Category: Caffeine Fix

Sine Wave Cafe (OB)

Breakfast/Brunch, Caffeine Fix, Dog Friendly

During my visit to Sourdough & Moore, I noticed a cafe with an interesting name as I walked to my car by the name of Sine Wave Cafe. So, I looked it up. The place had only been open since last May and seemed to have some major surfer/beach vibes. It was also dog friendly. Since our usual, Bay Park Coffee doesn’t open until 730 on Sundays, JJ and I decided to check the place out. I figured that 7am on Sunday’s in OB would be pretty mellow. And turns out I was correct. I easily found parking on Santa Monica Avenue, a few spaces down from the Post Office.

In what would be…at least to me, a quintessential location for a cafe in OB…tucked between a Smoke Shop and a Psychic, Palm – Tarot Card Readings Shop is Sine Wave Cafe.

We walked in and the very nice young lady working greeted us; came and gave JJ a treat and some “pets”. She took my order and we headed out to the front patio.

On the way out I noticed this framed photo and I asked who this was.

She told me it’s the owner’s dog and his name is….wait for it…Sammy! And suddenly I was getting my own personal “sine wave“! Cause you know why, right?

I had ordered a Cold Brew ($5) and a “Simply Avo” ($7.50). There was a Deluxe Avocado Toast which had Arugula, Feta, Sun Dried Tomato, and Two Poached Eggs, but that just seemed like too much for me at 7am. Anyway, I waited for my Cold Brew and then headed out to the patio.

Fairly light, smooth, and easy to drink. This was fine.

JJ was enjoying things as two customers came to play with him as they waited for their coffees, so he had a blast.

The young lady brought out my Avocado Toast.

This was pretty good. I enjoyed the chili flakes, which gave things a nice spice. There’s an acidic element to the mashed avocado; I’m thinking lemon juice. The avocado was fresh, no brown spots, easy to eat. The bread had been nicely toasted, great crunch, adding to a nice textural contrast. Better than some ten to twelve dollar avocado toasts I’d had recently!

This is a nice neighborhood place. And JJ seems to really enjoy OB. So, we decided to head on back on a recent Sunday.

I had seen an interesting item on the menu during my previous visit. Sine Wave has something called a “Brekkie” Calzone ($8) on the menu. So, I wanted to try that. When I ordered, the gentleman working told me “good choice, we have a current special…coffee and calzone for ten bucks!” Nice!

Basically, the same drill. I waited inside for my cold brew and then headed out to the patio with JJ. And the gentleman kindly delivered the “Calzone”, which I thought looked really light in color.

When I’m thinking of a “calzone”, I’m expecting a nice crisp, brown crust. This was doughy and soft; except for the folds which were really hard.

This was filled with a generous amount of egg and a layer of bacon that was a bit too chewy for my liking. The egg also didn’t seemed to have been seasoned, so the tangy marinara came in handy.

This was fine for five bucks; but I don’t think I’d pay eight for it.

Sine Wave Cafe
4810 Santa Monica Ave.
San Diego, CA 92107
Current Hours:
Mon – Wed 7am – 2pm
Thurs – Sun 7am – 4pm

On this morning, I decided to take JJ down Santa Monica Avenue to the waterfront. Things were a bit odd as I didn’t notice, but there were some folks camped out near the library. Though there’s always something interesting to see in OB.

Though things started getting a bit “grittier” near the CVS with several more folks camping out and asking for cash.

And we needed to really watch our step as the sidewalks in the area was covered in, ahem…”urban landmines” get my drift? The size of which seemed to make it of the human type.

Things cleaned up a bit as we got to Abbott Street and walked along the walkway a bit. It was a very nice morning.

The folks at Sine Wave treated JJ so nicely, that I think I’ll be back….probably for Avo Toast though…..

Saturday Stuffs, the All ‘Dem Chains Issue – Wooltari Premium K-Food Closes, MOTW Coffee Coming to Kearny Mesa, The Sign for Ono Hawaiian BBQ on Clairemont is up.

Blog, Caffeine Fix, Markets & Grocers, Middle Eastern Restaurants/Cuisine, Plate Lunch, yoso-silly

Ah yes….I guess this one is all about signs (or lack thereof)….and chains……

Wooltari Premium K-Food Closes:

The Missus needed a refill of LactoFit, which She gets from Wooltari on Clairemont Mesa, so we headed over to Crossroads Center Plaza. To find that the place has closed!

