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Mon., Thu. 8:30 a.m. - 11:00 p.m.
Fri. 8:30 a.m. - 12:00 a.m.
Sat. 10:00 a.m. - 12:00 a.m.
Sun. 10:00 a.m. - 11:00 p.m.
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Need a place to take the girlfriend to? This place is perfect, so perfect that i had no idea it existed until my girlfriend pointed it out.
If you're lucky, you'll get to park across the street, and if its the weekend, no toll!
The first thing you'll see inside is they're presentation of cakes and desserts. Something nice to look at as you wait since its going to be packed with people.
We were seated in the middle of the room. The tables were pretty close to each other making it a loud atmosphere. We ordered two paninis and some creme brulee. She rather loved her salmon panini, while my raspberry bread panini was ok. Maybe im not a panini kinda guy, but the creme brulee was pretty awesome.
oh, i had some italian sunkist. pretty sweet.
Very cool place. When I'm anywhere near San Diego try and go here. I don't even consider myself a dessert guy, but this place is OUT of this world. Pricey for dessert, but it is well worth it.
I like the Lil Italy location better than Balboa Park. More modern, and feels like more space to roam. The other place has charm I'd say.
Extraordinary Desserts (both this location + the one in Little Italy) is famous in San Diego as a go-to place for desserts. However, the more I've tried desserts at other places, this place is kind of smoke and mirrors... Gorgeous presentation, long lines, etc.. but it is kind of overpriced and crowded for a decent cake.
This location is definitely more home-y... it looks like a little tea shop. The layout here is different, where you line up to order rather than get seated and served.
The biggest reason why I gave 4 stars is because the second time we came here, we ran into Jon Foreman from Switchfoot and his buddies! Yes, this merits a 4-stars alone. He was awesome and therefore by default made this place awesome... despite the fact that someone got shot here a couple years ago.
ANYBODY who goes out in San Diego loves Extraordinary Desserts. Whether you are on a date or out with a group of friends, you cannot go wrong with Extraordinary Desserts.
The cakes are the best. They are $8-9 a slice, but the presentation and all the scrumptuous layers are amazing. My favorite cake is the Shangri-La, which I believe is a strawberry white chocolate cake. They also have Tiramisu, chocolate cakes, fruit tarts, cookies, creme brulee, and parfaits. When my cousin in LA came down to San Diego for a weekend, he went here three days in a row with different groups of people. It's that amazing. Eating at Extraordinary Desserts is like having a little piece of heaven.
One of my favorite dessert places of all time.
Thier teas are delicious and all thier cakes are prepared beauitfully. My favorite is the Napoleon with the buddha's garden tea.
Great places for a girls night out but more for a romantic date :)
Seriously, this place is way over-hyped.
The lines are long and the service is SO SLOW. Seriously, there were 5 people in front of us and it took 30 minutes just to order something. The cashier was allowing people to ask too many questions and hold the rest of the line up while they spend 10 minutes deciding what piece of cake they want.
For me, the desserts are not that special. They will be tasty, but are very expensive, and end up just being a blob of frosting and whipped cream (which is awesome if you are into that) barely supported by a pieces of cake. They are trying to sell you on luxury by putting a flower on your cake. Don't fall for the gimmick!
Ugh. I won't be coming back here again. After spending $16 on two cappuccinos and a creme brulee (we've had their cake before) we were unimpressed by the service, the food, and the ambience. Tons of staff but no one cleaning up dirty plates from tables, no one lighting candles, and no one ensuring that the lights were even functioning. I hate to eat in the dark.
It was so sad that this place has gone down in the quality of service we have experienced from it in the past. Needless to say we won't be coming back. Skip the "extra" and just call it "ordinary" at best.
Coffee and dessert late night. Oh the simple things.
Dessert...judge for yourself. My dulce de leche was just Ok as was the coconut cream cake. I left a big portion on my plate when I left...that says it all. The macadamia nut cheesecake was a score. Cherry chocolate chip cookie, no thanks.
Drove to the Union street location and kept on driving. Hillcrest location is smaller, but seemed like less of a wait.
I'll give it 4 stars since I've had better desserts there in the past.
