Soaking up the Sunrise Cafe in San Clemente

 The Sunrise Cafe

701 North El Camino Real

San Clemente, CA 92672

It's been way too long since Katie and I enjoyed the sun and walked our favorite trail in OC, the San Clemente Beach Trail. Katie enjoys this jaunt along the coast because it's picturesque, great for people watching, and her favorite reason, there are no hills. After walking nearly three miles, we needed a spot for breakfast. I pulled up Yelp and found Sunrise Cafe. 

Sunrise Cafe, also known as Calypso's Sunrise Cafe, has been open since 2006. In 2013 ownership changed hands to Chen Yen, who has a very harrowing story. She and her sister fled Cambodia at the ages of 6 and 8, then had to escape from two different slave labor camps before making it to Thailand. They were then sponsored and brought to America in 1978. 

After learning a new language and culture and both earning a college degree, they settled into the restaurant business, first opening Calypso Cafe in the courtyard of the old San Clemente Hotel on Avenida Del Mar in 2002. Chen immediately breathed new life into Sunrise Cafe, focusing her attention on service and the presentation of the food. Although they only have 200 plus reviews on Yelp, they own a four-star rating, which is way better than it was back when they took over the business.  

Open only from 7 to half past 2 seven days a week, this is a breakfast and lunch focussed spot. The breakfast menu features all the usual suspects; pancakes, french toast, benedicts, plenty in the way of omelets, Mexican breakfast staples, scrambles, and a healthier section that showcases steel-cut oatmeal, an acai bowl, and other stuff that I would probably never order. Lunch options include burgers, sandwiches, salads, Mexican items, and a couple of Asian-inspired bowls. 

We were done with our walk right around noon and made it to Sunrise Cafe after a short drive. There's plenty of lot parking in the back of the restaurant. We were met with a very busy restaurant but did not have to wait for a table. The walls are dotted with the art of local artists. The tables are pretty close together, but I did not feel I was right on top of people. Our server took our order rather quickly, and within ten to fifteen minutes we had gotten our breakfasts. Let's take a look. 

Katie, who almost always gets a breakfast burrito when visiting a restaurant for her first meal of the day, instead went with this Trestles Scramble ($14.95). They start with a base of home fries, then add three eggs, diced tomatoes, bell peppers, and onion, and top it with a sprinkling of jack and cheddar cheese. Katie really liked this scramble. It was not as greasy as other places, and even though it was devoid of meat, it was flavorful and lighter than most egg dishes she has had. She had wanted a biscuit with gravy, but they were out of biscuits for the day, so when her toast came out, our server brought out a bowl of gravy with it. A very nice gesture. 

My strategy on this early afternoon was to find the egg dish with the most breakfast meats included. I zeroed in on this Meat Lover Omelette ($15.95). The holy trinity of breakfast meats was included with this, ham, bacon, and sausage, along with cheese on top. This was definitely one of the meatiest omelets I have had in a long time. They really loaded it up, but I do wish they had put cheese inside the omelet, instead of just on top, which did not get melted enough. Since Katie had gotten the home fries for her breakfast, I went with the hashbrowns as my potato choice. They were nice and crisp on top and fork-tender in the middle but could have been seasoned a bit more. A very filling meal that kept me from eating until dinnertime. 

Sorry for the lack of diversity that we had at Sunrise Cafe during this visit. I usually like to add a sweet item to our breakfast, but we did not want to undo all the good that we did with our three-mile walk earlier in the day. The Sunshine Cafe is not going to blow you away with its breakfasts, but it's a pretty solid spot for your first meal of the day. The menu is pretty straightforward, with generous portion sizes that will keep you full throughout your day. Yes, Katie and I need to take more advantage of the beautiful area where we live and get outside more. Breakfast spots like this will help motivate us to do just that.  

Out of five kiwis, (because the nation of New Zealand is the first country in the world to experience the sunrise each day, and their population is nicknamed Kiwis), five being best to zero being worst, The Sunrise Cafe gets 3 kiwis. 

For more information about Sunrise Cafe, head to their website by clicking here: https://www.thesunrisecafesc.com/