Eccentric International Chef — Restaurant in Santee

BEWARE BRIDES TO BE!! We met Carl, chef & owner of this bakery at a bridal show in 2018 and tought his cakes were good (although he was the only one at this one show) he was very nice and seemed very professional about his work and his displays of wedding cakes were quite pretty for the show. Based on our experience with him we decided to schedule a cake tasting for our wedding coming up this year of September 2020 and met with his wife & owner Melina. She gave us a sample of 4 or 5 different cakes (2 of which we tasted at the bridal show) and honestly the flavors were not as great as I remember from the show but they were good enough. We went over details for our wedding, cake flavors, pricing, etc. She gave us a quote on our wedding cake and even offered to make some flavors not on the menu based on our specific likes, we loved the idea and discussed those as well during our tasting. I reached back to her this year to schedule this 2nd tasting of the flavors we would like to try and to book our cake with them but the response back was quite disappointing!! She tried to increase our price over $250dlls from our original quote given just 2 months before without prior notice or warning to us that her prices were subject to change. She also wanted to charge an extra $50dlls for a second tasting of flavors we discussed in person and never mentioned there would be an additional charge. During our tasting there was no mention from her that without deposit or signature she was gona raise her prices or we could risk paying more from the original quote she gave us. The quote had a "good until" section that she did not filled out meaning our quote had no expiration date yet she tried to raise our price from $750 to almost $1000dlls only 2 months after our meeting. I asked her to honor the original quote since she was not clear on her quote and Never said her prices were subject to change or offered to close a deal the day of our tasting and she refused stating she has the "right to raise her prices without signature or deposit" on contract, which I agree but not when you are not notified of such or given clear communication. She said her business prides themselves on integrity, flavors and their prices but I doubt this to be the truth since it wasn't my experience. I am glad though that this happened because after now reading some reviews on here I am afraid my wedding cake would had been a disaster would I had hired them and I am happy to be taking my business elsewhere and not provide any referrals or recommendations ever for them! Hope this review helps...

Imagine if you go into a bakery where everything looks, smells, and tastes like it's straight from the Cake Boss but instead of being in a weird Vegas or New York showroom, it's your local Santee bakery and you get perfect local down home customer service with all of the high quality you expect from a fancy crazy expensive bakery at a fraction of the price without sacrificing quality..... NO NEED TO IMAGINE!!! That is exactly what Becky and the team at Eccentric International Chefs provide and even better! They came highly recommended by other bakers in the area for my very special order and now i see why! Their cakes, cookies, and everything else I've tried (don't go near those cakes in a cup unless you're trying to start a new habit, they're too good!!!) have the best flavors and are so affordable, I am so happy I found them for my daughter's custom birthday cake! I was SAVED by the price, DAZZLED by the deliciousness and absolutely AMAZED at the wonderful customer service which was so above and beyond that this would be a 30 minute read if I told the whole story but let's just say, black red velvet rock band cakes aren't in season in February but Becky made it happen for us and I'll never be able to express my gratitude enough! Between her, the team, and a fellow customer, Santee epic legend Chuck who might just be the Saint of Santee, we had an inedible experience and will certainly be back! 10/10 highest recommendation, 5 stars, 100% shout from the rooftops, TRY THIS...

I want to start by saying that the service was timely and Becky the lady that helped me was friendly and professional. And that is why I am hoping that by writing this review the bakery will make this right. I ordered my spouses birthday cake last Thursday to pick up on Saturday. The order was a simple chocolate cake with the key main ingredient…a white buttercream frosting. I did not get that frosting. When I picked up the cake Saturday afternoon Becky repeated back the order but she failed to mentioned the frosting which I thought was odd, especially when she wrote it down on Thursday when she took my order. At a lovely restaurant in La Jolla when my spouse took the first bite and disappointedly said it was good and not great or delicious; I knew something was wrong, the frosting was not the frosting my spouse specifically told me to get when I went to purchase the cake :( I felt like a failure I had one task only and that was getting the damm birthday cake! And I thought I nailed it, when I saw the cake it looked great I don’t know what white buttercream frosting looks like! But instead, I found defending myself to my spouse saying that I gave Becky the correct order and I saw her write it down. Very disappointed, the cake was suppose to feed 4 and it only fed the waiting staff at the Osteria Romántica in La Jolla (excellent service by the way) my review for the restaurant is next and I can assure you that they will be...