Alright, it's been over a year since I've moved away from SD and I still haven't managed to find a dessert place that means as much to me as extraordinary desserts does.
I miss it, I REALLY REALLY miss it. Siiiiiiiiiigh,
BTW, I did come back to taste the difference between the Ivoire Imperial and the Ivoire Royal. The difference is instead of cranberries there's a mix of strawberries, blackberries, blueberries and raspberries. I prefer the Imperial better but it still hits the spot.
I moved away from SD a few months ago and I've been hurting for 3 things: 1) greasy 24 hour mexican… Read more »
I'm not all that crazy about the desserts, but Tofu Club Sandwich...? Good God! Next time I go back (this week?), it won't be for dessert, but for that Extraordinary Sandwich. Vegetarians, please eat the Tofu Club Sandwich!
Also, on a "is-it-a-good-idea-for-a-date?" scale of 1-5, Extraordinary Desserts is a 4.5. (That's my new scale. I developed it myself. Please feel free to appropriate it for your own use.)
This is the place Girlfriend wanted to absolutely hit while we were in San Diego. Okay, I was allowed to drag her into every brewery and pub I could find, so it was a fair trade-off.
As soon as we walked inside, I wanted to knock people out of my way from in front of the bakery case. DANG! Those were some fancy looking desserts! All chocolatey and whipped creamy and fresh fruity. They were also covered with beautiful flowers and gold leaf.
I ordered a cup of coffee and a slice of the Viking cake. Girlfriend got a passion fruit and ricotta tort and a cup of vanilla macadamia nut joe.
The tort: The light, chiffon cake had been soaked in passion fruit juice and came surrounded by mango, passion fruit, and kiwi purees. It looked beautiful upon presentation and tasted even better. (I sampled it, of course.)
The Viking cake: I was immediately transported to Valhalla upon my first bite of this delicious concoction. Wait, that's not a good description. That would mean I died and was cremated with my loved ones. Let's just say, my tastebuds did a little happy dance in my mouth. There was chocolate mousse, pralines, fudge and every kind of deliciousness in there.
The little dining area was tastefully decorated and they have quite a few tables outside. It provides quite a suitable environment for nibbling on sweets with your sweetie. Okay, chalk one up for Girlfriend. She picked a wonderful spot to end our little San Diego trip.
At $7.95 for a slice of triple mousse chocolate cake this better be good. And yes, it was.
Strawberry shortcake (7.95) was also good but not as good as the chocolate cake.
They also serve apricot tea and mochas (3.50). But come here for the dessert.
In the end, you can argue that the high price is justified due to the large portions and extra effort in the flowers decorations (but who cares since you can't eat the flower) but good lord 8 bucks for a slice of cake?!
I was at first skeptical. Okay Florist or Cake shop? Every cake is decorated with a half a dozen flowers and I will admit they are beautiful. Each one of their desserts more like a fancy pants centerpiece. And like girls, I figured oh, there has got to be a gimmick... jp =D
But... reality is the desserts really are quite good. I had a pineapple danish stuffed full of ricotta cheese, which they warmed up and served in halves and a vanilla macadamia nut coffee. Danish was very fresh, despite being 10pm, and the coffee very aromatic and flavorful. Danish about $5, coffee about $3, coffee refill, $1. Their cake deserts are generally about $10 each though.
The prices are up there, but something to try if you've not been.
It's good but it's a little bit overpriced. A slice of cake these days is around $8.00 and I feel that the the slices of the cake has been gotten smaller since couple of years ago.
One of my favorite is the Passion fruit ricotta torte and the Viking if you are craving chocolate. The carrot cake is very good also.
I enjoy this extraordinary vs the other because it is way more romantic. My bf and I like to go there once in a while. It has a cute outdoor setting and little candles makes the end to a nice date.
The hot chocolate isn't very sweet, but you can tell that it is made from scratch with real chocolate.
The presentation is the key to this place. Most of the slices are decorated on a bed of some fruit purree such as mango, or strawberry and come adorned with roses.
This place also offered cookies, and brownies, ice cream, and some other coffee cakes that aren't as expensive as the slices of cakes.
