Review: The Fig Leaf Cafe [San Diego, CA]

One week ago I was invited to The Fig Leaf Cafe by visiting friends.  It's located in the Pacific Beach area of San Diego, known to local San Diegans as the most touristy region of the large city.  It has a reputation for being overpriced, overcrowded, and made for anyone under 30 who likes booze and bro-attire.  This reputation is not always deserved, however, as PB offers cute shops and mega shops, and the most shell-covered beaches of the area.  Just be ready for traffic.

And long lines, apparently.  The four of us were waiting outside of The Fig Leaf cafe for over 20 minutes waiting to be seated, which gave ample time for us to check out the decor of the cozy place.

The cafe is appears to be something out Alice in Wonderland, sans the acid trip.  From the street The Fig Leaf Cafe looks like an inn, with a traditional white picket fence enclosing it and an adorable wooden sign with its name.  The tables are cloaked in white and green checkered print, with white plastic chairs adoring the faux green grass of lawn.  It inspires the ideal tea party once imagined by children, if those children enjoyed sauteed cinnamon apples in their oatmeal and organic blue corn pancakes. 

Almost all of the seating is outdoors, which fits the picnic brunch vibe of the place.  We sat down next to two delightfully warm outdoor heaters.  That's the thing about San Diego: some May days are a dreams, others are grey and misty.

Ordering drinks is one of my favorite parts of a meal.  I've worked in a coffee shop for a few years and love to guess whose going to order a plain coffee, whose going to order a latte, or worse, a cappuccino.  I always order a hot chocolate and am pretty much always the only one who does.  Yes, it's a bit childish.  But they're warm and sweet and substitutes a dessert in my opinion.  I'm sad to say that The Fig Leaf was a major disappointment in the coco department.  There was barely a wisp of chocolate and required a packet of Splenda to amp up the sweets.  Naturally this made me worried about my meal.

The food came out and sitting in front of me was a big bowl of oatmeal crowned with banana fosters.  [Note: I sang the Gwen Stefani song "Hollaback Girl" to remember how to spell b-a-n-a-n-a-s, and yes, "The shit is bananas/ B/ a-n/-a-n/-a-s"].

There's been a recent surge in oatmeal popularity lately for the health benefits and such, though I'll admit that I rarely order it out since I enjoy it so frequently at home.  I was pleased with my order.  The oats were large which was a pleasant surprise and there was an curious dynamic in texture, with an almost crunchy oat crust and creamy oats underneath.  Perhaps this was caused by being cooked in heat then being exposed by the chilly air, but I did find it interesting.

I've never had banana ["b-a-n-a-n-a-s"] fosters before which are basically
slices of bananas which are cooked in a pan with brown sugar, butter, then lit afire with rum.  There were a sweet treat on my oatmeal, but far more saccharine than I anticipated, nearly the same as candy.  There were a big hit sharing them around the table though.

My Charming Fellow ordered French toast as usual.  I think I've seen him eat one egg the entire time I've known him.  I asked him about these a few days later, to which he shrugged and said that when we goes out for breakfast he wants something he wouldn't make at home and he'd rather order French toast than make it.  For future records, if I ever mention going out for breakfast with him just assume that his dish is French toast and that he finished all of it and that I stole at least one strawberry from his plate if it come with it. =)

The Fig Leaf caters weddings and does quite a lot of charity work around the area.  It's authentic, unique, tasty, and pretty reasonably priced for a largely organic restaurant.  My oatmeal was about $6 though the banana fosters were about $2.50, Brad's French toast was about $7.50 but coffee was about $2.50.

Bottom line: The hot chocolate was terrible, my oats were yummy though oddly textured, my bananas were deliciously sweet but perhaps too candied for my taste, and extra point for being a cute place.  It may not be a place I'm clambering to try again but I most certainly am down to try something else on the menu.  After all, there are those sauteed cinnamon apples and organic blue corn pancakes *wink*