Tom n Toms Coffee, a popular Korean coffee chain, recently opened its first location in San Diego.
In addition to the standard coffee beverages (mocha, macchiato, etc), there are a few Korean-influenced flavors as well as Korean bread and pastries.
The coffee store bears striking similarities to Starbucks, and this first San Diego location is opened directly across from Starbucks.
We ordered a variety of baked goods and drinks to get a feel for the place.
Macarons
They also sell macarons! Priced at $1.80 or 3 for $5, these were pretty reasonably priced. I chose early grey, rose and passion fruit. The macaron shells had a good texture, soft with a little bit of a firmer chew in the center. The flavors were on the mild side but tasted true rather than artificial.
Mocha TomNccino
Basically an ice blended mocha drink. I was surprised to find that this was still bitter. I found the drink too icy and not enough coffee.
Matcha TomNccino
Much like the mocha, I found this drink to be far too icy.
Baked Sweet Potato Latte
This was the beverage I was most curious about. It had a wonderful sweet aroma, much like oven baked sweet potatoes. The latte did taste of sweet potato, giving the drink a mild earthy taste to it. It smelled sweeter than it tasted. My group had mixed reactions to the drink. I liked it, but my other dining companions didn’t really care for it.
Plain Pretzel
Normally I wouldn’t think to order a pretzel at a coffee shop but it was advertised on their menu so I couldn’t resist. I could tell right away this wasn’t going to be good. Tough, too chewy, and nothing like the Western-style soft pretzels. It basically tasted like bread shaped into a pretzel. They have various topping options, but we chose to get the plain.
Overall, we had mixed feelings about this place. I love the menu variety and want to come back and try some more pastries and drinks. I did enjoy the sweet potato latte but wasn’t as much of a fan of the blended coffee drinks.
Tom n Toms
969 Market St
Ste 150
San Diego, CA 92101
https://en.tomntoms.com/
so Samsung copies Apple and Tom n Toms copies Starbucks, what does that tell us…….? haha
There’s another location on B Street near 9th; I wasn’t sure if it hadn’t opened yet, or if it was closed for the day. I checked your blog to double-check the address while having a burger at Hodads 🙂
Oh I read they were opening another one downtown but I didn’t realize it was already open!
Oh I read they were opening another one downtown but I didn’t realize it was already open!
The sign for “Oatmeal Soup” is interesting. I wonder if it’s just oatmeal, or if it’s a runnier rendition of oatmeal. A sweet potato latte sounds interesting but also kind of weird to me. I’d try it in any case.
it looks very liquidy in the picture, so I’m guessing it’s more like a Korean version of oatmeal?
The Mister read about this place and told me and then I forgot…it looks very interesting. I know right where it is, too. Definitely will try some items here; it all looks quite interesting.
It’s a lot bigger than I thought it would be. Definitely a lot of room to hang out and try out all the menu options
I’d just read about this place and was curious to go, so your post is my “preview”! 🙂 i will have to theirs macs and their iced mocha. maybe i can convince bert to try the black sesame drink too.
If you like your coffee drinks sweet, you might need to ask them to add sugar to the mocha as I didn’t taste any or barely any. I am curious about their toast and breads
The baked sweet potato latte, black sesame smoothie and persimmon smoothie sound pretty interesting. Out of those I think I would most like to try the black sesame. At least the baked potato latte didn’t taste artificial (like all the Starbucks flavors) then again baked potato syrup is probably not that common?
I was actually curious about the black sesame too. that one was pricey though at $6. the rest were more regularly priced. But then maybe it’s a really large size