Are your lips and your hips ready for this romantic yet naughty sugargasm in your mouth? Probably not.
Will the ummmmmmmmm ohhhhhhhhh yeaaaaaaaa reaction to their after dark (6P) specials keep you coming again and again? Probably yea.
Something about this place really annoyed the living crap out of me. First, of course, there is the wait. I'm not a huge fan of desserts but I do really enjoy one every once in a while, so I figured if I never get them, it would be worth the wait.
Once it was my turn to order, I couldn't even tell what they had. Most desserts were not labeled and I had to take up a bunch of time asking about what was on display. Perhaps this is what contributes to the insane wait everyone has to go through.
We ordered our desserts to go. Then we stood there waiting. There was really no where to stand, and the place was packed and cramped, so I felt awkward as people were trying to get around me.
And I waited. And I waited..and I waited. I waited a half an hour before asking a server what the deal with our order was, and she was snippy and told me it wasn't ready yet. Really? Does it take half an hour to pack up a few pieces of cake?
And I waited.
Turned out they plated our desserts and they were just sitting there for pretty much the entire time. Someone got something wrong somewhere. So this turned out to be over an hour jaunt for a few pieces of cake to go.
I had some kind of chocolate macadamia cake and it was fine, but sooo rich and fatty all I could really taste was butter fat.
Worth it? No. Going back? Nuh-uh.
There are a lot of desserts and teas to choose from when it comes to this place. The presentation of the dessert is inviting, especially if it is a fruity dessert. They add rose pedals to each dessert you order. I would say this place is great if you are on a romantic date.
If you come late at night, expect a wait outside the door or even at the sidewalk. So, if you are at Extraordinary Desserts after 8 PM, especially on a weekend, be patient to order and for your dessert. If you do not want coffee or tea, they offer distilled water outside their door.
Parking is metered for maximum of two hours. However, if you come after 6 PM, it is a Sunday, or a holiday, it is free.
Pros: their selection of dessert
Cons: parking and the long line late at night
I know this place can be a little pricey for dessert, but I would recommend everyone to try it at least once. What's SD without Extraordinary? I've been to both locations but I love this one-- it has the homey, quaint, cottage-like feel that I like better.
We usually order a couple to-go for friends and family back home, so I've had a lot of different cakes. I know the cakes look amazing, but don't worry, they taste pretty amazing too. Can't go wrong with anything containing white-chocolate, their torte tiramisu, or strawberry shortcake! I don't like carrot cake, but I heard those are really good too. The passion-fruit (extremely sour!) and mango sorbets are delicious, as is their coffee. I love spending a warm Saturday night here during summer eating, talking, and laughing with my friends.
I love the atmosphere of this place. Great place for a date.
I've been to ED twice and Thursday night blew away the previous visit by leaps and bounds. Close your eyes & imagine this.....Chocolate croissant bread pudding....mmmm....do you see it? Keep 'em closed...salted caramel ice cream!!! After a huge dinner elsewhere, this really threw me into food comadom. I couldn't speak, I couldn't see, I couldn't stand up. Maybe instead of a food coma, I was food drunk? Either way, I've been dreaming about this dessert for the past 4 days. I told my boyfriends that the dessert was so good, I wanted to beat the shit out of the waitress. It's one of those experiences where you want to hurt someone, it was that good. Even after sharing it, there were leftovers. I know, me? share?? What? I shared because they're my loves and treated me to a great dinner and extraordinary dessert.
I'm going to keep calling to see if they have that dessert again. I'm glad they don't serve it every night or I'd be as big as a house. The shocking thing is, I'm not really a dessert person. I prefer salty over sweet any day but when you can give me ice cream that has both, you're in like Flynn.
"This would be a great date place."
I LOVE E.D. Their desserts continue to amaze all my senses...okay not my hearing, but everything else. The taste, the sight, the textures...all blend together into beautiful pieces of edible art.
There is usually a line, but that means it's good, and yes, it is worth it, just to gawk at the beautiful cakes topped with flowers and chocolate shavings.
