Merenda & 24Suns

Since Juran’s grandma lives in Oceanside, it’s an area that we frequent quite a lot & because of that, we’ve had more opportunity to find cool spots & to dive into the culinary scene around there. Recently, I stumbled upon both Merenda & 24Suns, which both immediately intrigued me for a wide variety of reasons.

With Merenda, I was naturally fascinated by the interior of the restaurant, as it’s vibrant with color & has a very charming European appeal to it. Looking through the pictures also excited me because the cuisine reminded me of tapas paired with wine. After visiting the restaurant, I ended up learning that in Italian, “Merenda” actually translates to “a snack & a time for a light meal or a break between lunch & dinner”. I personally love that so much & something about it makes me further appreciate the little joys in life.

During our visit, we ended up getting a few snacks & beverages at Merenda prior to having our main dinner at 24Suns, & wow.. were BEYOND impressed. The quality, flavor, & presentation of the two dishes we got were perfection. Whenever we visit a restaurant with pretty ceramics & glassware, we love to check the branding of the product, & we noticed that they source Kinto items, as well as a local brand called The Wheel Stoneware. Ugh, I already love Kinto so much, but after that, I have now become equally in love with The Wheel Stoneware. Check them out if you haven’t already cause their stuff is super pretty!

Although we only had a few items at Merenda, we already cannot wait to return. I’ve always wanted to go to Addison, the three star Michelin restaurant in San Diego, but I’ve never gone yet since it basically costs an arm & a kidney. However, we met the restaurant manager at Merenda & found out that he had previously worked at Addison, which was really cool & a great surprise. Funny enough though, we ended up going to 24Suns later in the evening, which also happened to be recently created by two former chefs at Addison. Therefore, if we never get to experience the extravagance that Addison has to offer, at least we got the next best thing(s) that night!

Quick little intermission at Sound by the Sea, Oceanside :)