Enjoy some chips and salsa while you wait for your dinner…

Ceviche ($10) - First of all, I was surprised at the bountiful amount of shrimp that was hidden underneath the red onion, avocado, tomato, cilantro, and wedge of lime. This was delicious with the lime.

Chicken Mole with green beans and some kind of squash ($18) - I wasn’t too thrilled with the jasmine rice. It tasted like vinegar. The chicken was a little dry and I didn’t like the chocolate mole sauce. I couldn’t taste the chocolate. I guess I was expecting something else…

Enchilada con Pollo ($14) - I enjoyed the moist and tender chicken enchiladas. The three enchiladas were stuffed with chicken, salsa roja, beans, rice, and topped with queso Oaxaca. There was more than enough for me. I couldn’t even finish two enchiladas.

I wouldn’t recommend sitting outside. Little things were blowing all around. Instead, ask for a table near the window to enjoy the view of the lake and the docked boats. The staff was nice.

http://www.solylago.com/

Original post dated sometime around July ‘10.

Steamers is practically on the beach. Enjoy a nice view while enjoying your pizza with indoor or outdoor seating.

Garlic Chips ($9.45) – small thin crust pizza with mozzarella cheese and garlic. This smells so good! It also tastes good.

Large Pizza ($24.50) – half Yukon (Canadian bacon, pineapple, and extra cheese), half For the Birds (green bell pepper, red onion, tomato, and your choice of grilled, Cajun, or BBQ chicken). The pizza was loaded with toppings. I ordered mine with Cajun chicken for a spicy kick. Whole slices of Canadian bacon were used. The hand tossed crust was soft, but a little crunchy.

One good thing is they have their own parking lot. Parking can be difficult during peak times (like 4th of July). Their sodas are a little pricey… $2.95 for a glass or $9 for a pitcher. The menu said refills are $0.75, but our waitress didn’t charge us extra. As for the service, our waitress was very friendly

Vacationing at Lake Tahoe and looking for a place to have a special dinner?  That’s what I was doing and I found Fredrick’s Fusion Bistro.  Their website has recipes for Lobster Dogs and Coffee & Doughnuts.  They looked so good…  we had to try them out.

We arrived a little after their opening (5 pm) and we were the first ones to arrive.  We sat at the bar for their Happy Hour (from 5 to 6:30 pm nightly except Thursdays) specials.  They offer $5 appetizers.  We decided to try two of them.  The Chicken Satay is served with a delicious coconut-peanut sauce.  The three skewers of chicken were nice and tender, but the best part was the sauce, which had real peanut halves - something I’ve never seen before.  It tasted like a sweet chili sauce.  The Spicy Tuna Tartar came with very crispy wonton chips.

We also ordered two appetizers from their regular menu.  (There was a long wait even though we were still the only ones there.  I can only hope that it was because of the extraordinary care they put into making their finest for us.)

The Filo Wrapped Crab ($14) is made with togarashi and sits in a pool of Mirin-Valencia orange beurre blanc, topped with asian micro greens.  This was very creamy inside.  A small portion in a very big plate though.

The Lobster Dogs ($15), ginger-leek breaded lobster, came with two sauces: spicy red banana and tomatillo.  It was disappointing.  The lobster itself was tasty, but the breaded part was a little too greasy for my tastes and the sauces were a little bland.

The desserts were by far the best part of the meal!  The Basil-Berry Tart ($9) consisted of fresh seasonal berries (strawberries, blueberries, and blackberries) with basil simple syrup, a homemade tart shell, and whipped cream.  Basil in a fruity tart sounded interesting…  It was delicious!

And I couldn’t get enough of their Coffee & Doughnuts ($8) and my sister couldn’t stop sipping my coffee >=O.  The “doughnuts” are actually cinnamon sugar beignets (shaped as small round balls).  Yummy!  The coffee was a buttered mocha emulsion.  I normally don’t like coffee and I like espresso even less, but this drink was so good!  It’s a small serving, so be sure to savor every sip.