Man, did they even last a year?

7420 Clairemont Mesa Blvd.
San Diego, CA 92111

MOTW Coffee Coming to Kearny Mesa:

Noticed a coming soon sign in the Balboa Office Building and Executive Suites…the building across from H Mart. It’s where the Subway used to be.

Something called MOTW Coffee was replacing the Subway. They seem to be building a outdoor patio as well.

Doing that Google thing, I learned that MOTW is an Arabic Coffee and Pastry Franchise headquartered in Indiana. They’ve got a bunch of locations, mostly on in the Midwest and East Coast. I didn’t see any locations on the West Coast, so this might be the first.

7710 Balboa Ave.
San Diego, CA 92111

The Sign for Ono Hawaiian BBQ on Clairemont is up:

I knew about this for a while. I’d heard it was replacing Native Foods. So, just a couple of days ago, I saw that the sign was finally up.

Just in case you’re wondering….this is a chain, headquartered in Diamond Bar. In fact, the CEO of Ono, Joshua Liang, is a graduate of UCSD. Not quite sure what the “Hawaii connection” is…or even if there is one? Ono is said to have over 100 locations in California and AZ. So, we’ll see.

It opening next to the location that’s soon to be Nick the Greek…..yet another chain.

5604 Balboa Ave #107
San Diego, CA 92111

I am wishing for more locally owned or mom-and-pop places, but I guess with costs these days……

Caffeine Fix – Black Rock Coffee Bar (Pacific Beach)

Breakfast/Brunch, Caffeine Fix

Had to take the Missus’s car in for maintenance again. And, as always I was looking for a place to get some coffee and a bite to eat form breakfast. My instincts told me to return to Local Krave, but I really want to find a place I can go to whenever I’m in the area. I had heard a location of Black Rock Coffee, a chain with origins in Oregon had opened in PB. I’d heard of their locations in North County, so I decided to walk on over to get a cold brew. I walked up Mission Bay Drive and then down crazy Garnet Avenue to the corner of Bond and Garnet….. And I had to laugh when I saw the shop. It’s obvious what it was in a previous life, right?

Yep, this is the old Wienerschnitzel which closed in 2024 if I recall. You can spot that building a mile away. I walked to the window and took a gander at the menu.

And being a creature of habit, got a cold brew ($6.95) and needing something to eat, I decided on a Chorizo Breakfast Sandwich ($5.09). The young lady at the counter was very friendly. I went and had a seat at the outdoor area to wait. There was what seemed like an endless stream of vehicles in the drive thru. Back up all the way down the side street to Figueroa.

The Cold Brew was fairly smooth, mild in terms of acidity…though I do enjoy that in my CBs, and very easy to drink.

The “Breakfast Sandwich” was interesting……

Served in an English Muffin…which BTW, from what I’ve learned originated in New York, not England. And check out the size versus my earbud case!

Lot’s of stringy cheese and the so called “chorizo” tasted like a mildly spiced breakfast sausage.

It was the mildly spicy “spread” on the English Muffin that gave it the flavor one might associate with a “gringo-chorizo”.

And here’s where it gets interesting….and also was a reality check for me. I sent the photo to some folks I know saying, “since when is an Egg McMuffin like five bucks?” I quickly got a few responses……one asking me when was the last time I had an Egg McMuffin? Well, I guess that would be like over 20 years ago? I was quickly told that Egg McMuffins are now over seven bucks? Is that true? Yikes! What’s going on with prices here?

Anyway, the coffee are not bad; but I’ll stay with Local Krave for now. I’m still looking for breakfast options in the area for when I drop the Missus’s car off.

Black Rock Coffee Bar
2669 Garnet Ave.
San Diego, CA 92109
Current Hours:
Daily 5am – 7pm

Idyllwild – Atomic Cow, Idyllwild Brewpub, and Pure Bean Idy

American/New American Restaurants, Caffeine Fix, Cocktails, Pubs and Pub Grub, Road Trip, Sandwiches, Temecula/Idyllwild/Palm Springs - Riverside, CA, Travel

We had basically one full day in Idyllwild and the Missus wanted to get a hike in. After searching around a bit, we picked the Ernie Maxwell Scenic Trail, which was about 5 miles, but was also shaded…..since JJ doesn’t care for direct sunlight much.

