Joe Caribe Bistro & Cafe

Last week, I was back up in Tahoe for a few days.  You may recall that besides the hotel breakfast buffet, I was incredibly disappointed by all of the dining out I did on my last visit, so this time, I didn't even bother trying to go out while I was there, and instead choose to just cook at the lovely cabin we rented.

But, I also researched a bunch of places between San Francisco and Tahoe, as it is more fun to stop for a meal halfway than drive the entire 4 hours in a single stretch.  Last time, we stopped for lunch on the way there at a super cute French bistro in Sacrement, and had good house smoked salmon and absolutely perfect crème brûlée, but I didn't take photos or take notes ... whoops!

Anyway, this time, I was prepared.  I researched all the lunch places in Auburn, Roseville, Davis, Sacramento.  And one place kept catching my attention: Joe Caribe Bistro and Cafe.  A Caribbean restaurant, known for their fish tacos, but they also have a slew of other dishes like burritos and curries.  And I literally wanted every single item from their dessert menu!

It sounded like the perfect fit: casual, so we didn't need a reservation and could show up when we got there, since out timing would be based on traffic.  A full service restaurant, so we could take a real break from the road, but it wouldn't be a really long meal, as we did want to get back.  Lcated directly off of I-80, so we weren't going out of the way.  Since I thought some of our other friends would be stopping with us, it also had a menu that would please everyone, including vegetarian, vegan, and gluten-free options. 

We left Incline Village around 11am, putting us in Auburn right at 12:30pm for lunch.  Perfect timing!

The restaurant was much larger than I expected, with a bar, regular tables, booths, and several private rooms.  There was even a table in a window with floor cushion seating!  The tables were covered with very bright yellow plastic tablecloths with bright colored fruits and flowers, that sound totally tacky, but really weren't.  The space was all decorated in a similar style, with bamboo accents on the room dividers, strands of colored lights hanging from the ceiling  etc.  Again, I know it sounds like it would look cheap or silly, but it wasn't, and was a really great vibe!  The music matched the overall atmosphere.

The service was very friendly.  Our waitress was enthusiastic and I loved her catch phrase of "you've got it!" as a response to most requests.

The food was good, and I recommend it as a stop for anyone driving to/from Tahoe!

AJ Stephans Jamaican-style Ginger Beer.  $3.

One thing that caught my eye while I was researching Joe Caribe was their selection of ginger beers.  Since Ojan is not able to drink alcohol, he discovered ginger beer, but few places have much selection, and many are often just sugary.  Joe Caribe offered up at least 5 different varieties, only one of which we'd seen before.

He was excited to try one out, so asked for a recommendation for one that wasn't too sweet.  The waitress suggested two that were supposed to be spicier.  One was listed as from the US, and the other, Jamaica.  Wanting to try the most interesting one he could, Ojan went for the Jamaican.

We were a bit surprised when the bottle arrived on the table, proudly proclaiming that it was made in Boston.  Ojan and I are both from the Boston area, so this was far from exotic, but we were still exited to try it.

It was indeed very spicy, almost too spicy.  It complimented the food well, but I think it would have been too much to just drink on its own.  Perhaps over ice on a really hot day it would have been nice.

The strange thing is that we didn't really taste that much ginger.  Upon looking at the ingredients list, we discovered that it was made from water, sugar, and "flavors".  Ginger was not an ingredient!

This was pretty disappointing, and we did feel like we were led a bit astray, as he was specifically looking for one that was more ginger and less sugar, and this was just flavored sugar water.  And uh, it was NOT from Jamaica!

I still give them credit for the great selection of ginger beer, and $3 for a unique bottle was a fair price.

Housemade habanero sauce.

On each table, along with salt and pepper, is their signature habanero sauce.  My entree was so well seasoned and spiced that I didn't need it, but I added it to some rice just to try it.  It was decently spicy, and I could imagine happily adding it to other dishes, but mine really didn't need it.

2 Taco Plate: Fish taco, shrimp taco, black beans, rice, pickled carrots.  $9.95.

When you pull up outside Joe Caribe, there is a sign just as big as the one with their name on it that proclaims "Fish Tacos".  And of course, my research revealed tons of people raving about the fish tacos.  And, as you may have noticed from all my Rubio's posts, I've had a serious thing for fish tacos lately.  Thus, I had to order the fish tacos.


The tacos are available as a pair a la carte, or as a platter for $2 more, with beans, rice, and pickled carrots.  I don't generally care much for rice and beans, but so many reviews raved about the pickled carrots, that I decided to go for the full platter.

Along with the fish tacos, they also offer shrimp, pork, or chicken. Being my indecisive self, I couldn't stand just getting to try one thing, so I ordered one with fish, and one with shrimp, even though the split choice wasn't listed on the menu.  Thank you Joe Caribe for accommodating this!

The pickled carrots were shredded pieces of carrot, not what I was expecting, but the form was perfect for mixing with other things on the plate.  They had a gingery flavor to them, and were very intense.  I found that they posted the recipe here, if you want to make them yourself.

The beans were whole black beans, perfectly cooked, not at all mushy, not too firm.  They were nicely seasoned as well.  As I've mentioned before, I don't care for beans generally, but these were really well prepared.

The rice was equally well executed, moist, not mushy, not crunchy, and again well seasoned.  Another side that I'm not generally a fan of, but I could appreciate the quality preparation.

The beans, the rice, and the carrots really rounded out the platter nicely.

And finally, the tacos.  At first glance, they looked the same, and I thought my mixed order was lost.  Indeed they were very similar, with identical fillings besides the different proteins.

Both were served in warm, slightly toasted, corn tortillas, a double layer.  I liked how they were a bit crispy on the outside, and the corn flavor was good.  Not extraordinary tortillas, but very solid.

The tacos were topped with "island slaw", a crispy, flavorful slaw mixture, that really filled up the large size tacos.  There was a lot of it, but I really liked it, and would gladly have just eaten the slaw as a side too!  The tacos were so overstuffed that a lot of the slaw came spilling out, and I enjoyed it with the rice and beans.  Such good flavor and texture combinations.

They both also contained a lot of rémoulade.  It oozed out all over the place as I bit into the tacos.  I love mayo and creamy sauces on my tacos, so I really liked the rémoulade, but I was a bit surprised to find it on the fish taco.

The fish taco was described on the menu as "fish with allspice and lime".  When I asked for more details, I was told that it was simply grilled Pacific cod, a really light and healthy dish.  So I was surprised when taco arrived with a ton of rémoulade in it.  The rémoulade is included in the menu description of the shrimp taco, so it seemed weird to tout the fish as a light dish, and yet be filled with mayo based dressing.  Perhaps she meant it as opposed to being a breaded and fried fish?

Anyway.  The fish came in small chunks, all with nice grill marks.  But ... the first bite I had was very, very fishy.  I did not like it at all.  I was actually so put off by it, that I picked all the fish out, and just enjoyed my slaw and rémoulade taco (which, was really quite good, and plenty full and big without the fish).  At the end, I did try one more bite of the fish, and that one wasn't fishy, so hopefully I just got one bad chunk?  I liked the other components of the taco, but the fish was ruined for me.  I didn't taste the lime at all, and I think it would have been great with a bit more acid in it.  Joe Caribe isn't the sort of place to have a condiments bar, but if they did, and they had limes or lemons, I'd definitely squeeze some more acid onto the taco.

