Labor Day Weekend @ Lake Pepin, WI

My friend and I decided to take a trip to Wisconsin this labor day weekend. Just a day trip, 2 hours drive each way, around the Lake Pepin, with the final destination of the Harbor View Cafe in the city of Pepin. And it turned out to be a great day and a great little vacation.

Lake Pepin was beautiful. We took a little scenic drive and went down along the Mississippi river. Stopped at two/three scenic spots for some picture taking. And finally snapped enough for me to choose a new facebook profile pic, with my DQ blizzard in one hand, and messy hair in the other. Very fun day.

So, the Harbor View Cafe. A small little restaurant in the city of Pepin. They only open from March to October, first come first serve meaning no reservation taken. We got there at 5:30pm-ish, put our names down and didn't get to eat till 7pm. We took advantage of the an hour and half wait, and went around the neighborhood cities, beautiful places. So, no reservation, everything is made from scratch, and fresh at order. Oh, and we learned it the hard way, CASH ONLY. Pals, if you guys are going, take some cash with you... $40-50 per person I would say.

The food was awesome. For a kitchen and a cafe this size, this is some 3 star quality food. I could totally see the dishes on some high-end restaurants' menu, 5 times more expensive, and maybe some more little side dishes or plating skills... You know, little parsley leaves here and a a drop of sauce there, with a dazzle of gold foils... LOL

Soup: Cold Beet soup. Tres Bien! It was very refreshing. I tasted beets and onions in the soup. Semi-clean broth, not too thick, and definitely something new and unexpected. But the dill, mm, I'm not a big fan of Dill....

Entree: Pork Tenderloin with Ginger and Peach sauce. Excellent. Crispy on the outside but juicy and tender on the inside. The ginger and peach sauce is definitely a smart thing for summer. Not too strong, and probably more peachy than gingerly. One bad touch was the corn. It was sweet, but not cooked... too bad...

Alaska Halibut with Black Caper sauce. I don't know exactly what the "black" sauce is made of. But the Halibut was done well. Capers, I didn't know what capers are till last week, and I saw them again this weekend. This black sauce probably doesn't taste much caper, reminds more of a sweet sugar glaze, even a teriyaki kind of sauce. But I could be wrong.

Overall, very nice day, beautiful weather, wonderful meal, interesting topics and a rather "comfortable" ride (other than those moments I thought the Harbor View Cafe could be my last meal... cough*)...

Aaaaaaaaaahhhhhh~ If everyday could be so nice...