Idyllwild is so peaceful in the morning……

We got to the trail early so had no problem with parking. There’s some inclines and such, but it’s a lovely trail.

I enjoyed some of the rock formations.

As did JJ….but for different reasons……

He seemed to like jumping on the rocks to taunt me….as in “hurry up daddy, you too slow!”

We took about 2 1/2 hours to complete the trail then headed back to the room to freshen up, then headed down the street to grab an early lunch.

There were a few choices….I guess we could have gone to the Red Kettle again….but we’d been-there, done-that and wanted something different.

Right past the Red Kettle is a little alleyway/lane called the Village Lane.

I had noticed an ice cream shop named the Atomic Cow the previous day, but taking a closer look, we saw that they did sandwiches as well.

While the Missus watched JJ, I went in and ordered us some sandwiches. I got us an Italian Sub and also the Cubano which featured an interesting ingredient.

The Italian Sub was typical, shredded lettuce, tomato, onion, pickles, dressed with a vinaigrette.

I did like that they used Amoroso Rolls, very mild in flavor. This was your basic ham-pepperoni-salami-provolone sandwich.

The “wildcard” was the Cubano.

You see, this “Cubano” features; in addition to the ham, “Kalua Pork”! Say what?!? We actually enjoyed this sandwich.

This didn’t have all the veggies and was also toasted. The provolone cheese had melted, adding a nice milkiness! The “Kalua Pork” was basically pork made with liquid smoke, but was smoky, tender, salty, and savory….and it went really well with the ham! Who’s have thought, right? We enjoyed the pickles and mustard in this as they helped balance out the rich saltiness.

Well, this was a pleasant surprise. We polished off the Cubano, which was enough for the both of us, and saved the Italian Sandwich for breakfast.

Atomic Cow
54200 N Circle Dr.
Idyllwild-Pine Cove, CA 92549

We then headed back to our room….it was time for a nap.

Upon waking we decided to get an early dinner and slowly made our way down to our dinner destination. Located in the Strawberry Creek Shopping Plaza is the Idyllwild Brewpub. You see the sign and then head down the flight of stairs…..

We had a nice table on the patio.

Where JJ could just chill. The Servers were quite friendly. Since this is a brewpub, my initial thought was to grab a beer, but the cocktail menu was intriguing.

All the syrups and fruit juices are made inhouse…..so we had cocktails.

The Missus had the Devil’s Slide….She does enjoy Her Tequila and this was pleasantly stiff.

I got the Smoked Old Fashion.

And while this won’t make me forget about The Alchemist’s Garden or even Shelter Distilling, it was very nice; aromatic, smoky, not overly sweet.

As for food, we just got two dishes. Starting with the Mountain Wedge Salad.

Nice and refreshing; the bacon bits and the blue cheese crumbles make this salad.

And I wanted to try the Fried Cheese Curds…..

The batter wasn’t particularly crisp, though the cheese was nice and gooey. A bit short in terms of flavor…I think horseradish might have been a good “dip” for this. Still haven’t found anything that matches up with what I’d had at the Old Fashioned in Madison.

Overall, a decent dinner. We’d return on a follow-up trip a few months later.

Idyllwild Brewpub
54423 Village Center Dr.
Idyllwild, CA 92549

I know “FOY” Junichi also visited the Brewpub! Junichi, I’m wondering what dined on?

Walking back to our accommodations; I could tell that J was pretty tired. He’s had a busy day after all.

The next morning, I saw something while walking JJ at 5am in the morning. I saw what looked like 3 dogs roaming down North Circle Drive. They basically walked past us…Coyotes! Walking down the main street like they owned the place.

Later in the morning, we decided to walk into town to grab some coffee and then finish up the sandwich from the day before. This is Idyllwild at 7am.

We walked down to the little mall that houses Pure Bean Idy.

JJ hung out with the Missus while I went in and ordered our coffee.

Very nice service and I enjoyed my Cold Brew.

Pure Bean Idy
54245 N Circle Dr.
Idyllwild-Pine Cove, CA 92549

After finishing up, we packed up and headed home. The two nights went by in the blink of an eye, but we’d be returning id a couple of months.

