We enjoyed a nice hour nap at our hotel before heading off to dinner.
When I had initially started planning this short road trip; Solvang wasn't even a blip on the radar. We do enjoy Solvang, but have always thought of it as a themed village of sorts where you came to buy your friends and aunt cookies. Until I was checking out the Michelin Guide and noticed a restaurant named First & Oak......the menu seemed interesting, sort of the kind of place we'd enjoy. I had never spent a night in Solvang and was curious as to how things were when all the day trippers left. And so far we were enjoying ourselves. The restaurant, located in the Mirabelle Inn, was just a block away from our hotel. I had never spent much time around this part of Solvang and we really enjoyed the cute and quaint houses.
I had made early reservations for dinner......so we'd avoid any possible crowds....though on this Sunday night, I'm guessing it wouldn't be very likely.
We were greeted and taken to our table....which we really enjoyed as it was at one end of the sidewalk, by a very sweet young lady. Unfortunately, she wasn't much help with the wine by the glass....I saw a Veltliner, something we really enjoyed in Vienna, which was local....a rarity in my opinion. The young lady was very nice, but couldn't tell me much about the wine. She wasn't much of a help with the menu either. Luckily, we had pretty much picked out what we wanted in advance. I will say the wine was served at a perfect temperature and we really enjoyed relaxing and watching the street scene.....which by now was rather sparse, but entertaining.
First up were the Kimchi Cracklings ($9).
The Espuma Garlic Aioli was the hit of this dish; pleasantly garlicky, very light and delicate in texture. The rice-crackerish "cracklings" were fine, if a bit bland in flavor.
The Duck Wings ($15) were up next.
This was pretty darn chewy and much too sweet for our taste. You really couldn't make out much else as the cloying sweetness just over powered the dish.
Our favorite dish of the night was by far the Roasted Cauliflower ($16).
The cauliflower had a nice smoky-light sweetness to it with an almost buttery texture. The truffle vinaigrette was excellent and really paired well with the almonds and raisins.
The Salted Baked Beets ($16) was quite hard.
The Red Dragon Cheese had a nice, mild pungency to it....but this dish seemed kind of plain overall.
We shared a main; the Roasted Loin of Lamb ($38).
This really could have been a winner as the quality of the lamb was excellent and the exterior texture outstanding. There were a couple of issues we had with this though.....we ordered it medium rare, but it arrived medium well. Which wouldn't have been a big deal since the meat was very moist.....but the lamb just didn't seem to be seasoned well. Even the King Oyster Mushroom needed more seasoning and probably more of a searing to give some textural contrast. The gnocchi was fried and just didn't seem to fit in with the dish. The red cabbage didn't have enough pickled "umph" for the Missus. The jus/sauce was quite mild and this ended up being quite underwhelming. Which may describe our opinion of the entire meal.........
The staff was very nice; our Server was so sweet, but really couldn't tell us much about the wine or the dishes....at one point, I asked her about the lamb and she had to go ask someone..... Perhaps it was the Sunday night crew? Or maybe Solvang is basically for getting cookies for Auntie?
First & Oak
409 1st St.
Solvang, CA 93463
As we were wrapping up dinner; the Missus told me She wanted a cocktail.........I guess dinner did that to Her. After Googling about; I found a place named Vaquero Bar. The Missus immediately went to that four lettered website and said, "we can't go there, there's only 2 reviews". My response was, "that's exactly why we should go there"........so after paying we walked on over to the usually super busy Mission Drive which was quite sedate at this time of the day.
The Missus cracked up at seeing....well, a very familiar sight.
We took the short walk over and noticed that Vaquero Bar was actually part of what looked like a very popular steakhouse name Coast Range. Second thing we noticed as we ambled in; all the folks seemed to know each other.
Except for the Missus and Myself and a couple who were from Newport Beach. One of the mixologists came over; a very friendly young lady named Gabby and took our orders. I quickly noticed that music was provided via a turn table....with real vinyl albums, with one of my Mom's favorite artist playing......Johnny Cash! I guess this was meant to be?
The Missus got something called the Silver Stallion - Japanese Whiskey-Vanilla-Bitters.
I actually asked Gabby if she could make me an Old Fashioned with Mezcal instead of Bourbon and she cheerfully complied.
When she brought the drink over; she told me that this was a new one for her so she of course did a straw test and liked it....even though she was never a fan of Mezcal. This was a nice solid version....I ended up having another, as the Rolling Stones started playing on the turn table.
The Missus, somewhat disappointed in our dinner, went ahead and ordered the Chateau Fries ($8) and finished it all Herself.
I stayed on my "liquid diet" and had another cocktail. We had a great time here. Just like during our previous visit to Paso Robles, the cocktail bar picked things up when the restaurant failed us. I'd gladly return.
Vaquero Bar (In Coast Range Restaurant)
1635 Mission Dr.
Solvang, CA 93463
Solvang seemed like a different city as we walked back to the hotel. So peaceful, so relaxed........
Getting back to the hotel; there was one more place I thought we might enjoy visiting. I asked the young man at the desk and he told me that Mission Santa Ines was right around the corner; through the Post Office parking lot. So we decided to check it out.
Mission Santa Ines was founded in 1804 and is the 19th of the 21 Missions in California founded by the Franciscans.
It was quite peaceful during this time of the day and the view was quite beautiful.
It was a nice tranquil way to end the day.......
We headed back to the Hotel Corque....the room was so very comfortable, the Missus loved the double sink...and the bed was lovely.
We fell into a blissful sleep thinking about tomorrow....when we'd be returning to Paso Robles.
Thanks for stopping by!
that meal sounded so disappointing, but the drinks afterwards sounds like it made up for things.
Posted by: kat | Thursday, 03 June 2021 at 08:24 PM
That's too bad the duck wings were too sweet. The idea is great.
We loved our visits to Solvang too: https://www.hungryones.com/2020/05/solvang/
Posted by: Soo | Friday, 04 June 2021 at 08:38 AM
Did you try any of those open face sandwiches? Those are always fun to get and something that might be difficult or impossible to find in our neck of the woods.
Posted by: Janfrederick | Friday, 04 June 2021 at 09:09 AM
We enjoyed the cocktail bar Kat!
It was nice walking the streets of Solvang without all the tourist crowds Soo.
You mean a smorrebrod Jan? Not on this trip Jan...though we've had it on one of our trips years ago when we still lived in LA. Last time I had a smorrebrod was in Copenhagen about 4 years or so ago.
Posted by: Kirk | Friday, 04 June 2021 at 09:23 AM
Most restaurants these days have a hard time finding staff. Perhaps the restaurant just hired anyone they could find?
Posted by: Junichi | Friday, 04 June 2021 at 04:37 PM
The young lady told us she's been working there since before the pandemic Junichi. I just don't think they train their staff very well.
Posted by: Kirk | Sunday, 06 June 2021 at 09:40 AM