We really enjoyed our stay at the Landing Resort & Spa. It wasn’t right in the middle of everything and was still on Lake Tahoe. There was a beach right across the street and like I mentioned in my previous post, we loved the view from our patio.
For hike that morning; the Missus chose Big Meadow to Round Lake. There was a 1,200 foot elevation gain, but it didn’t seem to bad and about 6 1/2 miles out and back.
And JJ of course, handled it like a champ….always making sure that Daddy is not going too slow…..
The starting portion is near a main road, that goes uphill. And yes, the trail goes to a lovely meadow area.
And the lake is indeed “round”.
It was quite a way to start the day.
On the way back to the hotel, I noticed a Vietnamese Restaurant and decided to make a stop for lunch.
We weren’t too hungry, so we went with the pork spring roll and the combination pho.
The Nem Cuon was interesting. The pork was nicely griddled.
It was quite hefty, but lacking in herbs….no mint, basil…..just basically lettuce. The dipping sauce seemed like it was out of a bottle and was much too sweet.
Still, that was much better than the pho……
Broth was made by what we call the “wave method”…where upon you wave beef bones above boiling water….it was so thin and lacking in beef flavor. Lots of white pepper and quite salty.
Noodles were overcooked and mushy……
The tripe wasn’t bad at all; but the other cuts of beef were really lean and tough….totally lacking in beefiness.
Man, this was even worse than what we expected.
Service was fine….but this is a no-go pho…..
Ha Noi Pho
3330 Lake Tahoe Blvd.
South Lake Tahoe, CA 96150
We made a couple of stops on our wat back to our accommodations….doing a bit of shopping; then had a nice siesta in our room.
When dinner time came along; we headed back to the very touristy Heavenly Village.
There was a restaurant in Heavenly Village that I’d actually read about….years ago in Bon Apetite…and of all things they served Hawaiian Regional Cuisine…in South Lake Tahoe! The owners are from Oahu and the place is named Kalani’s.
I know…in Lake Tahoe? Anyway, we walked on over…the place is dog friendly and we actually had a table in the bar….named the “Puka Lounge”….now this was getting kinda cliche for us, but still; the Ginger Rye Old Fashion was quite good!
As for food’ we decided on one app, a main, and a side……
First up were the Lemony Brussel Sprouts. You know hoe the Missus loves Her Brussel Sprouts; except She doesn’t care for how most places make it. In most cases it’s mushy, overcooked, and over sauced. This however was quite good.
Not overcooked, this had a nice crunch to them. Not over sauced, simply seasoned, citrus tones, good acid, perfect amount of salt. Well, we found some Brussels that the Missus enjoyed that weren’t made at home!
The one dish that I’d read about here at Kalani’s was the Chilean Sea Bass Miso Yaki. So, you know we had to try this, right?
Decent miso yaki flavor…perhaps a bit on the mild side, with a bit more sweetness than we like, but still nice and savory. It as the lovely, rich texture of the Chilean Sea Bass that made this dish….so lovely, almost creamy….it basically melts on your tongue! The ponzu butter sauce was fine….we expected a bit more fruity acidity, but it wasn’t overly rich. The mased potatoes had nice anise tones from Thai Basil. Overall, a good fusiony dish.
The one menu item we really enjoyed was the Crispy Roasted Pork Belly. Think “crisp and rich”.
The the light crispness of the batter that gave way to the rich and tender pork belly. Nice and porky, perfectly seasoned; it went well with a squeeze of citrus. We didn’t care for the basil puree which almost had a greasy tongue feel to it and just over powered the flavor and texture of the pork belly.
Kalani’s was a totally unexpected, nice surprise for us. We’d end up going back the next evening.
Kalani’s
1001 Heavenly Village Way
South Lake Tahoe, CA 96150
We made our way back to our accommodations. I went to refill our water and saw this.
Interesting, huh?
And of course, just like the night before, we watched the sun set over the lake!
Thanks for stopping by!
Well, where to start? Check out the rice will you? It was very mushy.
The mac salad was best item on the plate. Unlike what I've had a few times at L&L's here, this one was the classic; simple, well coated macaroni, some carrots….I think there's a touch of onion, nicely salted, quite refreshing.
As you can see, the rice was much better this time. The mac salad had more mayo and less carrots, but was ok.
Not a bad version, but definitely not "return visit" material.
The Missus enjoyed the poi, it was nice and thick but not too sour. The lomi salmon was interesting; the Missus liked it, but I think it's because it was mostly tomatoes, there was hardly any salmon in this.
As I figured it was typical "LA Kalbi" – flanken/cross cut ribs. First thing I hit up was the mac salad. It was quite plain , with a few strands of carrots. It needed some salt and pepper and was kind of "watery" as the mayo hadn't really coated the macaroni well.
At most places, the chicken would be tenderized to an even thickness, but this was not, thus some bites were pretty thick and tough.
On this visit, it seemed like the gentleman who I believe is the owner was working the kitchen, so I was interested to see how my food would turn out. The first good sign was the mac salad, which while still in need of more salt and pepper was evenly coated and the mayo not runny like on my last visit.