Thanks for stopping by!

Honolulu – Ali’i Fish Market (Moiilili) and Island Brew Coffeehouse (Ala Moana)

Caffeine Fix, Honolulu, Oahu, Poke, Seafood, Travel

Well, since I did Ireh, I thought I’d go ahead and finish my Honolulu posts. I’ll do my Australia posts later on.

Anyway, upon waking at the Ala Moana Hotel, I did a search on coffee places nearby….I had already been to the Ala Moana location of Honolulu Coffee Company, which didn’t open until 9 and I wanted a cup ASAP. I did find that there’s a location of Island Brew Coffeehouse located on the third level of the shopping center. They open at 730, so after chilling out for a bit, I went and walked on over.

I don’t recall walking thru “Ala’s” at 730 in the morning. Man, the place is so chill.

And I got me morning cold brew.

Smooth and on the milder-weaker side, but it did the job…..

Island Brew Coffeehouse (Ala Moana Center)
1450 Ala Moana Blvd. Suite 3066
Honolulu, HI 96814

Coffee’s in hand, we walked over and did Ala Moana Park and went back to the room to relax. We decided to get an early lunch and the Missus wanted some poke. I had a sort of newish (at least to us) place in mind in the Moiilili area named Ali’i Fish Market. So we decided to walk on over. It was about a 25 minute walk or so….which we enjoyed. You see, I grew up in Kaimuki and spent my first 21 years in there. After rent got too high, I moved my Mom and I to Kalakaua, but den dey was goin buss down the apartment…it’s now a parking lot (?!?!?). Then it was over to Kalihi….I had two good friends in the area, but that apartment was a mess. So finally, I got an apartment, whose owners at the time was neighbors of a friend of mine in McCully where I lived until my mom passed on and I eventually moved to the mainland. As we walked up Kapiolani, I took one of the side streets and got to show the Missus where I used to live. They’ve done a really nice job painting the place as it looks better then when I lived there!

Though there’s still quite a few chickens running around. Yes, chickens in McCully….you don’t mess with them…even the cats in the ‘hood know betta den to do dat!

It was an interesting walk up King Street…bringing back memories of places now gone like Ebisu’s, Suehiro, McCully Chop Suey. Where the original location of Anyplace was.

And then we had arrived, to Ali’i Fish Market.

A very non-descript location off South King. Actually, right across the way at 2334 is where the original location of Choi’s used to be. It was a favorite of my mom’s!

And so you walk in.

The place does all kind of stuffs, from musubis to bowls, but we were here for one thing….

Poke of course. And within that, I’m looking for simple stuff, not covered in mayo or “spicy sauce”….fish is first. The young lady working is so nice……..and I got some simple stuffs.

Ahi Limu and Spicy Hawaiian…not drenched in sauce.

You can tell right? The limu ahi was much better than the “spicy” as there was a good amount of oceany, crunchy ogo. The fish was also of better quality.

Though it was still seemed kinda thrown together and not evenly seasoned.

The “Spicy” was not good, not even spicy.

Lots of pieces with “sugi”, chwey connective tissue. Not evenly seasoned, really overly chewy….like it was just thrown together and not mixed well.

Kind of a bummer since I think I’d get better at Foodland, or even Ruger Market, and definitely at our favorite Ono Seafood. Still it was good to try this place and perhaps I didn’t get the right thing?

Ali’i Fish Market
2320 South King St. Suite H
Honolulu, HI 96826

Local Krave (PB/Bay Ho) and SPC Cafe (Clairemont)

Breakfast/Brunch, Caffeine Fix, Croissants

Here are a couple of places I stopped by for a “caffeine fix”.

Local Krave (PB/Bay Ho):

Had to take the Missus’s vehicle in for servicing off Mission Bay Drive. As far as I’m concerned, trying to find a bite to eat in the area at 8-9am in the morning is a bit of a challenge. And then one day as I was coming down the 5 I noticed a shop named the Local Krave on one of the back streets in a business building. I checked the hours and took note and the next time I took the Missus’s car in for servicing, I walked on over to the corner of Bunker Hill and Del Rey Streets. Basically right across from Tango Del Rey.