On Sunday, I sampled the passion fruit tropical meringue. AMAZINGLY DELICIOUS. And, it was sooooooooo up my alley....meringue basket filled with passion fruit custard, topped with beautiful slices of fruit...$8.50, kinda steep, but it's an experience!
I love everything about this place.
I will admit that the other location can seem a little too commercialized, but once you walk through these doors, you find yourself enchanted in your own nook of the world.
Their white tea selection is excellent as are their pastries. I love their Macadamia Nut Cheesecake and their Fruit Tarts.
The service could be a bit better as they don't seem like they want to be there, and I have yet to find the service worth going back for, but let's face it, there is a serious lack of dessert places in this side of the world.
Try it, you won't regret it, and make sure you savor in each bite.
I like the Little Italy location so much better. This place is just too small, with huge lines late at night. The desserts are good, just be patient if you come to this location.
I agree with others who say this place is over-hyped. Most definitely!
This place is mediocre with the desserts but really good at presenting them. I came here after reading all the buzz from yelp and from what my dessert-loving friend told me.
I wouldn't waste my money here but maybe I'm just the dessert-type of person.
I'm so glad I came with someone who has been here before, I'm sure I would of gotten a bit confused with the way the layout is. You pick what you want in the glass case or the drink board on the wall in behind the servers. It was a little clustered and crowded but worth the wait.
I'm not a fan of sweet things normally, but this was mild. Sweet. Natural tasting. We got a coffee chocolate cake with cute edible flowers on the top.
We sat outside at night. The ambiance is very personal and date like. The candles really set the mood, this place is cute. I can't wait to go back.
I ordered a cake once.. and it was sooooooooooo amazing!! I ordered the Passion Fruit Ricotta cake for my sister's birthday, and it was truly the most beautiful cake I've ever seen.. and to top it off, it was delicious too!
Another amazing treat here is their Meringue... oh my... so delicious!!
Not much of a big dessert person but everything was pretty decent...once we arrived at the right location. Came here last night with some friends after dinner in the Gaslamp. Go down fifth towards Hillcrest. Sounds easy enough but I guess my ride figured he meant turn left on Ash and go to the one in Little Italy? Really couldn't help him out since I never been to both. Finally after wondering what was take our group so long I give them a call to see where they were at. So now I can say I have been to both in one night.
Overall a pretty cool idea if you have a mean sweet tooth. I decided to order something different than everybody else so we can all just sample each others desserts. I had some sort of a strawberry cake that had a floral accent to it. Not bad but not worth $9 either. Sampled a fruit tart, coconut cake, pineapple danish, strawberry shortcake and some cookies. Everything was good but I don't know if there was anything that stuck out in my mind. I wouldn't going back there again I just don't think I would go out of my way to do so.
So, I'm conflicted about this place. First of all there's usually a wait, which usually indicates that it's worth waiting for, but each time I go I end up leaving a little under whelmed. The first issue I think I have with the atmosphere is that the outdoor patio is not at all the same experience as the cute indoor café. Outdoors you sit on plastic type patio furniture and stare at unappealing walls, absolutely no ambience even with the weird clay fish all over the one long wooden fence.
The second and most pressing issue I have is with the actual desserts. Don't get me wrong, they all look soooo goood. I mean pretty as a picture. Most look too pretty to eat with fresh flowers and gold leaf atop mounds of sugary goodness, however when you finally put the fork to your mouth and experience the treat, it's not that great. The book doesn't match the cover. It reminds me of dating a really gorgeous person only to find out they are boring or shallow underneath; it's a bit of a disappointment every time.
The coffees and teas are always good and it is open late, which is a real bonus when searching for a late night gathering spot or a sweet way to end an evening.
Perhaps I'll need to try it again to be sure it's not worth the drive south and the indulgence, but I know I've had tastier cakes and pastries.
Karen Krasne doesn't mess around when it comes to dessert. Over the years I've sampled a wide range of specialties from Extraordinary Desserts. Most were amazing, some were very good, but all over the top indulgent. Every dessert here is worthy in its own way. My favorites are usually slices of something sumptuous out of the cooler.
