Stephanie and I decided to go over to Waconia for one of our girls nights out. Since Highway 5 is closed going to Waconia we got to take a bit of a detour on some gravel roads. During a bit of a downpour. Fun!
First, we stopped at Schram Vineyards, which is a winery and brewery outside of Waconia. It is in a very nice setting near a small lake. They have an indoor tasting room and an outdoor tasting room. Sampling flights of both beer and wines are $10. It was pretty busy even though the weather wasn’t great and they had a food truck on site, in addition to the winery offering cheese and crackers and some other light snacks.
I wasn’t overly impressed by the wine or beer, but was very charmed by the setting and what they are trying to do here. It was fun to visit and try the offerings. The Bumbley Blueberry was probably my favorite wine, it was a bit like a prosecco or a wine cooler, very light and sweet.
Next, we headed into Waconia to go to Lola’s Lakehouse for dinner. We’d been hoping the weather would be nice so we could enjoy the great views on the lake front patio, but it was still raining a bit when we arrived. It wasn’t that busy, but we had a reservation anyway and were seated right away.
We started with the ahi tuna crisps appetizer, which was sesame seared tuna, nappa slaw, ponzu, wasabi aioli on wonton crisps. The tuna was very fresh and light and the portion was quite generous. We both liked this dish a lot.
Stephanie had the grilled chicken club, which is one of her favorite items to order here. It is marinated chicken with Swiss, bacon, lettuce, tomato, onion and mayo served on a focaccia roll with a side of fries.
I had the diver scallops, which are seared scallops, cauliflower puree, prosciutto, little neck clams, roast asparagus, pomegranate reduction. The dish was on the sweeter side, but the scallops had great flavor and the asparagus was cooked perfectly.
We had a couple of desserts, because that is what we do. First, the key lime pie. This was a good version of key lime pie; just the right amount of tart lime flavor and a bit of sweetness form the graham cracker crust.
The second dessert was the chocolate lava cake served with warm vanilla bean ice cream, house whipped cream and chocolate fudge. It kind of looked like a Hostess dessert. It was very chocolatey, but the ice cream helped tone it down a bit.
I thought the menu at Lola’s had a wide variety, with lots of non-seafood items, like steaks and burgers. The service at Lola’s was very good on this visit. I don’t think we waited long for anything at all. We had a great time at Schram and Lola’s and we will certainly be going back.
Schram Vinyards
8785 Airport Rd
Waconia, MN 55387
(952) 442-5105
http://www.schramvineyards.com
Lola’s Lakehouse
318 E Lake St
Waconia, MN 55387
(952) 442-4954
http://lolaslakehouse.com/
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