The shrimp taco was more successful.  Described as "shrimp sautéed with garlic, smoked paprika, and served with rémoulade".  It was the same as the fish taco, except with shrimp in place of the fish.  The shrimp were nicely cooked, not rubbery, and there was a generous amount of them.

This was a very large plate of food, and the $9.95 price was a great value.  I can't help but compare this meal to the last few fish and shrimp taco platters I've had at Rubio's, and although Rubio's was slightly cheaper (~$9 for the platter), these tacos were much bigger, with larger tortillas, double shelled, and far more protein inside, the sides were more than double the size, the quality of ingredients seemed higher, and, it was a full service restaurant.  Sorry Rubio's, but Joe Caribe wins.

Apple Crisp with Vanilla Ice Cream.  $5.50.

The dessert menu sounded absolutely incredible, loaded with all of my favorites, including a rich chocolate pot de creme with fresh whipped cream, warm bread pudding with rum sauce, coconut panna cotta with mangos ... seriously, some of my most favorite desserts!  There wasn't a single dessert on the menu that I didn't want.

But in my research, I found very few reviews of the desserts.  And I was absolutely stuffed.  And Ojan, my dining companion, proclaimed that he'd have at most a bite or two of anything.  I was seriously, seriously full, but I couldn't get past the fact that the menu was basically all my dream desserts.

So when the server came back to ask if we wanted any dessert, I hesitated.  She assured me that all the desserts were amazing, all house made.  And she said the magic words, "people love the warm apple crisp, topped with vanilla ice cream".  If you've read my blog much, you know that I am a total and complete sucker for warm pie/crisp/cobbler with ice cream.  Totally my thing.  I still hesitated, and asked how large it was, since the $5.50 price was much lower than I'm accustomed to, so I figured it must be small.  The waitress told me that all the desserts were pretty small.

So, I went for it.  It is hard to see the scale in this photo, but this was most certainly not a small dessert!  It could have easily satisfied 3 people.

The menu described it as "fresh green apples and blueberries with brown sugar oatmeal topping, topped with Häagen-Dazs Vanilla ice cream".

It arrived piping hot.  Mega bonus points.  I hate it when places say they serve warm pie and it is barely lukewarm.  This was not just warm, but hot.  I think Ojan may have burnt himself on his first bite, as he doesn't like ice cream with his crisp, so he had nothing to cool it.  I was thrilled to have it so warm.

The scoop of ice cream on top was large, and when it arrived, had barely started melting, a sign that it was scooped on and promptly delivered to our table.  More bonus points!  It was just generic Häagen-Dazs, so nothing remarkable, but as I've said a million times, I just love cold ice cream with hot desserts, so I loved having it there to mix in with some bites, and I liked how it pooled up as it melted into the dish.  Hot dessert and cold ice cream - they nailed that part!

But, the crisp itself wasn't that great.  First, it wasn't actually crispy in any way.  The topping was an oatmeal crumb topping, that was gummy rather than crispy (and not just where the ice cream touched).  I did like the warm oatmeal crumble with the ice cream and some of the fruit, but, a crisp it was not.

The main fruit component was thinly sliced apples.  The menu said green apples, but I'm not sure they were.  I didn't like them at all.  They were far too mushy for my taste, and I didn't really like the spicing.

There were also some blueberries in the fruit mix, which I did enjoy.

Overall, the dessert was nicely balanced, and not too sweet.  Sometimes crisps can be far too cloyingly sweet, and the ice cream is needed to cut the sweetness, and that was not the case here.

I did enjoy having some spoonfuls of warm oatmeal topping, warm blueberries, and cold ice cream, but I wouldn't get this again, as I didn't like the overall dish.

The price was incredible however - the slice of crisp was really insanely large, and in San Francisco, just a slice of crisp like that would easily by $8+, with another $2-3 added on for the ice cream.  A really great price!

Blackberry Tapioca.  $5. (To-go)

Ok, yes, I'm crazy.  Particularly when it comes to desserts.  Did I mention that I wanted all of the desserts on this menu?  Just picking one ... that is crazytalk.  I was seriously wishing that we had gone with a larger group of people to try more desserts, but our travel buddies all decided they wanted to get back to SF sooner, and didn't stop with us.

When I was pleading with Ojan to eat dessert, he said I should just get dessert to take with me, as we had a cooler in the car, and I could eat it later.  Of course, he meant that I should do that instead of getting it at the restaurant since we were both stuffed, but I obviously couldn't get the hot crisp and ice cream to go, so I had to eat it there.  But he had planted the seed of getting something togo in my head, and although I didn't order another initially, I couldn't resist when the waitress came back to check on us.  I give her credit for not laughing at me, as she asked how the apple crisp was, and my response was to order yet another giant dessert.

I needed to pick one that would hold up to the two hour drive, so the warm desserts and the ones with ice cream were out.  Since I love puddings, I was drawn in by the blackberry tapioca.  The menu described it as "house made tapioca with fresh blackberries, topped with freshly made whipped cream."  I wasn't really sure what that meant.  Was it a pudding?  Or just tapioca balls topped with fruit and whipped cream?  I asked the waitress, and she told me it was large style tapioca pearls.  I asked if it was a pudding, and she said yes.  It seemed like it would have the best luck of surviving the drive and being delicious in the evening, so I asked for it to go.

But do you think I really waited until I got home to eat it?  Ha.  I needed to at least sample it immediately to make sure I could write a proper review, right?

Like the crisp, it was a huge serving.  I have no idea what it is like in the restaurant, but they basically filled a large plastic container with the tapioca.  I think my eyes bulged out of my head a bit when I opened the bag and saw the portion size.  Ok, maybe I didn't need another dessert ...

It was not at all what I was expecting.  Although the waitress told me it was large size tapioca, they were small pearls.  The tapioca and the pudding were about the same consistency, so the pearls were completely lost in the pudding.  I would have preferred them to have more chew, something to distinguish from the rest of the pudding.

The pudding was ... basically a big gelatinous mass. It really didn't look good.  And when I tried a few bites in the car, I really didn't like it.  It didn't have much flavor, and it certainly wasn't remotely creamy.  I'd barely consider it pudding, it was more of ... hmm, I just don't know.  A strangely thick gelatin with some textureless tapioca balls.  Not that great.

Then there were blackberries, all a bit mushy.  I was expecting fresh fruit given the description, but these seemed like perhaps they had been frozen, or at least macerated in some liquid?  There was also some very watery blackberry syrup, that leaked out of the container and all over my cooler.  Whoops.

I didn't get a photo of it, but there was a small container of whipped cream.  The waitress asked if I'd like the whipped cream left off since I was getting it to go, and I asked for it on the side.  I'm guessing if I had ordered it to eat at the restaurant, that there would have been much more whipped cream.  It seemed like far too little for such a massive container of pudding.  The whipped cream deflated a bit when I brought it home, but it had a lovely flavor.  It was sweetened, but not too sweet, and was really creamy.  Very good whipped cream, and it went really well with the pudding.