Some memorable favorites:
blood orange ricotta torte
caribe
peanut butter bran cookie
Their desserts have been created with care and the best possible ingredients. The results are rich, sexy, decadent, and seemingly sinful. ED is not for everyone because it can be very frou frou; desserts are plated with sauces, flower petals and such. They're always beautifully done, but I know some people aren't into that. You have to be willing to splurge for quality otherwise you will have no fun here. Get a slice of something sinful, a tea, or coffee, and enjoy an afternoon or post dinner splurge.
The atmosphere is wonderful and definitely a great place to take a date. The set up, the displays are all alluring and beautiful.
When it comes to the desserts, they are pretty tasty. I had the Chocolate loaf. It was pleasant and not too rich. My friend had the cobbler and absolutely loved it. We both agreed that the latte and the capuccino were better left for a visit to Starbucks, Peets or Kona Coffee. This is definitely not the place to enjoy coffee.
All in all, the bill was $25.67 for two desserts and two coffees. I definitely would say that the pricing could have been better. However, I wanted Chocolate Cake and was willing to pay the prices for such. I would probably go here again, as the desserts were good.
Service was great. Pleasant smiles and helpful with choosing the right dessert.
This place is overpriced and overrated. I will not come back here again. I think it is overpriced because the desserts do look pretty. It does not taste good as it looks. We had a cookie, tried a cake, and ordered the sundae. Nothing stood out.
This was almost five stars, because they have the sconiest scones ever! omg I can't tell you how much I love scony scones, but they have to really be scony, otherwise I hate them. And their fruit scones are the sconiest!!
However, the chocolate scone was dry, bitter, and sawdusty. It made me very very sad.
Things tend to be a little dense and rich, but (extraordinar-il-y) beautiful in presentation. Nice selection of teas, yummy kiwi lemonade sparkly drink, and (strangely) a collection of toddler items and jewelry for sale.
You have to go and get one of the scony scones. Any of the berry scones are SO scony!!
Each time my BF and I visit San Diego. Extraordinary Desserts is a must stop. We usually go to Balboa Park and walk over to this location to get two slices of their delicious cake. Every time I've gone, we have not been disappointed.
I do remember their coffee cake being a bit too sweet. The Passion Fruit Ricotta Torte is just okay. Their Blood Orange Ricotta Torte is the best thing I've gotten here by far.
We usually get here in the afternoon, so if there is a line. It's just a few people. I have been here at night and the line is ridiculously long. I wouldn't say it's worth the wait.
Overall, come if you want something new and different and don't mind paying $8+ per slice. This is an indulgence for sure.
This place is a little taste of heaven. I think I committed every single one of the 7 deadly sins in this one little cozy cottage next to Balboa Park.
They have a decadent selection of sweet treats enough to make any true dessert lover swoon. After much debate, I finally settled on the Lemon Berry Napoleon. It was lemon creme and a berry medley between light, crispy pastry and covered with more whipped lemon cream. It was all laying on a bed of fruit purees swirled into a fancy design. The dessert was so large, I couldn't eat it all and had to take half of it home with me.
I also ordered a cup of coffee - Lion Vanilla Macadamia - that was to die for. And it was served with a side of cream and rock sugar. How fun is that?
My only complaint (and not docking any stars for this) is that it can be a little confusing how/where to order - especially when there are a lot of people crowding around the counters to see the goodies. And when it's busy, it's a bit loud inside, so communication with the worker was a little difficult.
But in all... I cannot wait to go back!!! This is my new favorite dessert shop! :)
Woa for massive indulgence!
I came here last night with the bf to drown our sorrows in cream and sugar. I've never been here before but this small dessert place is perfect for a date- low lighting (in case you really dont need to stare at each other), cozy insides, cool outsides with some "rustic" decorations (i.e. the thai buddha head and the fish wall), pay up front (to get the akwardness of "whos paying" out of the way) and nice staff!
Although its a little tight trying to get through the front door, look at the desserts and go back in line to select one, I figured this wasn't too bad as long as I didn't come in heavy traffic. oh, whatever.
We ordered this giant and kind of expensive lemon merengue cheescake. The giant flowers with gold leaf was a little too much for me as all I wanted was a decandent dessert with a tasty look (no need to look fancy). However, the dessert itself did not dissapoint.