The little shop was very quiet during my entire visit. There’s a counter area, a shared table and a few seats inside.

They had an interesting menu….calling their tea and coffee pour overs and drinks “Kraveman”! So, I went and had a Kraveman Pour Over – medium roast ($7.99) and needing something to munch on, the version of avocado toast called Bravocado Toast, which at $6.99 was cheaper than my coffee!

Nice head on the pour over; smooth with a good kick! Maybe I’ll try the Nitro Cold Brew next time?

As for the “Bravocado Toast”? Well, it’s served on a croissant “loaf”.

Crisp and somewhat flakey; but way too sweet for my taste. A good amount of butteriness to it though.

The bacon was chopped in slices and seemed to have been premade as it was on the soggy – chewy side. The avocado mix was fine.

Still, for $6.99 these days???? I can hopefully find a food item on the menu that I’d want to have or I may just have to hit up the taco shop on Garnet the next time.

Local Krave
3033 Bunker Hill St.
San Diego, CA 92109
Current Hours:
Daily 7am – 2pm

SPC (Sweet Petite Confections) Cafe:

I’d been seeing this sign while driving on Mt Acadia for a while.

Seems like Sweet Petite Confections, the little chocolate shop in the same strip mall as the Tri-Tiperia is now serving up coffee and some pastries. Even though I’ve never posted on the place….the last time stopped by was years ago for some chocolate for the Missus, I recall the couple running the place being so very nice!

So, on one of my drives with JJ to Mt Acadia Park to play fetch, I decided to stop by……not a great move because JJ don’t like to wait, if you know what I mean….he pretty much has major FOMO.

And there on the door was the sign explaining things.

They basically serve Cafe Moto Coffee, so I knew what to expect. But they also had croissants….which I had to try. I asked if they baked their own and the woman laughed and said that it’s from Lulu’s Buns which I understand is a wholesaler of pastries.

Anyway, I had a nice chat with the couple while JJ was going berserk in the car. It seems that all the construction has really hurt the businesses here….so I’m thinking I need to return.

Though it’ll be for the coffee, which was fine.

That croissant was too doughy, not laminated enough.

Though the interior was decently “honeycombed”, it was bit on the soggy side and lacking butteriness.

I’m hoping this business survives all the construction. I might need to get the Missus some chocolates from here I guess….

SPC (Sweet Petite Confections) Cafe
3582 Mt Acadia Blvd. #A
San Diego, CA 92111
Current Hours:
Mon – Fri 7am – 630pm
Saturday 7am – 5pm
Closed on Sunday

Road Trip – Sweetie Pies Bakery (Napa) and Special Noodle (Santa Cruz)

Bakery, Caffeine Fix, Chinese Restaurants, Dog Friendly, Marin, Napa, and Sonoma Counties, Monterey/Carmel/Santa Cruz - Monterey Bay/Peninsula, Road Trip, Sandwiches, Travel

We had a great night of sleep at the Napa River Inn…and no, we didn’t have any “spooky” visitors as I had heard about earlier in the evening at The Fink. Before we left for our next destination, I decided to grab a quick Breakfast Sandwich from Sweetie Pies Bakery which is right next door to the hotel.

This place has quite a selection of treats for your sweet tooth. We had gotten a sample delivered to our room for breakfast the previous morning.

I ordered a Fried Egg Sandwich to take back to our room.

A basic toasted Ciabatta, with creamy avocado, and pesto.

The bacon was basically a single slice lining the middle of the sandwich, on the burnt side, and a single fried egg. Again only enough to cover two-thirds of the sandwich.

My guess is that “Sweetie” is mostly about the pies as the name indicates?

Sweetie Pies
520 Main St.
Napa, CA 94559

After devouring the sandwich, we checked out and headed to our next destination; Santa Cruz. It took us about 2 1/2 hours to arrive at our accommodation, the Hotel Paradox. We were early for check-in so the hotel let us park and we went to explore Santa Cruz for a bit. The hotel was on the other side of the San Lorenzo River from downtown Santa Cruz and we were next to San Lorenzo Park. On the map, it looked like a nice “green space”. Unfortunately, it was taken over by the homeless population while we were in town. So, instead of having a nice green space for JJ to explore, well…..