Which brings me to the review of the dessert as a whole.  I didn't like any element of this dish (besides the whipped cream), on its own.  But, when I got home, put it in a bowl, stirred it up, and plopped the whipped cream on top ... it just worked!  I ate a big bowl full.  And then, when Ojan said he didn't want any, I had another big bowl full.  I loved it.  Sure, the pudding was a really strange texture, and it wasn't remotely creamy.  But, that wasn't necessarily bad.  It was just more like a panna cotta.  And yes, I'd have preferred the tapioca to stand out from the pudding, but there are plenty of desserts without that contrast, and once I stopped wanting or expecting it to be that way, I enjoyed it.  I think the blackberry flavor and sauce soaked into the pudding more over time, and that really increased the flavor of the overall dessert.  And the whipped cream was really just the perfect topping.

And again, an amazing price.  Seriously, $5 for a giant dessert?  Great value.  I'd consider getting this again, although I'd really like to try their actual panna cotta, or perhaps the warm bread pudding.  I really have to go back next time I'm in Auburn!

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Wild Alaskan Restaurant and Bar

I recently spent a few days up in Tahoe, enjoying the beautiful scenery and skiing for the first time in about 10 years.  It was a lovely trip, albeit not for the food! I've never thought of Tahoe as a culinary destination, and my experiences this past trip continued to solidify that view.

Since my visit to the east coast last summer, I've been craving fish and chips.  I had some spectacular ones there!  I haven't found anywhere near San Francisco with fish and chips that I've really liked, so I was excited when I discovered Wild Alaska, a seafood restaurant in Incline Village that featured fish and chips, with haddock even!  I figured it was worth a try.

The restaurant was on Open Table, so I made a reservation in advance.  It turned out to not be remotely necessary, as the place was nearly empty when we arrived at 6:30pm on a Friday.  It was a very cute, cozy restaurant, with a big wooden bar, a fireplace, and wooden tables.  A rustic feeling bar and pub.

The server was very friendly, but the food just really wasn't great.  I won't be going back.

Hot Apple Cider.  $4(?).

Even though I grew up in NH, San Francisco has ruined me, and I was freezing.  I opted to start with a warm apple cider.  The price was $4 (I think, maybe $3.50?) so I thought it was going to be something besides a packet of powder stirred into hot water.  I thought wrong.  It was warm, and did the trick, but it was really watery and just crazy sweet and not very good.  The price was way too high for what it was.

Beer Battered Fish 'N' Chips, Sweet Potato Fries, Wasabi Coleslaw, Tartar Sauce.  $16.99.

Next we moved on to the Fish 'N' Chips.  We had the choice of Coho salmon or haddock.  Even though the place is "Wild Alaska", I opted for the traditional haddock rather than their salmon, as it was what I was craving.  It was battered with an Alaskan IPA beer.

The portion pictured is actually a half portion, as we weren't starving, and opted to split a meal.  I'm very glad we did, as this was totally large enough for a meal, and I can't imagine the full size portion!  The half portion was 2 large pieces of fish, a giant pile of fries, an even bigger pile of coleslaw, and a vat of tartar sauce!

The fish didn't taste particularly fresh, the batter was very heavy although flavorful, but just far too oily.   I absolutely hated the tartar sauce.  I love tartar sauce, so this made me very, very sad.  I'm not sure what it was, there was just something in the taste that I couldn't stand.

The dish normally comes with wedge fries, but we upgraded to sweet potato fries for an additional $2.  They were ok, a bit soggy, and without much real sweet potato flavor.  Not horrible, but not very good either.  I normally love dipping my fries in the tartar sauce, but since I hated the tartar sauce, I had to look for alternatives.  Luckily there was honey on the table, so I created my own honey dip that went nicely with sweet potato.

Finally there was the wasabi coleslaw, that all of the reviews I read previously raved about.  It was ... unremarkable.  Creamy enough, not too mushy, and it had some slight kick from the wasabi, but overall just wasn't really special.

Overall, this was all just very mediocre.  It was a large amount of food for the price, although they added an additional $1.50 fee for sharing an entree (which seems to be pretty standard practice in the area, with fees ranging from $1-$3 typically).  I don't mind the charge at all, as it does make sense since the kitchen is doing extra work to split it, and sometimes they include more of the side when they split, etc, but the fee was NOT listed on the menu, and when we ordered the dish, it was also not mentioned.

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Bite American Tapas

As you know from my posts last week, I was recently up in Tahoe for a few days.  Summary: Tahoe is great, but culinary mecca it is not.  I had some ok breakfast, and some crappy fish and chips.  But I didn't really have high hopes for those establishments in the first place.

However, when I asked for recommendations of places to eat near Incline Village, one place kept coming up: Bite American Tapas.  The Yelp reviews were great, but I really don't trust Yelpers, particularly when it comes to something that can be seen as gimmicky, like tapas.  ZOMG!  Something different!  5 stars!  But other people whose options I valued also recommended it, so I was eager to check it out.

They do not take reservations for groups less than 6, so when we arrived at 7pm on a Saturday, I wasn't shocked that there was a 30 minute wait to get seated in the dining room.  But they offered the full menu at the bar, and as there were only two of us, we decided to just sit there instead.

The bar was large, with seating on all sides.  It was a beautiful wooden surface, although we quickly discovered that it was a bit awkward to eat at, as it had an edge on it that made it impossible to get close to it.  And there were no purse hooks.

Service was good enough, but the meal was a flop.  The food wasn't great, but the real issue is that one of our dishes (scallops) arrived cold.  The scallops and the accompaniments were all so cold, that I actually wondered that maybe we were just wrong in expecting a warm dish.  When I questioned it, the server told us that yes, it was supposed to be warm, and she'd have it fixed.  When the dish came back a little while later, it was clear that they had just re-heated the same portion, and the scallops, which were originally a fairly perfect level of doneness, were now rubbery and way overcooked.  Re-firing scallops is never a good idea :( And the potatoes still had my fork marks in them, so I think they were just placed under a heating lamp.  The dish was pretty nasty in its re-heated form, and no apology was made at any point, and nothing was done to make up for this.  Definite customer service miss.  Perhaps if we'd been in the main dining room these issues wouldn't have come up?  I'm not sure if food gets delivered differently to the bar, perhaps it was just sitting in the pass longer than it would have if going to a regular server?  Perhaps a regular server would be more adept at handling issues like this?  I'm sure I could have brought it up when the bill came, but I was just pretty disappointed and didn't feel like causing problems.

I was really saddened by this experience, as I said, Bite came highly recommended.  But also, I have some friends getting married in a few weeks in a week-long extravaganza in Incline Village, and I was eager to go back with large groups during that time, since everything they do at Bite is designed to be shared, and there were so many things on the menu that I wanted to try!  People have been asking me for recommendations for dining during the wedding week, and I just don't know what to say.

Ahi Sliders with Arugula, Pickled Ginger & Wasabi Aioli.  $14.