Creamy creamy thick cheescake covered in nuts and topped with giant baked merengue on top. Halfway through we discovered ther was also a tangy lime/lemon custard in the middle of the cheescake, which I found to be amazingly sour but delicious with the creamy cheescake + the sweet merengue.
We weren't able to finish it (total fail, i always finish my dessert) but it was a good way to drown our parting ways :(
Even though I've been living in lovely San Diego all my life, I never had the chance to go here. Don't get me wrong, I sure as hell wanted to but the opportunity never presented itself (read: having no car sucks). My awesome cousins decided to drive me out to Sea Port Village on a Friday to hang out and when we got in the car, I assumed we were going home. Until my cousin says, "So, we have a birthday surprise for you..." My birthday was the next day (which was in like two hours) so I couldn't possibly imagine what they had in store. I just wanted to get home so that I could satisfy my sweet tooth with some ice cream! Oh, my cousins did so much better than that.
I was surprised there was quite a line since it was pretty late, but hey, everyone's gotta do a late-night sugar run once in awhile, right? The line wasn't that long, or at it didn't seem that long, since it's such a wonderful atmosphere you're in. There are people smiling everywhere you look and I was sneaking a peak at all the delicious sugary goodness everyone was eating!
My cousins and I got a pot of the Birthday Tea, seeing that it was going to be my birthday in a couple of hours. The description said that it was like a freshly baked cookie coming out of the oven, and oh my goodness gracious were they right. It smelled AMAZING and it tasted so good as well!!! As for cakes, we got a strawberry shortcake and a Tres Leches cake. Both were really really really good. Some people might find it a bit to sweet, but just drink it with milk or tea and you'll be fine.
The guy behind the cashier was the sweetest and most patient guy ever. We were sort of taking a long time with our order (so much choices, so little money!) but he was very helpful with suggestions. I am so glad we took his advice and got the HOMEMADE strawberry ice cream with the shortcake. Ah-mazing!
So, if you love awesome desserts, a cozy atmosphere, and sweet people you need to get your butt over here pronto!
Whether you're trying to woo a first date or just need a little chocolate TLC, you're bound to leave ED with a smile on your face. The long line gives you a chance to decide among the many desserts there are. Don't forget to look past the register at the second fridge-- the best desserts are usually in that case. To date my favorite choice has been the chocolate raspberry cake complimented by a frothy latte.
The OG Extraordinary...I think I prefer this one over the newer one. It's small and quaint and...I don't know, it's just what it was meant to be from the start, know what I mean? All the cakes are delicious, and I love getting any tea...I wouldn't say it's worth waiting in line for over 30 minutes, so I usually try to go during a time when there won't be too many people. If the line is going down the sidewalk then it might be a bit too long...
There's only one bathroom...just a little FYI. For some reason I seem to remember waiting for a long time for it because there's only one...
I have the BIGGEST sweet tooth and i decided that during my short 3 day trip to San Diego, I had to come to this dessert shop i've heard so much about.
I expected a bit more of a selection.. maybe i just didn't come at a good time (6pm on a tues?).. but the cakes that were behind the glass looked so enormous and luscious and decadent! I ended up choosing an Ivoire Royale slice and a Strawberry Shortcake.
Expensive desserts!! 2 desserts for $16 is a bit on the high end but I can't say no to sugary confections ugh! At least I didn't spend another $9 on a vanilla creme brulee that wouldn't stop staring me down...
Good desserts.
Im not much of a dessert fan but i like the customer service. They all have tattoos and seem very friendly even though they are punk rock. Usually punks are assholes againest everything. Like the establishment. and this place is definetly part of the establishment.
Great place to take out-of-towners if you want to pass some time & ooo and ahh. The presentation is truly beautiful. Their cakes make great birthday presents.
Of course I'd give more stars if it all tasted better. I find their white chocolate tastes like paint and all the cakes are too heavy and rigid in texture, they need to make some delicately light and airy cakes.
Coffee is good but i could never get it sweet enough, I pretty much dumped 10+ of their rock sugar crystals in there and it was still bitter.
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Category: Desserts
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