Restaurant Review - Terra Waconia (with Help from Parley Lake Winery)

After a long and energizing day, Vera and I needed some quiet time to talk, and immediately going to Terra Waconia for dinner became the obvious choice. We happened to pick a great night to go, on a number of different reasons.

We started out with the usual order of mussels, which continue to just be incredible. For entrees, I had a beef fillet that was so tender and so well prepared that I was able to cut it with my fork. Seriously. Despite my incredible meal, Vera actually out-ordered me as she had a buffalo steak that was so flavorful that it rivaled the best steaks we’ve eaten. It was so good, she confessed late in the meal, that if there weren’t people around she would have picked up the bone and started gnawing on it. Despite the big meal, Vera still had a sweet tooth, so things got topped off with warm apple bread pudding in caramel sauce and homemade ice cream that tasted as good as it sounds. Kudos to the team – dinner was outstanding.

As we lazily continued our conversation, we ended up being the last table in the restaurant. A couple of tables away, one of the owners/chef was meeting with a local winery, Parley Lake, and was conducting some barrel testing for future wine list inclusion and a possible wine dinner. Since things were quiet, the owners asked if we wanted to join them and the owners of Parley Lake for our opinions on their barrel tasting. Wow!

We eagerly joined the table, enjoyed some really incredible wine, and as you can see by the photo, had some great conversation about wine making, food pairing, and life in general. We’ve not been to Parley Lake yet, but guarantee that we’ll be there when their season opens later in the year. Overall, for a random Wednesday night, we had just a wonderful and special night.

We’re very lucky to have such a great restaurant (and winery!) in Waconia.  Even if it was not in our back yard, it is worth the drive.  Especially on a random Wednesday night.