Bite has a slew of sliders available, ranging from classic beef burgers, to short rib, to even duck confit or crusted goat cheese.  They are all highly recommended, but the version that stood out both to my tastes, and from great reviews, were the ahi sliders.  They come two to an order, so they were a great choice for two of us to share.

The slider buns looked boring, but were actually pretty tasty, nicely grilled and warm, a bit broiche-like.         They turned out to be the best part of the dish.

I did not taste the pickled ginger mentioned in the description.  What I tasted the most was not included in the description at all: an insane amount of soy (teriyaki?) sauce.  Now, I love sauces, but this was not good.  The slider was literally dripping in the stuff.  It killed every other flavor in the dish.   I couldn’t taste anything besides the horrible sweet sauce.

Each slider had 3 slices of nicely seared ahi, served cold.  I didn’t really like the flavor of the ahi though, even when I managed to extract a little from the sauce.  Maybe that is why they drowned it in sauce?

There was a tiny bit of wasabi aioli, and I think it would have been really nice with the ahi, but like everything else, it was lost in the soy sauce.

I would never get this dish again, it was my least favorite of the night, but it made me interested in the other sliders since the bun was so good.

$14 was a good price for the sliders, as they contained a total of 6 slices of what should have been sushi grade ahi.

Pan Seared Sea Scallops with Yukon Whipped Potato & Brandy Mustard Cream Sauce. $14.

Next we moved on to the aforementioned doomed scallops, from the "small plates" section of the menu.  These were described as the size of a typical entree, just without sides.

There were two large sea scallops, each cut in half, served atop whipped potatoes, with some sort of oil.  The dish looked good, and the plate was warm, but the scallops were cold, and the potatoes were even colder.

As I mentioned, we told the server, and she took the dish back to re-fire.  I wish I'd taken a photo of the dish when it came back, so you could see how overcooked the scallops were after being re-fired.

The scallops were originally medium, although with no real sear on them, but fairly nicely cooked.  If they weren't cold, I would have been happy enough with them.  When they came back however, they had more of a sear, and were hot, but were completely overcooked and totally rubbery.  Who re-fires seared scallops?  Not good.

The yukon whipped potatoes were unremarkable, not very creamy, just mashed potatoes.  Originally cold and off-putting, better once reheated.

As for the brandy mustard cream sauce ... I couldn't find it in the dish.  There was a sauce, and it was creamy, but it had no flavor, and certainly was not mustard.   There was also a green oil sauce, I'm not sure what it was, as it was left off the description as well.

Overall, no part of this was very good, and it certainly didn’t come together.  It had the potential to be a good dish, and I wonder how it would have been if delivered fresh originally.

$14 again seemed like a fine price for a dish this size that uses premium ingredients.

Warm Apple Turnover Bites with Crème Anglaise. $8.

We pondered ordering more savory dishes, as there were a number of items that I did still want to try, but at this point, we were pretty underwhelmed.  You know me though, I couldn't resist ordering dessert.

The server said this was the dessert she always recommended, and the Yelpers agreed.  Amusingly, I almost went for the bread pudding instead, because the description said it was served a la mode, and I just adore warm desserts with ice cream.  I even considered asking for ice cream with the turnovers, since warm apple pie and ice cream is just so good.  But Ojan loves crème anglaise, and I was curious how turnover bites and crème anglaise could possibly be served together, so we just went for the standard dessert.

Like all of their desserts, it came as a set of four.  Four little apple turnovers, topped with a drizzle of crème anglaise, a drizzle of caramel, and … a big scoop of vanilla ice cream in the middle!

The turnovers were indeed warm (bonus points!), but they just weren’t very good.  Lots of dough, that was not flaky nor crispy nor buttery nor anything remarkable.  The filling was just mush, not very flavorful, and the apples were tiny little cubes.

As I said, the description on the menu only listed the crème anglaise as an accompaniment, so I was surprised to find just a little drizzle of it over the turnovers, totally lost.  I wasn't sure what to expect really, but I did think it would be more dominent.  There was just as much, if not more, caramel as crème anglaise, and it wasn't listed.  It was pretty standard, sweet.

And then there was the surprise scoop of ice cream, which I was thrilled by, but I was puzzled by what process they use to decide what to put on the menu.  The huge scoop of ice cream?  Not listed, but the tiny drizzle of crème anglaise was?  Same with the crazy soy sauce on the sliders, the most dominent feature, not listed.  Anyway.  The ice cream was unremarkable, slightly crystalized, vanilla I guess.  But I do love cold ice cream with my hot pie, so bonus points for that.

But overall, this was just not good.  I didn’t even bother finish the last turnover.  And I always finish desserts.

Like all of their prices, $8 was a good price for the size dessert.

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Sierra Cafe at the Hyatt Regency Lake Tahoe Resort

As you know from yesterday's post about my failed fish and chips, I spent last weekend up in Tahoe.  For part of the trip, I stayed at the newly remodeled Hyatt Regency in Incline Village, NV.  The property was amazing, with beautiful outdoor heated pools (with swim-out access!), hot tubs, fire pits, a casino, etc, etc.  I visited in the winter, but it looks like a great place for summer as well, with a location right on Lake Tahoe.  The guest rooms were all renovated and I loved the rustic yet upscale decor.  I had a great stay.

"But Julie, why are you writing about a hotel, this is "Julie's Dining Club", right?" Well, yes, although Ojan told me I should start reviewing hotels, as you can guess, I have opinions on them too!

Anyway, included in my hotel package was breakfast at one of the six (!) dining establishments on the property, Sierra Cafe.  We visited twice: first for the buffet, and once for the a la carte menu.  I failed to take photos during my buffet visit, as I was so excited about all my choices, but I did take notes.  I also failed to take photos of half the stuff I had on my next visit.  What a bad food blogger I am! (actually, I wasn't planning to write up any of the places I went in Tahoe, but Ojan convinced me that some of you loyal readers might be interested ...)  The buffet was actually quite impressive, and I'd get it again in a heartbeat.  The a la carte menu however was really not very good at all.  I don't recommend anything from it.

White Chocolate French Toast: Roasted apples and pears, whipped cream.  $14.

I love, love, love french toast.  The moment I found out I was going to Sierra Cafe, I pulled up the online menu, and I knew I was going to order this dish.

Unfortunately, it was a huge letdown.  The french toast was 3 slices of plain, slightly brioche-like bread.  It wasn’t custardy at all, nor crispy on the outside.  Really, just seared bread that was very oily.   It had absolutely no flavor, and I wouldn’t have known it was custard soaked at all.  It also had zero spicing.

On top was some shaved white and regular chocolate.  The french toast was barely warm, so it didn’t melt, and just remained solid on top, and I was unable to spread it around.  Meh.  I was surprised to see the regular chocolate, as it was described as "white chocolate french toast".

On the side was apparently some roasted apples and pears, although I couldn’t really identify them as such.  Mostly just cold, flavorless mush.  I kept eating them, wanting them to add something to the dish, but they didn’t.

There was also some cream-like substance.  It said whipped cream, but I really don't think it was.  Not fluffy.  Not whipped.  Really strange mouthfeel.  It seemed slightly spiced, but I couldn't identify with what.

