HINAR Dessert Bar & Café — Restaurant in San Diego

tl;dr -- I felt super uncomfortable and unwelcomed at this place and probably won't come here again :/ I think it was just an unfortunate first experience, but at least for working at this place, it's a no go for me. You wouldn't encounter these issues at Philz or other places so I'd just go there instead... Maybe it was my fault at the beginning for not buying a drink initially, but I just felt super pressured and unwelcomed in the environment like the people wanted to consistenly kick me out... sorry ... Not a good place to work at. Had a really uncomfortable and I would say unlucky experience there (I don't know if there's anyone to blame, but here's my experience). I was planning to meet a friend there and decided to grab a seat first and started working; was waiting grab coffee together. Maybe because the place is new, it was pretty packed and that was the reason why I decided to grab a seat first while I waited for my friend. A worker eventually comes up to me and says that if I don't have a drink I should go up to the front to get one (I was in the back); I told him that I was waiting for a friend while I was working and then he said okay. Meanwhile, I noticed another customer waiting for a spot in the corner of my eye. The worker eventually comes up again and says that if I don't get a drink I'll have to leave in five minutes; at this point I say okay yeah I'll get a drink. As soon as I get up, the customer that was waiting agressively starts talking to me and later tells me he wants to slap me hard in the face; meanwhile I'm trying to just stay calm and get my drink. The cashier noticed that something was up but was confused and later asked what the other customer said to me; I couldn't really speak cause I honestly pretty rattled. If it weren't for my friend coming, I would've left; I just felt super...

TLDR; great food, coffee & ambiance

This is a hidden gem! When you first walk in, there is a rush of scents between the pastries and coffee. The ambiance is a calming variety of muted tones and earthy vibes with a hint of eastern european. The staff spoke quietly and calmly while answering our questions and were very helpful with suggestions. Everything about this place screams serenity.

Not only do they have the front dining space but, if you take a short walk down the plant lined hallway, you open up into additional indoor and outdoor seating. I could not believe this place was IN the city. It was so quiet and perfectly nestled on a side road.

We both ordered macarons, chocolate caramel and creme brulee, but did not get a picture because we ate them immediately and they were flavorful without the standard american overdose of sugar. We also each ordered lattes which came out quickly and exactly as requested.

This place is worth a stop especially if you're looking for a little wind down after the bustle of the city.

10/10 highly recommend!

Update: I brought my very clumsy friend her last week right when they opened and we had a very pleasant experience. We are all about "the experience" of a place and Hinar met our expectations. She immediately knocked her latte over by kicking the table and we went to grab a few napkins but someone was at our table cleaning up our mess before we could even register what was going on. Once the table was clean she was ready to sit down and enjoy the remaining half of her latte when to our surprise, they brought her a whole new one because, and I quote, they "didn't want that to ruin our experience." Talk about service! Anyways, the lattes are extremely delicious and every macaron flavor I have tried is hinted with flavor without being...

Design is top notch. Super aesthetic. Everything else fell short. $50 for a matcha, an orange blossom latte, 2 mini cake desserts and a kouign-amann. The orange blossom "latte" was disgusting. Way to much orange blossom water. The small latte had zero foamed milk. It was steamed milk thrown over espresso. Zero effort was made here and it sure showed. $7 wasted there. The kouign-amann tasted like it had been frozen and then thawed and set out for multiple days and then reheated. Nothing fresh about it. After tax this item came out to over $7. We didnt finish this. It tasted like someone was sad. The ants at the park, that normally attack everything, didnt even touch it. Finally we had the Black Sesame Strawberry and the Bananan Krokananananan or whatever it was called. The bagger didnt provide any utensils for these items that you literally cannot eat without. I just assumed they would have put them in the bag being you need them and especially since there was no station to self serve napkins or utensils or anything. We weren't asked if we needed them. So we couldn't eat them at the park and had to wait to eat them at home. The banana one melted into puddle but tasted decent but nothing spectacular. The Black Sesame Strawberry was the last thing we tried and the item that stayed the most intact. I had hopes this single item would make all the disappointment worth it. It did not. It too lacked any life. The sponge was overcooked and tasted like store bought angel food cake. Sesame note was barely noticeable, which was concerning that even at room temp you had to search your palete for the flavor. These totalled over $25 and complete disillusionment. The matcha was the only item I didnt feel conned over. I would never...