Waffles N Cream

Waffles ‘N’ Cream

Located on Orr n Day and Telegraph inside Santa Fe Springs Plaza right next to Bank of America

Waffles ‘N’ Cream is a pretty neat café. The inside is decorated with a bit of an old rock n’ roll style. There’s some band posters on the wall and a thick book on famous guitarists who influenced music. The menus are posted in giant picture frames on the wall and it sort of reminds me of a donut shop with posters of ice coffee and other food pictures. With its café, street art, rock n’ roll vibe it feels like a cool teen place to hang out.

The place serves jugos bionicos (real fruit juice icee), smoothies, coffee, and an assortment of sandwiches and salads. I mostly paid attention to the dessert/drinks menu so I can’t comment on the main courses.

I ordered an Iced Coffee Toffee and it was delicious. I ordered it poured over ice instead of blended. It was very creamy and sweet.  I feel like it had the right amount of balance between coffee and toffee, I could taste both flavors. I think I ordered a small but it was a good size portion probably a little bit taller than the small size at Starbucks. Unless I ordered a medium, then it was exactly the same size as a Starbucks medium.

My dad got a lemon-lime raspada (shaved ice and fruit juice-snow cone type) which had a really strong lime flavor. It was acidic, sour, and tasty. I feel like we could have made three raspadas from that one serving.

My mother ordered a coconut raspada. Hers wasn’t as strong, I could taste the coconut but it was almost a bit watery.

I will definitely be going here again and again. This is my new Starbucks. 

Café Opa  http://www.cafe-opa.com/

Phone 562-806-0761

9905 Paramount Blvd., Downey, Ca 90240

Café Opa is nice place to go for delicious Greek food. I learned about it on Yelp and it had good reviews so my friend and I decided to take a little visit.

I liked Café Opa from the moment I walked in. First, the place was clean. Second, it had a calm, friendly, vibe. The walls were a nice, light, yellow which went well with the sky blue shelves. The centerpieces had real wildflowers. The red and white tablecloths were adorably traditional. It reminded me of being on a picnic. Artwork on the walls gave glimpses into the streets of Greece. There was music playing softly in the background, it might have been traditional Greek music, I don’t know. It was really nice, I couldn’t stop looking around.

We were greeted immediately when we walked through the door.  The waitress led us to the back seating area after we told her that we would be dining in. Our waitress was really nice. She kept checking to see if we were okay and was prompt to pick up any trash we made and clear plates we weren’t using.

Café Opa’s menu includes appetizers ($2.00-$11.00), pita sandwiches ($6.00-$10.00), wraps ($6.00-$7.00), salads ($6.00-$9.00), and dinner platters ($10.00-$20.00). Beverages include soda, coffee, water, and tea. I didn’t see any menu’s with alcoholic beverages. You can find the menu online http://www.cafe-opa.com/menu.pdf

The food was really good. The next time someone asks me “where should we go out to eat?” I will suggest this place. I ordered 1/4 chicken a la carte, fries, coffee, and water. My friend ordered a mixed grill plate which included Gyro, Donair (pork), and Chicken. Hers was more exciting.

The coffee was nothing special, it tasted like average Denny’s, Ihop, Norm’s, coffee and came with standard cream and sugar. The water tasted good, it had a hint of lemon and it came with a thick lemon wedge. I think it was plain sink water but it was lemony enough. Why waste my time on water that tastes like water? Well, once I went to a restaurant and the water tasted like someone put it into a used, greasy, pan and fried it for a bit before serving it to us. So now, I comment on water.

Okay now for the exciting part; the food. I chose the dark meat of the chicken, leg and thigh. It was rotisserie and the skin had a nice crunch with some herbal flavoring. The chicken was fully cooked, and nicely moist. It had a buttery, plain, chicken flavor. The skin was the best part; it seemed to be where most of the flavor was. The fries were round, flat, and thin. For the most part they were soft. Some were crunchier than others, I prefer them soft. The potato skin was left around the edges and they were seasoned with salt. They weren’t greasy at all and they tasted delicious. They were topped with feta cheese which added a little to the saltiness, but they were not overly salty and overall it was a really great flavor.

My friend also loved her food. She let me try some of her potatoes and I tried a piece of her chicken. Her potatoes were cut into long thick strips. They were well seasoned and tasted very much like lemon and butter. They also had a nice crunch on the outside. The chicken had a genuine grilled, smokey, flavor; I loved it. Both dishes came with a side of pita bread with was soft, and warm, and tasted fresh.

Overall it was a good experience and I cannot wait to go back. BTW they also cater.