We did think the Dragon Archway, which faces the last Chinatown in Santa Cruz across the river. And you can see the two folks hanging out under the archway as well. This made the Missus somewhat uncomfortable crossing the bridge at night. We ended up using the busier Laurel Street Bridge when it was dark.

Regardless, the Missus and I really enjoyed downtown Santa Cruz. It had a kind of Hipster-Artsy-Hippy-Surfer vibe to us. Very mellow and laid back; at least when we were there.

We dropped by Santa Cruz Coffee Roasting for our caffeine fix. It was recommended by one of JJ’s Bay Park Coffee “Aunties”, Marissa who used to work there and went to UCSC.

Cold Brew and Latte fortified we headed on to do some shopping.

Santa Cruz Coffee Roasting
1330 Pacific Ave.
Santa Cruz, CA 95060

The Missus loved wandering thru the “eclectic” shops.

And bought quite a few items during our stay.

It seems that tarot card reading, and various psychic readings are big business here.

My goodness, check out the name of this shop! I wonder….

Yes, it was quite entertaining here!

We decided to grab an early dinner….by this time, the Missus was sorely missing Asian food…well, Chinese to be specific. I did some research before the trip and found a place that was dog friendly and basically two blocks from where we were staying. Now, I did have my doubts because the place served everything from Orange Chicken to XLB to Chow Fun to Sichuan/Hunan and has multiple locations, named Special Noodle. But I thought we’d give it a shot. Now if I had my doubts…imagine the Missus!

We arrived and I expected us to be seated on the patio; but the very nice gentleman escorted us to one of the back dining rooms!

He also spoke Mandarin….which eased some of the doubts the Missus had. The menu was huge….talk about “Vietnamese Menu overload” times 2!

Yep, this place tries to cover all bases.

It was a huge portion of rice for a single order.

We decided on some typical Hunan style dishes. Starting with the Pickled Beans with Minced Pork.

While kind of mild in the spiciness department, this was a pretty legit dish. Nice soy flavor, the long beans had a nice crunch adding that mild salty-sourness to the dish. The pork wasn’t overly chewy. Nice savory dish!

And of course I had to try the Intestines with Chilies.

Made with a combination of sliced jalapenos and dried chilies, this had a nice smoky kick. Nicely seasoned with soy sauce-garlic-white pepper and a touch of numbing Sichuan Peppercorns. The pork intestine was fairly tender, with a pleasant initial toothsomeness. Nice funky tones and a really good dish.

And of course……

What we did notice as the place filled up was that the Chinese customers were seated in the same area as us. While the “other” customers were seated in the front dining area, which we named “Eggroll Land” ! Kind of funny….

The Missus was pleasantly surprised at the food and even though She got Her “fix”, we’d end up returning the next day for lunch!

Special Noodle
415 Ocean St.
Santa Cruz, CA 95060

We were enjoying Santa Cruz. In addition to the “vibe” we had gotten decent Chinese dishes as well!

Talitha Coffee Roasters (Bay Ho) and TP Tea (Clairemont)

Breakfast/Brunch, Caffeine Fix

Just a quick post for today…..

Talitha Coffee Roasters (Bay Ho):

While driving on Morena, I noticed that Talitha Coffee Roasters had replaced WestBean Coffee Roasters. I made a note to drop by….of course it did take me a while….

I did finally make it, parking on Morena I walked on over. The place was not very busy at just past 8 on this Sunday morning.

The menu is broken up into three parts. Classic (latte/espresso), Trendy (with names like “Oh Snap!” and “Fallin’ For You”), and Breakfast items.

Never thought of myself as being “trendy” per se; but I did order a Nitro Cold Brew ($6) and a Spicy Avo Toast ($12).

My cold brew was ready in the blink of an eye.

And I decided to take a seat on the patio while my Avocado Toast was being prepared.

The Nitro Cold Brew was nicely chilled, fairly smooth, and had a very creamy tongue feel. It did have a decent “kick” to it.

I’d gladly have it again.

As for the “Spicy” Avocado Toast.

Well, this for twelve bucks, huh? The sourdough was barely toasted and got soggy fairly quickly. The eggs were over boiled. The “spicy” was just a drizzling of Chili Crisp. Worse of all was the avocado, can you see why?