This was just really, really not good.  Would not order again.

Warm Maple Syrup, Butter.

On the side I received warm syrup and butter, brought to me long before my meal arrived.  I loved the gesture of the warm syrup, but it was cold by the time the food arrived.  It also had a really strange film on top.

Steel Cut Oatmeal.  $9.

This was Ojan's pick, a simple bowl of oatmeal.

It was unremarkable, which I guess isn't a bad thing.  He said the consistency was good, which is about all you can hope for from basic oatmeal.  It seemed like the exact same oatmeal that they had on the buffet.

$9 is a lot for a bowl of oatmeal, but this was a huge bowl.  Ojan didn't come close to finishing it.  I kinda can't imagine that anyone could.

Unlike my luke-warm food, his oatmeal was piping hot.  Too hot actually, as he had to wait for it to cool down before he could eat it.

Brown sugar, raisins, milk.

The sides for his oatmeal were a little pitcher of cold milk, a container of hard raisins, and brown sugar.  The breakfast buffet had a much better selection of oatmeal mix-ins.  That said, the a la carte menu also had two other varieties of oatmeal you could select from, one had peanut butter and chocolate, and the other ... ham, eggs, veggies, and cheese.  I still really wish he'd ordered that one, as I can't really begin to imagine what it was like, but he went for the classic version.

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Bircher Muesli: oat and wheat grain, hazelnuts, milk, honey, preserved cherries. $8.

When I lived in Australia for a few months, I became obsessed with muesli.  My love for it all started on my very first visit to Australia, when the hotel breakfast buffet had it.  I was hooked instantly.  It was creamy, sweet, and full of delicious mix-ins.  Every place I went in Australia seemed to offer it, and I ordered it over and over again.  I loved it just about everywhere, ranging from hotel breakfast buffets to nice cafes to even the airplane.  Why on earth do we not have muesli here in the US?

Anyway, I was so excited when I saw it on the menu.  And I remembered that my first time having it was at a hotel, so I thought it would be great.  You can guess where this is leading.  Sadness.

It was basically just cold oatmeal with milk.  I found it really strange that it had no yogurt nor apple mixed in.  I didn't find any hazelnuts as mentioned in the description, nor did it seem sweetened at all, I certainly didn't taste the honey.  It did have some unmentioned raisins.  But overall, just cold, flavorless, mush.

The preserved cherries were a bit tart, a bit sweet, and were at least something to mix in.

Like the oatmeal, it was a huge serving, far more than anyone could realistically eat.  A decent value I guess.  I did like the leftovers more the next day when I had them at home, as it seemed to have soaked up the flavors a bit more, plumped up the raisins, and I added a bunch of fresh fruit and yogurt to it.  Still, I would not get again.

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Torrefazione Italia Decaf Coffee.  $4.

I really wanted a warm cup of coffee with my french toast.  I was expecting a sweet, decadent breakfast, so the idea of a bitter coffee to balance it out sounded perfect.  For $4, I thought I must be getting a french press, so I was a bit surprised when a mug of coffee was placed in front of me.

I took one sip, and almost spit it out.  It was absolutely horrible.  Bitter, acidic, just horrible, horrible.  I added a ton of cream and sugar, and tried to enjoy it.  Or really, tried to gulp it down quickly, hoping that a refill would come, and it would be better.  The coffee had clearly been sitting for a very long time.  I shutter to imagine how old it was.

When my french toast arrived, my mug was empty, but no refill was offered.  So I flagged someone down to ask for one.  A different server came over with a carafe of coffee, and refilled my mug.  This next batch was even worse, as it was cold.  I guess in some ways, it did go well with my french toast, as neither were hot.  Sigh.

I mentioned the cold coffee to the server, who seemed to acknowledge my comment, but never brought any more in exchange.  I finished my meal, still no coffee.  I sat there waiting for Ojan to finish, as he was taking longer since his oatmeal was too hot to eat, so I drank the cold, horrible coffee.  And flagged someone down to ask for another refill.  Why I was even trying at this point, I don't know.  I think I was just so disappointed, that I was desperately trying to get something good!

Luckily, my last mug was actually good.  The coffee wasn't horrible, and it was piping hot.  But geez, for $4, the first two mugs were beyond bad, and Ojan pointed out that I wasn't paying for the coffee exactly, but more the service and refills, but uh, those weren't exactly free-flowing, as I had to actively ask for refills each time.

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The Breakfast Buffet.  $22 per person.

Buffets are one of my absolute favorite things.  I love getting a chance to try a little bit of everything, and buffets are just about the best opportunity for that.  At the same time, I also am a total food snob, get upset at cold food or food that has been left sitting in the pass too long before being delivered to my table, and I'm a total germaphobe, so loving buffets is also a bit odd for me.  I guess more accurately, I love breakfast buffets, indian buffets, and dessert buffets, but find dinner buffets to be awful-tastic.  Some things just do much better in a buffet setting than others.  Anyway.  Breakfast buffets.  Love them.

Sierra Cafe has a very extensive buffet.  I walked around in circles for a few minutes just taking it all in, trying to decide where to start.  So many options!

The buffet started with basic cold items, like sliced fruit (including watermelon, so I avoided that whole section), whole fruit (bananas, apples, etc), and cereals.  The cereal setup was a bit strange, as there were big serving bowls of different cereals along with carafes of milk, but then there were also individual packages of cereal and individual cartons of milk.  Since it was a buffet, it isn't the sort of thing you'd get to-go, so I'm not sure why they had both.  Anyway, an insane selection of cereals, something to satisfy those who wanted sugar cereal or healthy cereal.  I didn't try any of it.

Then there were some pre-assembled yogurt parfaits, along with yogurts, granola, and toppings to make your own parfaits.  All pretty basic, but they had berries that were a nice touch during wintertime.

The cold section also included a few assorted cheeses, meats, and spreads, along with a variety of breads and a toaster.  I was excited to see smoked salmon, but it turned out to be really oily and I didn't like it at all.  And there were bagels, pre-sliced.  The bagels were actually quite good, and came in a variety of flavors.  I had a blueberry bagel, which had a nice chew to it, and plentiful blueberries.  They didn't taste like generic grocery store bagels at all, and I was pleasantly surprised.  Unfortunately, the only cream cheese option was little pre-packs of Philadelphia cream cheese, which I never like.  At least have the whipped version!

The buffet also had some basic hot items, which the snob in me avoided like the plague: scrambled eggs, bacon, sausage, pancakes.  I did try out two of the hot items: the breakfast potatoes and the carmelized apple crepes, both of which I wished I'd avoided.  I should know better!  The potatoes were kinda cold, and were just some sliced potatoes with a bit of seasoning. Meh.  The crepe was super mushy, but the apples were well cooked, nicely caramelized, and quite tasty.  Nothing like the ones served alongside my french toast.

Then there was also the oatmeal, which seemed to be the same as what Ojan ordered a la carte, although it had a very impressive toppings bar including all sorts of dried fruits and nuts, but also huckleberry sauce, stewed fruits, etc.  I added a bunch of these toppings to my parfait.

