Eclipse Chocolat

This new store on El Cajon Boulevard, just a few blocks east of Park Boulevard, is a twee little chocolate chop and mini-cafe.

Their bon bon flavors include "Peppered Fig and Goat Cheese," a classic flavor combo for cheese, but interesting for chocolate. The pepper slightly out weighed the fig and goat cheese. "Rosemary and Peppermint" is a bit strong, and unless you're really into the minty types of flavors I suggest skipping it. There is also the Orange and Cointreau White Chocolate, Raspberry-Balsamic, and many more. They have about a dozen flavors in all.

The best chocolate on the menu when I went was by far the chocolate caramel with lavender scented sea salt. Caramel and salt go well together, and dipped with chocolate really tops of this subtle and rich bon bon. This same caramel chocolate ganache appears in milk chocolate with a pecan, and it is also very good. They were out of the caramel chocolate ganache with chili pepper, but I look forward to trying it soon.

Overall, I'd say the chocolates are fair to good. However, Eclipse Chocolat is still a worthwhile journey. The staff is friendly and helpful, and the cafe is pleasing to be in. They display local artists and quite good artists at that. It's not like some random shop with their friends' work on the wall. Eclipse hosts an array of talented artists in real exhibits. Their opening theme was "sugar" and they had many of San Diego's up and coming artists showing their work.

The ambiance is also appealing, with large comfy sofas in the color of dark chocolate. They support community efforts and natural ingredients. The walls are pleasant shades of pastels, and while their style is a little trendy, it is still aesthetically pleasing. The 1920s style silhouettes in fleur-de-lis style images is a bit on the up and up now, but it is a fashion I like. Their walls and packaging are adorned with this look, and clients will enjoy the comfortable atmosphere. Finally, they offer a wide range of teas and coffees, all very high quality products.

Eclipse Chocolat
http://eclipsechocolat.com/
2121 El Cajon Boulevard
San Diego, California
619.504.5310

Lei Lounge

The Lei Lounge in University Heights is a trendy new spot for drinks and tapas-style dinners. The setting is beautiful, with semi-private booths throughout an open air patio style establishment. In other words, basically the whole lounge is outdoors.

Their specialty is mixed drinks, with interesting, though trendy, drink specials like pomegranate martinis, blueberry martinis, and other sweet and fruity and tropical drinks. Their drinks are good, but they cost $7 and do NOT use top shelf liquor. Still, worth going in for a drink or two to enjoy the atmosphere.

The food menu is quite good, with an emphasis on seafood and traditional American dishes wit ha trendy flair. They serve seasoned sweet potato fries with balsamic vinegar, miniature kobe beef hamburgers, wasabi mashed potatoes, and crab anything-you-can-imagine. Like the drinks, the food is good, but not as great as the price implies. Also, you will receive much better service if you are a gay male, than if you are straight and/or female.

Overall, I'd say it is fun to check out, but not a place where I'd become a regular.

Lei Lounge is open 5-10pm daily. Plus they are open for brunch on Sundays. I was going to look up the times for that, but the website took so long I closed it out.

I don't recommend visiting their website; it is incredibly slow and frustrating. They have a bunch of lame pictures in the background that move, and their interface is difficult to use (like little "feathers" you have to click to scroll the menu up and down inside the browser window, instead of just scrolling the actual browser widow).

Lei Lounge
4622 Park Blvd.
San Diego, CA
619-813-2272
www.leilounge.com