Yep, the mashed avocado was starting to oxidize. There were a couple of bites that had hints of bitterness. The mild earth-sweetness of avocado was missing. A definite lack of “QC” here.

So, while I’ll probably return for a caffeine fix; I’ll probably stay away from the food here.

Talitha Coffee Roasters
4140 Morena Blvd Suite A
San Diego, CA 92117
Current Hours:
Mon – Fri 7am – 2pm
Sat – Sun 8am – 2pm

TP Tea:

The Missus was excited to try TP Tea which recently opened in Clairemont Town Square. I think the full name “Taiwan Professional Tea” which brought back memories of all Her Tea Adventures in Taiwan. I did warn Her that I think this is mostly a Boba Shop….but then again, She had really enjoyed that in places like Chiayi and Taichung as well.

So, between our recent rain storms we headed on over.

The Missus was quite impressed with the prices. Very reasonable for San Diego. Since this place is named “Taiwan Professional Tea”, the Missus wanted to see just how good that tea was and ordered the Signature Black Tea ($4.95).

Man was this weak.

It really lacked the natural sweet-floral flavor we like with Taiwanese Black Tea. This tasted really watered down and weak.

I asked the Missus if She wanted to try something else, but She told me “look, the place has Professional Tea in the name. If it can’t even make black tea properly….”

So, I guess this is a one and done.

TP Tea
4711 Clairemont Dr.
San Diego, CA 92117
Current Hours:
Daily 1130 am – 930pm

Road Trip – Terrapin Creek Cafe and Roadhouse Coffee (Bodega Bay)

American/New American Restaurants, Caffeine Fix, Marin, Napa, and Sonoma Counties, Road Trip, Travel

After a short post lunch nap; the Missus wanted to do a bit more exploring. I knew about the Coastal Prairie Trail close by. But of course, with all the speeding cars on the Shoreline Highway, we’d have to drive the two minutes to get there. There was ample parking and some interesting things to see.

And there’s this touching memorial, known as the Children’s Bell Tower.

It is here in remembrance of Nicholas Green, a local boy who was killed during an attempted carjacking in Italy. Nicholas’ parents donated his organs and corneas, in turn changing and preserving the lives of 7 others in Italy. This amazing gesture spurred on organ donation in Europe; creating what is termed the “Nicholas Effect“.

The Tower, designed by sculptor Bruce Hasson consists of 140 mismatched bells; most coming from Italy, those donated bells were flown to the US by the Italian Air Force.

The center bell was blessed by Pope John Paul II. To hear the gentle ringing of the bells when a light breeze passes thru is beautiful.

We decided to just take a nice stroll along Bodega Dunes.

After our walk, we headed down Highway 1, then up Bodega Highway to the little town of Bodega. There was one place I wanted to see. This church.

This is St Teresa of Avila Church. Does it look familiar? Probably not to many from Gen Z and beyond. But this church was in the background of some important scenes in one of my Mom’s favorite movies.

Yep, she loved The Birds!

After taking a gander we headed back up the 1, stopping at another location that was in the movie.

Yep, the Tides Wharf and Restaurant. If I recall, this is where people sought refuge from the birds. Though the original restaurant burned down in 1968. Still, this place really milks it!

If you’re interested in filming locations for the Birds, you can find more here.

We enjoyed looking at the views from the wharf area.

And also this cute “couple”.

We had fun exploring.

We then returned to the Inn and decided on getting dinner at the place right across the parking lot from the hotel. The place is named Terrapin Creek Cafe and sheesh; there was a line out the door. We hadn’t made reservations, so there was no way we’d wait like 2 hours. Also, we wanted some wine with dinner and there was no way I’d want to attempt walking down Highway 1. So I placed a takeout order.

Although Bodega Inn didn’t have a fridge or microwave in the rooms, there’s a nice shared dining area.

But even better than that was this little room set in back of the Inn.

They call this the “wine shack”. It’s a charming place to hang out and have some wine and maybe a self catered meal.

And no one was using the wine shack. Also, the front desk sells bottles of wine from local wineries. So guess what? I went and picked up dinner and then a bottle from the front desk and we relaxed and enjoyed things.

The Charred Octopus and Cauliflower Salad ($22) was kind of short on the cauliflower, though there was a good amount of decently textured octopus hidden under all the arugula and almonds.

