If someone had asked me where my favorite café was just three months ago, I would have readily answered: Rendez Vous French Bakery & Cafe in Corona Del Mar, CA! But now I can’t. Because despite their still delicious beignets and food, it saddens me to say that I’ve tasted one of the worst lattes there.

So let’s talk about Rendez Vous Cafe.

Heavenly Beginning

Rendez Vous French Bakery and Cafe is an “authentic artisan French bakery” and café where “everything is made from scratch” with the best ingredients. They serve breakfast, brunch, lunch, and dinner and offer catering.

I chanced upon this café when I was driving by Corona Del Mar one day. It has an eye-catching aesthetic exterior, with a blue and white sign and outdoor seating area adorned with garlands of pink florals.

When you walk inside, you come face to face with lovely Parisian decorations, including this beautiful wall of pink, white, red, and purple roses and a chic white cart displaying macarons and caneles:

Not to mention the tempting pastries and bread surrounding you when you stand at the cashier to order!

The first time I visited with my family, I ordered a French toast, veggie panini, cream filled beignets, and two cups of latte. And we remember it like it was yesterday: it was HEAVENLY. Everything tasted great – not too sweet, not too salty. Fluffy French toast with fresh fruits, flavorful panini packed with cooked vegetables and side salad, doughnut-like beignets packed with rich cream, and foamy, rich lattes.

I wish we had taken photos that day, but we were too busy devouring the food. Click HERE to see the official photos of their French toast and HERE for their cream beignets.

*Visit their IG page for more mouthwatering photos of their menu items💕💕

The heavenly taste continued every week we visited the café, and for the past few months, visiting Rendez Vous was our family’s little ritual. We would order, take the food and lattes, and watch the beautiful shores of Corona Del Mar:

The Ever-Changing Quality

But sometime around late March, things began to change. We were surprised to find our beloved Rendez Vous French toast, which had been fluffy and yellow, coming out too burnt to eat. Our lattes had become foamless and tasteless.

But we loved the cafe so much that we went back week after week, in hopes of tasting the gastronomical heaven we had experienced in the beginning. But the French toast always came out with black bits on the bottom, some weeks worse than others, while our lattes tasted different every week. *Sometimes, it would be like drinking hot water and espresso separately. Other times, it was like drinking lukewarm milk and espresso. Our lattes always came out with barely any foam, and the milk and espresso that should blend together came out tasting like they hadn’t been mixed.

*5/29 Update: Delicious foamy lattes are back!

And at times we would come home with the cream beignets only to discover that we received plain ones. 🙁

After weeks of giving the French toast and lattes multiple second chances, we gave up on our favorite items. So we had no choice but to find quality lattes elsewhere, which we did at Rose Bakery Café a few blocks away.

Food’s Still Great Though 👍

But I’m happy to share that they always have great beignets and paninis.

And croque madame!

I’ve also tasted some of their pastries, including the fruit tart and pear almond tart. And they’re as good as they look! 👇😉👍

And the café is as chic as ever, with pink roses and decorations reminiscent of Paris itself. They’ve got great food and lovely, friendly employees. I recommend Rendez Vous Café to anyone visiting Corona Del Mar, CA but just be aware of their French toast and latte.

⚠ The French toast might come out very burnt on the bottom, and the latte might come out tasteless & foamless. Hopefully they go back to tasting phenomenal!

To wrap up, here are more photos of the chic interior & exterior:

Here’s the exact location:

P.S. To visit the cafe’s official website, click HERE. Like their motto, they really do have real food and real people! 😉

P.P.S. During Christmas, this pretty French café becomes even more aesthetic with a pink Christmas tree!

P.P.P.S. Update 5/24: I visited again and ordered a panini with cream beignets for take out. The panini was delicious as always, but I was given plain beignets again… 😔