Now, at this point, I haven't really expressed liking anything, yet I told you at the start that I loved the buffet.  So ... what's missing?  The baked goods, of course!  The entire center aisle of the buffet was baked goods.  They didn't necessarily look like anything special, but some turned out to be pretty great.

First, there were donuts - plain, powdered, cinnamon-sugar.  I actually skipped those, but I appreciated that they had such classic items.

Then, there were a variety of muffins.  They were all huge, and very moist.  I didn't love any of them, but they were far better than most hotel or even cafe muffins.  I started with one I could easily identify: lemon poppyseed.  It was fairly moist, with a slightly crisp top, and strong lemon flavor, and nice crunch from the poppyseeds.  But I realized I don't really like lemon poppyseed muffins anymore.  I used to love them when I was a kid, but I haven't liked any that I've had recently, so I don't think it was Sierra Cafe's fault.  Next I was drawn in by one with some streusel on top.  It turned out to be apple.  The apple flavor was good, and it was really moist, but it wasn't really my thing, and the streusel was kinda meh.  Ojan ended up devouring this one after I discarded it though, so he liked it.  I finished with one that turned out to be really intriguing: a fruit carrot walnut muffin.  It was really hard to know what it was, as none of them were labelled (I looked up their muffin choices online afterwards to identify it!).  It was loaded with really plump, juicy raisins.  It was incredibly moist.  The base flavor was a bit lacking, and the carrot was visible, but I didn't really taste it.  It also had chunks of nuts.  There was a lot going on.  Not bad, but not great, my favorite of the muffins.

The centerpiece of the baked goods display was a giant thing of cinnamon rolls.  Buttery, moist dough, tons of cinnamon and sugar, insane amount of glaze.  I went back for more 3 times.  They were really good, although they turned out to be only my third-favorite item.  They would have been mind blowing if served were warm.

Next, I moved on to a scone.  I had no idea what kind it was from looking at it.  It turned out to be a savory jalapeño cheese scone.  It was delicious!  A nice kick of heat from the jalapeño, a ton of cheese, nicely balanced.  Great texture, not too crumbly.  Way better than the average scone!  My second favorite of all the buffet items.  Yes, I picked a savory item as a favorite!

Which leads me to my favorite item: the raspberry danish!  This was really good.  Crispy croissant-like dough, a bit caramelized, and then filled with sweet raspberry preserves, drizzled with icing. It was  sweet, decadent, and huge.  I took a few bites, loved it, but couldn't imagine finishing it, since it was the last thing I had, and I was ridiculously full.  Yet somehow, I ate the whole thing, after having everything else on the buffet too.  I may or may not have considered going to get another one.  I'm sure I would have regretted it, but I do still have a bit of remorse over not having another.

Like any good hotel breakfast buffet, it also included a made to order eggs/omelet station.  As I have one of these at work and I'm pretty sick of omelets, I didn't try it out.  But for those who do not have regular access to this sort of thing, I think it probably is a nice touch.

I learned after the fact that you could also order fresh waffles, delivered to your table when they were ready.  I wish I'd known, as I love waffles!  Next time!

The buffet also included juices that were located on the buffet line, and coffee and tea that we could order at the table.  It was the same as what the a la carte folks got.

$22 per person is a bit pricy, but this was an all you can eat hotel breakfast buffet, so the price seemed pretty standard, particularly if the coffee alone is normally $4.  I certainly ate my share, although Ojan only had some oatmeal and a few of my discards.  Once tax and tip were added, the bill for two of us for breakfast was >$50 though, which is a bit crazy when you think of it.

Anyway, I'd gladly get the buffet again, just for the baked goods.  It really put other buffets, and even cafes, to shame.  If I needed breakfast baked goods catering in the area, I'd certainly order from them.

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Pie from Ikeda's California Country Market

Update Review, 2024-2025

Back in 2016 I discovered Ikeda's California Country Market.  Well, not quite true, I had heard about Ikeda's for years, a common stop for folks when they drove to/from Tahoe, but not a stop I'd ever made.  And I still haven't.  Back then, a co-worker treated us to one of Ikeda's apple pies for breakfast one morning, and I declared it perhaps the best apple pie I'd ever had.  I was determined to try more of their pies, but ... I didn't really want to drive all the way to Auburn to do so.  And thus, I ordered online.

Ikeda's ships most of their pies (and muffins, granola, and a few other things) overnight on ice.  Note that this is just on ice (yes, big ice packs, and yes, in foil lined packaging, but NOT with dry ice as some places do, so if you aren't shipping within California, you might not want to get the cream pies for example).  Anyway, over the past few years, I've ordered quite a selection of pies, both fresh and frozen (thaw and serve).

Packaging

Safety First!

The packaging of the pies was honestly a bit excessive.  The individual pie boxes were all inside a bigger shipping box with ice packs.  The pies left Auburn in the evening, and reached me by the next night.  Strangely, they packaged ones that were supposed to be frozen, and ones that were supposed to be fresh, in the same box, with some ice packs that were fairly soft on arrival.  The frozen pies certainly didn't stay frozen in transit, even for <23 hour shipping time.

And then, inside each individual pie box, was each pie, bubble wrapped and taped up, which took some effort to remove.   

And then plastic wrapped!

... and then, under all the bubble wrap, the pies were plastic wrapped in several layers.  So, wrapped within wrapping in a box within a box.  So. Much. Effort.

The fresh pies stopped at that layer, but the frozen ones had an additional layer under all of that (a bag).

Each layer had its purpose: the plastic wrap to seal it from freezer burn, the bubble wrap from getting bumped around in transit, the box to protect, etc, but, wow, it took a bit of labor to actually reach the pies.

Clear Labeling.

The Ikedas website doesn't really have much information about the pies, no ingredients listed, or even descriptions.  "Tripleberry" is all it says for this one, not revealing what the three berries are.  Same with "razzleberry", no details.  Nor explaining the differences in the French and Dutch apple, just both kinds listed by name.  Luckily, the pies themselves do come nicely labelled with ingredients, so I was able to uncover the answers (although not nutrition info, which is probably for the best!).

Fresh Baked

For delivery, Ikedas has 10 varieties of fresh baked pie available - 2 different apple pie variations (both streusel topped), pecan, and a slew of different berry options (all double crust).  All are 9". Interestingly, their popuular cobbler topped options aren't available fresh, only frozen.  If you visit in person, they have all of these, plus all the of the frozen ones available fresh, and plenty of others that aren't available for delivery at all (e.g. banana cream).

"Pies are pre-baked and can be enjoyed upon delivery up to three days at room temperature! Tip - Preheat Oven to 350F and reheat pie for 15 min to make crust crispy!"

I had a really, really hard time picking one variety of fresh pie.  I love a good blueberry pie.  Or a cherry pie. Or pecan.  And although I don't love blackberry, marionberry, with its smaller seeds, was definitely appealing.  And then there was the "razzleberry" or "tripleberry", and I wasn't quite sure what the different berries in each of these were.  Honestly, the only one not tempting me was the strawberry rhubarb, just due to childhood dislike of rhubarb always "ruining" my mom's homemade strawberry jam.

Tripleberry Pie. $29.99.