There were also some brussel sprouts as well; which tasted really good with the smoky-sweet pepper aioli.

The Mediterranean Fish Stew was not a favorite though. The fennel broth was really salty and fishy. The calamari and mussels were super tough.

The cod fillet was tender; but the salmon was also on the fishy side. And priced at $36, we expected a bit more.

Still, the Missus enjoyed the salad and since the place was just across the parking lot, we’d return for takeout again the next night and dine in the “wine shack” and finish up our bottle of wine.

Terrapin Creek Cafe
1580 Eastshore Rd.
Bodega Bay, CA 94923

Right at the other end of the building from Terrapin Creek Cafe is Roadhouse Coffee.

The place opens super early and was a handy stop for our morning coffee.

The folks working were super friendly and I got the Missus Her latte which She enjoyed and a scalding and stiff Americano for me.

Which we had on our little porch before heading out for the day!

We were looking forward to another fun day!

Road Trip – Earthbound Farm Stand (Carmel) and Ginochio’s Kitchen (Bodega Bay)

American/New American Restaurants, Breakfast/Brunch, Caffeine Fix, Dog Friendly, Farmer's Markets/Night Market, Marin, Napa, and Sonoma Counties, Monterey/Carmel/Santa Cruz - Monterey Bay/Peninsula, Road Trip, Travel

After our wonderful dinner at L’Escargot and a nice night’s sleep we woke ready to head on to our next stop. Of course we needed our caffeine fix and I needed some breakfast, so we headed out east on Carmel Valley Road to a place I had on my “list”; Earthbound Farm Stand.

In addition to being a large farm stand; the shop served coffee, breakfast and lunch, and the garden grounds were lovely as well.

Dogs were not allowed in the market.

But JJ got to hang outside while I went in to get coffee and some breakfast to share.

The Missus got Her latte; I got a very smooth Cold Brew.

And I was shocked that the Croissant Breakfast Sandwich was $16; but it was huge and came with a salad as well.

Of course, this was a “Croissant” in name only as it was doughy, not crisp, etc, etc…..

There was a sizeable omelet with bacon and cheese in the sandwich.

Which was more than enough for “brunch”. Nothing amazing, but quite filling.

And after eating we strolled the charming grounds.

And JJ enjoyed all the smells and sounds……

Earthbound Farm Stand
7250 Carmel Valley Rd.
Carmel, CA 93923

From here it was about a 4 hour drive to our next destination. And JJ got to drive on a famous landmark.

We drove up to Bodega Bay, a place we hadn’t visited before. We were staying at the Bodega Bay Inn, which was right on the corner of Highway 1 and Eastshore Road.

We were staying in one of the units in the back of the parking lot which had its own parking spot.

It was rustic, but quite charming. Good thing it wasn’t raining since the lot was a basically all dirt.

The Inn had a couple of nice amenities which I’ll go into in the future post.

We had arrived early and our room wasn’t quite ready yet; but the nice gentleman at the front desk told us to go ahead and park our car and maybe get some lunch.

We decided to head on down Eastshore Road to the Marina area to grab some lunch. Looking at Google Maps I thought it would be a nice walk and not on crazy Highway 1. However, Eastshore Road doesn’t have true pedestrian walkways.

And the cars were zipping past us…..not a great walk for JJ and us, but we made it to the marina area in one piece.

For lunch I chose Ginochio’s Kitchen since it had outdoor seating.

And of course we had to try the Dungeness Crab Sandwich and some Clam and Scallop Chowder.

That sandwich was not cheap at $28!

The Missus didn’t care for the sandwich much as it had too much mayo-cheese which detracted from the flavor of the crab in Her opinion. We did like the nicely toasted sourdough which was crisp and light.

Was not a fan of the overly gloppy and thick chowder. Really too salty as well.

We like to be able to taste the seafood when having these type of dishes, which wasn’t the case here.

Ginochio’s Kitchen
1410 Bay Flat Rd.
Bodega Bay, CA 94923

We did enjoy walking down to the marina at the end of Eastshore Road.

It was quite relaxing and JJ had some fun as well!

Before we took our lives into others hands and walking back up the road. Our timing was perfect as our room was ready when we got back. It was time to relax and have a nice afternoon nap.