Calypso Cafe

Sunday night I went out with a couple of fellow educator friends. Normally there are four of us, but one was missing because her mother was in town. The venue: Calypso Cafe in Encinitas. It located on 576 N. Coast Highway 101 in Encinitas. Since we hardly ever go up North, this venue was chosen by one of my good friends and an excellent choice it was. The Cafe seemed like a cottage that was converted into a restaurant. Her brother had performed there before with his jazz band so she wanted us to check out the venue for ourselves. We were able to get parking on a nearby side street. There was live music playing as we walked in (bossa nova plus various jazz standards). The walls are painted with bright jungle/rain forest scenes. There are jewel toned glass lamps hanging from the ceiling. It was a relaxing atmosphere. The prices were not cheap, but they weren't wallet busting either. Figure about $16 and up for an entree. We were the only minorities there. I kept expecting to see Jeff Spicoli breeze through the door.

Our waiter started us off with their house sangria and bread with a very rich salsa which consisted of tomatoes, chilies, pineapple, balsamic vinegar, capers, green onions, and a few other ingredients that I couldn't remember. There was a bit of a kick to it and it tasted very good. For an appetizer, we ordered calamari with mango salsa. Calamari differs from place to place. Some serve it as 'rings' or 'strips', while others will serve the tiny squid tentacles and all. This version was like a triangular squid (sorry, but that's what calamari is, as ugly as it sounds) shaped candy corn, but huge. It was breaded and stacked pointy side up on spring greens. The salsa was also very good and spicy, but not so much to make you sweat. My friend who chose the place had the lobster ravioli which was in a tomato cream sauce. The raviolis were pillow-shaped and there were about five big ones in there.

Our other dinner companion had the salmon penne with white cream sauce. That was also very delicious. She said the pasta was cooked just the way she liked it, 'al dente'. The salmon was really rich tasting and I couldn't resist having a bit more of hers.

Lastly, my entree was the seafood linguine with my choice of a white cream sauce. Still pleasantly reeling from Vagabond's moules-frites, I chose this dish because it had mussels in it, as well as scallops, shrimp and salmon. The two roasted peppers were a nice touch and weren't even spicy at all. I ended up eating only half of it since the portion was pretty large. It made for a nice lunch the next day. Sorry for the crappy picture quality.

In all, it was a nice evening out with good friends who work in the same field. Most of my other very dear friends are not in education, so I don't bore them with my stories about school and students, etc. We four usually have lunch or dinner once a month to relax as well as gripe! We trade "war" stories and restaurant/book recommendations with each other. Next month is our missing person's birthday so we will take her out to dinner somewhere, perhaps a place where we've all never been before. Every dinner out with these ladies is always a culinary adventure.