that time so I ordered it. The waitress told me they were out but she'd give me any beer for the same price. What a nice offer. I chose the Allagash Tripel Ale instead because I was curious about the passionfruit it toted having (I like Kona's Wahlua for that tart tang). The breads were delicious! I really enjoyed the flavors atop them but I'm not sure that the price was all too good for just two pieces. As for the beer, the passionfruit was quite understated but it was still a very pleasant fruity beer that masked the 9% ABV it had. For desserts, I snagged a Viking cake and Lemon Bar on the way out - the Viking is oh so decadent and chocolately indulgent while the lemon bar really kicks you in the face with tartness. Delish!
1430 Union St, San Diego, CA 92101
Pricing - $$/$$$ | Dining - Casual, To-Go | Cuisine - Desserts, Teas
http://www.extraordinarydesserts.com
Ever since I stumbled upon this place with my friends one night when we were hankering to walk around downtown SD at night and it was one of the only places open (we had tea there first), it's a place to target every time I'm in SD...which is rarely. However, I had the occasion to go back today and snagged some heavenly desserts. My friends and I wanted to sit down but the line/wait was too long so we just browsed the pretty displays before making our choices to-go.
What they have down pretty well is their presentation. The desserts look to-die-for and the interior decorations are pretty chic as well. I liked the small wall displays of wares to sell such as artsy looking teacups and teapots. There was also a section of delightful smelling teas (they set them out for us to sniff) and children's toys. The main attraction was, of course, the dessert display.
After wetting the floor with our saliva, we put our to-go orders in and waited in all the din for our orders. Of everything ordered, the only thing I didn't get to try was the Au Chocolate cake shown above. Oh well.
The sad thing I realized after we had ordered everything and I started taking pictures was that all the cakes were laid on their sides. Alas, no good pictures could come of these. I myself got the Blood Orange Ricotta Torte which I found pretty good but quite drenched in whatever syrup was soaking the cake part. It was quite sweet with the bits of blood orange adding some tartness. To be honest, hardly all that memorable aside from the fact that it was quite heavy for a citrus-infused dessert.
My older brother wanted to get the Passionfruit Napoleon but though the platter was quite full when he placed his order, they ran out when it came to packing his box. So, instead, he got the Lemon Praline cake that I had been eyeing before. It was quite tart! I liked the bits of pralines that coated the outside of the cake but the middle cream was too jaw-wincing for me to handle.
My younger brother didn't even know what the dessert he ordered was called. He just looked at it and knew he wanted it. He had apparently settled for some kind of rich coffee cake. It was very moist yet crumbly and was true to its nature. I think we would've needed several cups of coffee to help swallow the thick chocolate and yellow cake it was. I believe he finished it after 3 separate occasions of going back at it.