They also offer soups, salads, sushi rolls, and entrees.  The Taiwanese ‘Coffin Bread’ sounded intriguing.  Let me know if you’ve been here and what YOU would recommend!

http://fredricksbistro.com/

We were driving back from Lake Tahoe and had to stop at Sweet Lumpy’s BBQ, but as we drove into Old Town Temecula, I noticed that a new restaurant was in its place.  Luckily, with help from an iPhone, we discovered that they had moved a few blocks away, so we got back into our cars and away we went!

The new location is a little secluded (no longer on a corner), but it is bigger.  There are tables and booths inside (with peanut shells all over the floor - it’s ok, they encourage it), as well as an outside dining area ready for a hoe down!

Their BBQ is slow cooked at low temperatures.  The BBQ sauces (original and spicy) are old family recipes.  I ordered the BBQ Chicken Sandwich ($7).  The chicken was really tender and there was a lot of it!  It tastes great with their sweet, original BBQ sauce.  The sandwich comes with fresh-cut fries, which are also good!  Really good with the BBQ sauce.

The Half Rack of Ribs ($15) comes with your choice of two sides and a little corn muffin.  The corn was sweet, the potato salad was good, and you can suck the meat off the bone!

This is definitely one of my favorite BBQ eateries!

We were driving from San Jose to Lake Tahoe and made a stop in Fairfield at the Jelly Belly Factory.  (They also have a factory in Wisconsin.)  Once you enter, it’s very colorful and seems like a smaller version of Willy Wonka’s Chocolate Factory, and I am serious.  We waited in line for about 45 minutes for the tour.  They take groups of 50-60 people every 10-15 minutes for a 45-minute tour.  Be sure to go during a weekday to see the factory workers working and jelly beans being made, otherwise you’ll just see videos on the weekends.  For participating in their free tour, you get a free paper hat and a free 2-oz bag of Jelly Belly beans.  They also have a sample bar, where you can try different flavors of jelly beans (I like Chili Mango and Pomegranate!) and other candies, such as candy corn and Sunkist slices.

After the tour, we had lunch at the Jelly Belly Cafe.  You can order jelly bean shaped pizzas and burgers, but we split Garlic Fries ($3.50).  I thought they were pretty good and had lots of garlic flavor.

The Steak and Bleu Cheese Salad ($6.95) and the Chicken Breast and Brie Sandwich ($6.95) were good-sized portions.

The sandwich is served with caramelized onions and a package of Mott’s applesauce.  We were full before finishing our meal, so no dessert for us, but they have lots of options for something sweet.  Ice cream and churros at their Ice Cream/Coffee Counter.  Caramel apples and truffles from their Chocolate Shoppe.  Tons of jelly beans (and gifts) at their Jelly Belly Candy Store.  It’s possible to spend hours here!

Oh and BTW, there are two other companies nearby offering tastings of olive oil and beer!  Just look for the signs!

http://www.jellybelly.com/visit_jelly_belly/california_factory_cafe.aspx

Too many places I’ve been to. There will be catching up to do!

I was visiting the Village at Northstar in Truckee (North Lake Tahoe) and as I walked by Rubicon Pizza Company, it smelled so good!  Unfortunately, we weren’t hungry at that time.  A few days later, we ordered the Thai Red Chicken Curry Pizza to go.  It was the most amazing pizza!  So incredibly flavorful!  I loved the sauce and the tiger prawns.  This is my new favorite pizza ever!  The pizza has “sweet curry sauce topped with crisp yellow bell peppers, fresh tomatoes, red onion and mascarpone cheese topped with fresh lime, basil and cilantro.”  You can also order it spicy.

The medium size (enough for 2) was $19, plus an extra $2 for the tiger prawns.  Well worth it!  The only thing I didn’t like are the extra fees.  I think they have a 10% service charge for take-out orders and a 2% resort fee.

Website: http://www.northstarattahoe.com/info/ski/the-village/rubicon_pizza.asp