Rendezvous Cafe is a 10/10 Date Place, Especially if You Can't Afford Paris

Uh, and yeah, I can’t afford Paris. Raise your hand if you’re in the same boat. Now stop raising your hand. You look weird.

The lovely folks over at Rendezvous Cafe and I set up a tasting on a gorgeous, sunny, Corona Del Mar afternoon. Is there any place better than Corona Del Mar? Those cute coastal streets and shops that have been nestled for decades. And if they haven’t, they’ve got to be good, because hey, it’s Corona Del Mar. Right next to Fashion Island, the shopping center of…the world.

Yeah, Corona Del Mar restaurants. I’ve got high expectations for you, okay? You can’t take up real estate on this quaint little space without proving you’ve got what it takes. So, enter me stepping into Rendezvous Cafe for the first time.

You’re met with a small, expertly decorated space. You’ve got cute flowers and mini bicycles, and most importantly, a decadent display of macaroons and other delicious pastries. Ready, set, we’re on a date in Europe!

And now, a blasphemous fact about myself: I don’t really like sweet stuff. Gasp.

Yeah, if I had the choice between a slice of cake and some artichoke dip, I’d take the savory option every single time. If this is you, Rendezvous cafe is still a move.

Since I know you’re just going to scroll through and look at all the pictures…behold this latte, dripping with decadence. If you follow me in the slightest, you know I have a hopelessly low caffeine tolerance. So low, in fact, that the doctor told me to stop drinking it. (Panic attacks CAN happen from caffeine, it turns out.)

So I graciously allowed my boyfriend to drink it.

And, of course, I took a few sips. Because I agreed with him. This was the best latte we ever had. It was almond flavored in just the right dose, and topped off with thick and creamy whip. I’m not the coffee expert, but he is, and he repeated it: best latte he ever had. Alright. Well there we have it.

Next to arrive was this little number.

This was gone approximately twelve seconds after I took this picture. Why? Because it was light and flaky and full of airy almond paste. Yeah, I might not have a sweet tooth, but I’m not a monster. This thing is dank city. As an added bonus, you get the cutest floral wall to take pictures in front of. Top of the line pastries and aesthetics? I didn’t even have to renew my passport and I’m saying hello to Paris.

And then boom, before we knew it, we were hit with these cuties.

I’m going to give them both their turn in the spotlight, because they deserve it.

And accompanied by a teeny tiny tower….

Okay guyyyys. I might have been lying to you a little. I really don’t have a sweet tooth, except for with some very specific stuff. I👏love👏raspberry👏desserts. This thing was the most adorable, most delectable raspberry lemon drop I’ve ever had the pleasure of stuffing into my face. I felt like a monster cracking my fork into it, because it was so cute.

And if you need a note on how we enjoyed the cake, well…

Look at that big boi. They called him Versailles. Ugh, why am I writing this while on Whole30? I never crave sugar, but if anything would do it to me, it’s that cake. That cake was the word that everyone and their mother hates: moist. And, the word that everyone and their mother love: chocolatey af.

But now, friends, it’s time. For the main course. The whole enchilada (not actually an enchilada.)

Actually, a croque madame and her partner in crime, a savory chicken mushroom crepe. A pair that shall live on in infamy.

See exhibit A: boyfriend trying to steal crepe before picture is done. Can you blame him?

I just want to stare at this crepe. Because it was so, so good. And I’m on Whole30 and I can’t eat it. Mostly because it’s loaded to the brim (do crepes have brims?) with cheese. They also definitely didn’t skimp on the chickens and mushrooms, either. Combine that all together and you get a very happy Lily.

I’m sure their sweet crepes are great, too, but as I’ve mentioned, sweet crepes aren’t my jam. They probably have jam in them, though.

Haaa…moving on.

Now we meet croque madame. She was savory. And she was full of turkey goodness. And she had that perfect egg yolk.

And if you needed to see it more close up, here you go.

And, if you needed to see it getting dug into, here you go. (Digged into? Help. Freelance writer struggling. None of those sound right.)

After we were done with our scrumptious goods, we sat in the cafe a little longer, enjoying the scenery. Reminiscing on how good those pastries and other French goodies really were. Then, you get to walk hand in hand down the seaside streets, and look at the ocean from the bluffs. Thanks for the cute date, Rendezvous Cafe. You’ve made me a believer in my sweet tooth again.