I settled on Tripleberry. I wasn't sure what was included in the tripleberry when I picked it, it was mostly an act of indecision.  It turns out, the triple berries are marion berries, raspberries, and blueberries.  This sounded like a good mix to me, so I wasn't unhappy to learn this fact.

Like the apple pie I had from Ikeda's before, this is a double crust pie.  I wasn't impressed with the crust when I had the pie back in 2016, but I was still excited for it this time.  I do love great crust.  Unfortunately, I don't really consider this great crust.  It again just wasn't particularly flaky, wasn't particularly buttery.  It tasted fresh enough, but was just barely a notch about grocery store crust.  It really let me down flavor and texture wise, but it was a well constructed pie, nicely sealed, and sorta looked like maybe a machine did the "crimping"?  So sadly, crust, 2.5/5.  If it matters to you they use vegetable shortening and butter in their crust (and I think a dash of vinegar and egg, as those are the last ingredients in the pie too).

Tripleberry: Cross section.

The filling is where my first Ikedas pie shined.  I was eager for the filling of this too.  I tried it both room temperature, and warmed in a 350* oven, as instructed.  The filling was ... ok.  It was fairly thick.  Nice mix of berries.  It was however really a sweet pie.  I appreciated that they didn't add any odd spicing, no citrus, but it was really too sweet to eat without equal parts ice cream and whipped cream.   The warm filling, with big scoop of vanilla ice cream (or even tart frozen yogurt), was slightly enjoyable, but, really, just too sweet for me.  Good consistency, too much added sugar for my tastes. 3/5 filling.

Overall, this pie let me down.  Yes, it was better than a generic grocery store pie, but certainly not rave worthy, and not what I expected given the accolades Ikedas gets.  I certainly finished my portion (sans some of the lackluster crust, plus extra ice cream), but didn't really want more.  Low 3/5 overall.

Frozen / Thaw & Serve

If you prefer to have your pie shipped frozen, there are three styles of pie available, either "thaw & serve", "thaw in fridge", or "take and bake".  The "thaw in fridge" range is the cream/custard pies, the "thaw & serve" is cobbler/streusel topped, and "take & bake" is the double crust fruit pies that require you to actually bake them.  Clear instructions are provided for each style.  I didn't order any of the take & bake pies, out of laziness.

Fruit Pies - Thaw & Serve

The thaw & serve fruit pies are all cobbler or streusel (in the case of the apple option) topped.  I'm not sure why they don't offer the double crust in a frozen thaw & serve varieties.  The thaw & serve pies just need to be thawed overnight*, and are ready to serve.  They include full instructions in case you want to get more complicated:

"Cobbler has already been pre-baked! All is needed is to thaw on the counter until it reaches room temperature (Approximately Overnight). We do not recommend it but if you must reheat a cobbler (MUST BE FULLY THAWED), carefully remove and save as much topping as possible in a separate container. Reheat cobbler at 350 for 15 min then "re-top" with the saved cobbler. This is to ensure the cobble does not get soft and gooey. Cobblers will last up to three days at room temperature!"

From this category, I was tempted by all the berry options again, but I couldn't resist the cherry cobbler.  I also ordered both apple options, given how good the other style of apple (double crust) I had tried previously was (which they either no longer make, or don't do for delivery?).  I was very curious to see how the "dutch" and "french" versions compared.

* I say they "just need to be thawed", but, really, the, uh, extensive packaging makes it a bit more work than that.  They come bubble wrapped and taped up,  and then plastic wrapped with multiple layers of plastic wrap (like the fresh pies), and then in a bag.  It takes several minutes to reach your bounty, but I'll admit, the packaging is effective, the pies looked relatively unscathed.

French Apple. $27.99.

"White sugar crumb top."

The first one I tried was the French apple.  This one is topped with a white sugar crumb topping (as opposed to the Dutch, which has brown sugar, I soon learned).  The crumble topping was incredibly generous, quite a thick layer, and I loved that there were little balls that broke off - I got to take an early taste test!

The topping was indeed delicious.  Sweet and simple, again no spicing, just flour/sugar/butter, but I really enjoyed it.  Delicious topping.  4.5/5.

French Apple: Cross Section.

The filling too I quite enjoyed.  And again, I think it was the simplicity that worked here.  No additional spicing, not even cinnamon, let alone other warming spices.  Just apples, sugar, food starch inside.  The apples were nice size chunks, no skins left on, lightly al dente, just the right amount of bite.  The filling was sweet but not overly so, and when combined with the sweet topping, it all just worked in harmony.  4.5/5 filling too.

The bottom crust was substantially better than the crust from the fresh triple berry pie, which really surprised me.  It was a light blond style, soft, and flavorful.  3.5/5 crust.

This is a high 4.5/5 overall, and again, one of the best apple pies I've had.  

Even though they say not to warm it, I did warm up some the next day, and served it with vanilla ice cream, and thought it was even more glorious.  Don't get me wrong, it was pretty much perfect room temperature too, but it was fantastic warmed up as well.

Dutch Apple: Wrapped.

Next I went for the Dutch apple, that looked ... totally identical, although it had a clear "D/A" on it, so, I'm assuming they got this right ...

Dutch Apple. $27.99.

"Brown sugar crumb top."

I wish I had saved a piece of the French apple to do a side by side comparison.  Because, truly, these looked, very very similar.  I did expect to see a much darker crumble topping, or taste more of the depth from the brown sugar compared to the white.  I guess it is light brown sugar?  But hey, I loved the French Apple, so this is not a complaint.

The pie tasted much the same as the French apple, as you'd expect.  The apples had a nice to bite them, and I liked the big hunks, no apple goo here.  Mild spicing (not even cinnamon?), no other players like nutmeg that can so easily overwhelm.  I think this is why I like Ikedas apple pies so much, they just allow the apples to shine.  4.5/5 filling.

The crumble top was again good, but perhaps not as magical as I had remembered from the French apple.  I liked how much crumble there was, and the sweetness it added, but it didn't totally blow me away.  The crust was again fine, a blond style, but not otherwise notable.  3.5/5.

So overall, a fantastic apple pie, but I did prefer the French apple (and maybe the double crust?).  Still, the filling alone makes this the best apple pie I know of, and nets it a strong 4/5 overall.

Cherry Cobbler. $27.99.

Next up, the cherry cobbler, which is really crumble.  I'll give them one slight demerit for calling it a cobbler when its really a crumble ...

It did look slightly worse for the wear once I defrosted it, but I wasn't particularly worried.  The cherry cobbler I believe uses the same crumble topping as the French apple (white sugar crumb topped).  It did have less topping than the apple (or maybe so much absorbed the juices it was harder to detect it).

To start, yup, that topping.  ZOMG, love it.  Sweet for sure, but simplicity done well.  Sugar, flour, butter, check!  Another delicious topping, I wish it had more bigger hunks of rubble.  4/5.

Cherry Cobbler: Inside.

