Just a couple of caffeine fixes for today.
Inka'fe (Bay Park):
Back in January, I noticed that Inka'fe was replacing Humble Bean in the little building on the corner of Denver and Ingulf Streets. The shop didn't seem open yet, but on JJ's last grooming visit, we passed the shop and it was open! We needed to kill some time and wait for "J", so we decided to head on over to check things out.
It's a small shop, but there are quite a few coffee based drinks and Peruvian specialties on offer. I had read that Inka'fe is a woman owned business that specializes in organic beans harvested from Peru. There's also Inca Kola and even Lucuma Ice Cream on offer.
There are basically three different roasts that are rotated for the basic coffee drinks. On this day, it was the "City Roast". The Missus got a latte, which She thought was quite smooth, almost too smooth, and mild in flavor. I got a Cold Brew, which also did not seem especially strong.
It was quite easy to drink and seemed to be a bit lighter.
The young lady working was a joy. I need to return when things warm up and get some Lucuma Ice Cream and maybe an Inca Kola.
Inka'fe
2615 Denver St.
San Diego, CA 92110
Current Hours:
Mon – Fri 7am – 4pm
Sat – Sun 8am – 4pm
Coffee Culture (Old Town):
I like to take JJ over to Old Town for a walk during the off season, when things are quiet in the mornings. On this Sunday morning, I skipped my usual coffee routine and we just headed on over to Old Town. I had thoughts of grabbing a cup at Garden Coffee, but I had forgotten that they open at 9….it was just past 8. And then I saw this.
Ah, yes…..I remembered seeing the sign for Coffee Culture replacing Hola Paris in the Urban Market back in December. I guess they had opened? I walked on over and yes indeed, they were open.
Man, dig the art work! The young man working; I believe his name is Santiago was really friendly. We even had a chat about places in Mexico. On this day, the coffee featured was Guatemalan, so I got an Americano. I also saw that they have croissants, so I decided to take a chance….there's no bakery on sight, and they didn't have one on display, but I was told they had them. So, I got one of those as well.
The Americano was very earthy, though not bitter and lacking the sweet-acidity I enjoy….it was pretty stiff though and woke me up.
This was a decent cup.
Santiago was nice enough to heat up the Butter Croissant for me, but when he handed it to me, I knew it was basically mass produced stuff.
Very dry, not too crisp-flaky, lacking in salt and butter, the interior doughy……I'll just leave it at that.
Oh well, I'll come back and get a cup again though. The young man was so nice. On this day, JJ was just wanting to "get on with things".
Can you see he's telling me "daddy…hurry up?"
I hope they do well here. The Urban Market seems to have a pretty high rate of turnover. I'm thinking the lease rate must be pretty high.
Coffee Culture
2548 Congress St.
San Diego, CA 92110
Current Hours:
Mon – Tues 9am – 5pm
Wed – Sun 8am – 6pm
While the exterior could have been a bit more flaky and crisp; there was a nice balance of butter and salt flavor. The interior was light, fluffy, and nicely honeycombed. This was a pretty good croissant; and would probably be in the "top 3" here in San Diego.
We enjoyed the Smoked Duck Salad even more this time around; the duck was more tender, had a nice gamey-smokiness. The dressing had a nice acidity and the Missus enjoyed the tart-sweetness of the apples….She usually does not like the addition of fruit to salads, but this changed Her mind. A nice refreshing salad.
Seeing that the ridges were falling off the viennoiserie made me somewhat concerned, but the pastry did not shatter into crumbs upon consuming. The exterior was light and crisp, the interior fairly fluffy and "honeycombed". It was sorely lacking in butter and even salt for that matter. Quite bland overall.
It was too delicate; a bit over baked, the laminated exterior just falling off. You know what was going to happen when I actually bit into it, right? A certain song by the Rolling Stones came to mind:
Well, in her comments Ayaka describes it as "perfect flaky crust outside, right amount of butter to have moist and chewy texture with light and airy layers." Almost sounds like our 
The pastry was quite flakey and crisp. The interior a bit wet and on the doughy side, but acceptable. The amount of salt was good, but it was sorely lacking in butter.
Though it looked over-baked, the exterior wasn't flakey and crisp. The interior was on the doughy-bready-chewy side and the croissant, in my opinion really lacked butteriness. This was mediocre at best and was the same as what I'd had before from their stand. Well, at least they're consistent, right?
But the Missus cut into it and took a bite and made a face. She made me have a taste. The crust was doughy, gummy, and lacking in crispness. It was on the thick side. The filling was too sweet for my taste as well.
It was soft and doughy, lacking in that flaky-crispness that I enjoy. I'm not sure why they call this a "Butter Croissant" as sorely needed more butter flavor. The interior was a bit too "moist" for my taste as well. 
Overall, this was quite disappointing. I was looking forward to Izola reopening. I'm thinking I'll try the place in a couple of months and am hoping that this was just an off day. And at seven bucks a croissant….man, how would Parisians react to a six Euro croissant? I can only imagine!
Wayfarer tends to over bake their croissants; but this wasn't bad, quite flaky and crisp, the interior a bit on the dry side, but light and fluffy with a decent butter-salt ratio.