Big Bear!

A recent weekend was the perfect time to check out Big Bear. Well, maybe not completely since a fire was still burning in the Lake Arrowhead area to the west and one of the three highways into town was closed but why let that stop us?

Yes, but how was the food?

If you’ve been there you’ve probably driven by The Log Cabin advertising THE BEST BREAKFAST! We stopped in since we could eat with the dog on the patio. If you get the German Breakfast it winds up being the wurst breakfast! Ach ya! Yes, you get eggs however you want them plus knackwurst, kielbasa AND bratwurst plus 2 potato pancakes and applesauce. Nice place, it’s been there since Hector was a pup (that means a long time) and they have a friendly staff. Another doggie option for breakfast or lunch, I’ve read, could be the North Shore Cafe. And I think there is a Grizzly something that apparently does the biggest lumberjack breakfast but it is in a tiny little place.

There doesn’t seem to be any shortage of BBQ restaurants – I picked Outlaw BBQ for take out one night. I was attracted (or maybe just intrigued) by a beer battered rib option. Now, I’m not that big on deep friend food though once I had a deep friend hard-boiled egg that had been wrapped in bacon and all those deep-fried cheese curds I’ve had so I should know what I am talking about. I got a half and half order – half normal and half deep fried. I would compare the breading to what is on a corndog. Honestly, I wouldn’t get them this way again but the regular ribs were really good.

Another evening meal was at the Mandoline Bistro in “The Village”. I had a delicious Pork Tenderloin with (as copied from their website) a guava BBQ sauce, apple and chili chutney, vegetables and tamale. Wow. This was good! And The L had the Cedar Plank Salmon, served up with mushroom risotto and a lemon sauce. We didn’t take the dog, but if you are wondering, I’m pretty sure they allow dogs on the large outdoor seating on warmer days. This place probably winds up being one of the better restaurants in the Big Bear area – and they have music upstairs on weekends.

Lodging was found going through vrbo.org – ended up being cheaper since we booked with the owner and not through the property management company though we did pick up our keys from them.

Wine and Food Fest

This was the “Grand Tasting” at a park behind Seaport Village. If you saw a guy there with food slopped on his shirt – that was me. I had a couple of mishaps. Jeez. It was a little hectic and rushed – though it doesn’t really need to be. The food was good and plentiful. Even more so for the wine. So much wine. We sampled all the food and got the heck out of there before the drunkards completely took over. It was fairly crowded – I think they could space out the booths a little. They have booths on both sides of the 8 or 10 foot wide sidewalk that circles the park. It’s not until you get to a large grassy knoll that you really have room.