Next, the filling.  Again not much besides the cherries in there (and a bit of cornstarch to thicken).  No spicing.  It was however very sweetened.  Borderline cloying sweet really.  I love the sweet crumble top, but that combined with this sweet filling was really overwhelming.   It really required at least equal parts ice cream or whipped cream (or, yogurt if stealing a slice for breakfast!) to pie.  The cherries were super juicy, I liked how much liquid was in it too, even if it made it messy.  If they had just added less sugar, this really would be a fantastic filling.  I have to knock it down a star though, just because, wow, it was sweet.  3/5.

The bottom crust was also fairly "eh".  It was soft and soggy.  Definitely a victim of the "thaw and serve" format, and the very juicy nature of this pie.  2/5 bottom crust.

So, overall, as served, 3/5, but if I did pair it with enough ice cream/whipped cream/frozen yogurt/yogurt I truly did enjoy it, 4/5 that way.

Thaw in Fridge / Cream Pies

Cream pie options are coconut, chocolate, or key lime.  Sadly, their banana cream is not available for delivery, only fresh in their store.

"Thaw in refrigerator over night or until completely defrosted. Pie is now ready to be served! Store in refrigerator. Cream Pies will last up to three days in the refrigerator!"

I love cream pies (although not generally key lime or other citrus), so I got one of each of the others.  These have very easy instructions, just, thaw in fridge overnight.

Dark Chocolate Truffle Cream Pie. $29.99.

Well, this one was a mess when I got it!

It was packaged nicely, in a protective plastic shell, but cream had oozed out all over inside the plastic holder, had crust broken off, and really just looked like a disaster.  I was sure it would still taste great, and I didn't care exactly, but I was planning to serve at an event, and couldn't quite bring myself to attempt to put it on a platter and somehow make it look presentable without an apology to the group.  Luckily, it still tasted good!

Dark Chocolate Truffle Cream Pie: Inside.

The chocolate pudding was the star of the show.  It was extremely thick, extremely rich, and indeed quite chocolately.  Not a bitter chocolate, but not overly sweetened.  It was decadent, and a little went a looooong way.  It made up the majority of the pie.  

The whipped cream on top was rich, tasted fresh, and was just lightly sweetened.  It was absolutely necessary to offset the richness of the chocolate pudding below.  The ratio was right for a normal cream pie, but I almost really needed this to be 50/50 pudding to cream given how rich it was, so I found myself using extra whipped cream in order to finish a slice.

The crust was a pale shortcrust style, not a buttery flaky pastry crust like you'd use with a fruit pie, or a graham or cookie crust as is sometimes used for a cream pie.  I liked it, and it went well with the deep, rich chocolate filling as something a bit more neutral.

Overall, looks aside, this was a very good pie, and I didn't mind using extra whipped cream to round it out.  I think I would prefer to have some dark chocolate shavings or chips, or perhaps some nuts sprinkled on top, but, that's just if I wanted it absolutely perfect, it was quite good as it was.  4/5.

This is the only pie that wasn't $27.99.  I'm not sure why chocolate is more expensive than fresh fruit?  We served 8 people comfortably, with just about 1/4 of the pie left.  It was excellent overall, but, wow, even for me, eating a proper "Parent family slice" would be impossible, so you can definitely get 10+ servings out of this.

Coconut Cream (Thaw in Fridge). $27.99.

Next up, coconut cream. 

Another one that was a total mess when it arrived.  Again, packaged nicely, but just totally a disaster in looks, with broken crust, cream leaking out everywhere, etc.  Again, it still tasted great, but, wow.

Coconut Cream ... uh ...

"Filled with coconut pudding and topped with homemade whipped cream, coconut flakes and placed into our homemade graham cracker crust!"

There aren't really words for this.  I couldn't tell the top from the bottom, the crust was that lost.  It seemed to have a graham cracker crust rather than the blond crust of the dark chocolate truffle one, although it definitely was not a crust at that point, as it was entirely mixed in.

Could I serve this as a pie?  Absolutely not.  But did I just scoop it out into nice clear cups and tell folks I got "coconut cream pie pudding parfaits"?  Yep.  Again, if it tastes good, no problem right?  But, wow.  

Anyway, it really was tasty.  Strong coconut flavor in the pudding, much more of a traditional pudding rather than the thick nature of the chocolate one.  Lots of cream that tasted fresh enough.  Little bits of soggy graham throughout that added some pleasant soft texture.  One guest actually thought that was a cake layer.  It was all sweet, very sweet, but not cloying.  I liked it best with blueberries and chocolate chips added to cut the sweetness a bit.

Overall, tasty to eat, amusing to look at, and I'd get it again.  Low 4/5.

Original Review, 2016

When I first moved to the Bay Area, one early lesson I learned was about rituals different folks have for driving to/from Tahoe in the winter.  And by rituals, I mostly mean coping mechanisms.  For many, the answer seems to be a stop at Ikeda's California Country Market (with locations in Davis and Auburn).

Ikeda's is a "country market"with gourmet food products including all the snacks you may need to survive the journey, plus a bakery, and a restaurant.  While all aspects of the business are well regarded, it is the bakery that people swoon over.  And, in particular the pies.  The restaurant is open for breakfast, lunch, and dinner, and serves basics like burgers, sandwiches, and shakes.  Plus, the pie.  Oh the pie.

Ikeda's has 17 different pies on the menu, mostly fruit pies (with a pumpkin thrown in there too).   Most of the pies are available with full top crusts or with crumble tops, which they call "cobbler pie" e.g., cherry pie or cherry cobbler pie.  Apple pies get special treatment, with 3 different varieties: regular, dutch, or french (do you know the difference of all of these?)

Ikeda's has been on my radar of places to visit when driving to/from Tahoe for years, but, I haven't actually done that trip in a long time, so somehow I still haven't ever made it, even though for dessert loving me, this was high on my list.  But, this season, one of my co-workers stopped on their way home one Sunday afternoon, and brought us a pie Monday morning.  For breakfast.  I didn't object.

Apple Pie.

"Fresh Granny Smith and Golden Delicious Apples picked from our own orchard a mile away from our Auburn location.  They are peeled, sliced, and baked to perfection in our in house bakery."

As I mentioned, Ikeda's has three varieties of apple pie, and it is the classic that my co-worker selected.

I'll be honest, apple pie is one of my least favorite pies.  I don’t really like apples.  And I’ll be honest, usually if my only option is apple pie, I’ll get the pie, and mostly eat just the crust.  I rarely bother finish the filling, as soggy apples just aren't my thing.

Enter Ikeda's apple pie.  The filling was clearly the appeal, sky high.  I started with the crust though, double crust.  It was … fine, but not remarkable.  Not particularly flaky or anything.

But the filling?  That WAS remarkable.  The apples were thinly sliced, and perfectly cooked, still a bit crisp.  I think the mushy quality of most apple pies is one of the reasons I rarely like it.  And the apples were still tart, granny smith was a great choice of apple for this pie.  The tart apples  complimented the sweet sauce they were in perfectly.  Now let’s talk about that sauce.  Sweet and cinnamon-y.  Thick and a bit gooey.  It totally coated the apples and was really, really tasty.

All together, this was a fabulous pie, and probably the best apple pie I've ever had.  I'd love to try another one of their pies, ideally, a variety that I would actually pick!

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