Category

1430 Union Street, San Diego, CA 92101. (619) 294-7001

http://www.extraordinarydesserts.com/

This review is long over due. I think I went several months ago. This is the second Extraordinary Desserts. It is located in Little Italy and is larger than the Hillcrest location. There is a different feel. The atmosphere is more contemporary. The menu offers a wider selection than just desserts.

Kiwi Lemonade ($4) - Dave says, “No big surprise. Pretty much lemonade with chunks of kiwi in it. Nothing spectacular.”

Turkey Breast Panini ($10) - with smoked mozzarella, cranberry mayonnaise, and butter leaf lettuce. The turkey was moist, but the bread was too crunchy.

I think this was the Serrano Ham Panini ($10) with buffalo mozzarella, balsamic onions, and red plum conserve.

Sorry, but I can’t remember which chocolate desserts these are either! But, I will say that every single dessert that I’ve had at both locations has been pretty good… very rich and decadent!

Taste: 7.5/10
Presentation: 4.5/5
Service/Atmosphere: 4.5/5
Total: 16.5/20

In honor of the National Fallen Firefighters Foundation, Baskin Robbins will be having 31 cents scoop night on Wednesday, May 2 from 5 pm to 10 pm.

http://baskinrobbins.com/Promotion/31cent.aspx

1106 State St, Santa Barbara, CA 93101. (805) 962-5085

http://www.andersenssantabarbara.com/

Continuing the Santa Barbara adventure… Andersen’s is a Danish restaurant and bakery, which has been serving Santa Barbara for over 30 years. We were walking down State Street looking for a place to have dinner. A waiter came out with a dessert tray and he was presenting it to some customers who were seated outside. Right then and there, I knew we had to come back for dessert!

Top: Macaroon and Josephine

Bottom: Chocolate Layer Cake? and some kind of Berry Tart?

The macaroon was deliciously moist, but my favorite was the Josephine! It’s like placing a macaroon on a cookie and then covering it in chocolate… moist and chewy… yummy! The chocolate layer cake may have been the Sarah Bernhardt Layer Cake. It was so long ago that I don’t remember, but it wasn’t anything special. I didn’t really care for the berry tart either. I very rarely like fruit in my dessert.

The restaurant was charming and welcoming. It was as if you were in someone’s home. They had quaint chairs and traditional blue and white dishes on display. They also have many other choices for dessert. They serve breakfast, lunch, dinner, and high tea!

Taste: 7/10
Presentation: 3/5
Service/Atmosphere: 5/5
Total: 15/20

I received a wonderfully fun holiday gift that I wanted to share with all of you… ice cream sandwich molds! They are available at Williams-Sonoma for $14. My set came in the shape of a star, a cow, and a pig. When I looked online, I also found a trio of heart molds, which are currently on sale for $7.99. Enjoy!

Hollywood and Highland Shopping Center, 6801 Hollywood Blvd No. 1.5-153, Hollywood, CA 90028

http://www.muginohousa.com/

We were in the Hollywood and Highland shopping center checking out all the cool shops and eateries around the area. Right when we were about to leave we found ourselves at Beard Papa to get our parking ticket validated.

Beard Papa originated from Osaka Japan and claim to have the world’s best cream puffs. All the ingredients that go into their pastries are all natural and baked fresh. I’ll let Beard Papa tell you his story himself. They have many locations around the U.S.

They have everything from cream puffs, mochi ice cream, cheesecake sticks, fondant au chocolate, and eclairs. Their cheesecake stick look interesting and I was tempted to give it a try. I will tryt it next time I come back.

I wanted to try their green tea flavored cream puff, but all they had that day was vanilla and coffee. I decided on the vanilla, which was dusted with a little bit of powdered sugar. They don’t fill it with cream until you order it, so that it keeps the pastry from getting soggy.

The pastry itself had a nice crunchy and soft texture that I really liked. The cream itself was excellent as well. If you look close enough you can kind of see the vanilla beans inside the cream. That was a definite plus to know that they actually use all natural ingredients. Hopefully next time they will have their green tea flavored puff ready for me.

Taste: 9/10