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Cafe’s Best Bargains: Peaks and Pancakes

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Resting at the foot of the Santa Ana Mountains and overlooking a scenic lake in relatively undiscovered Rancho Santa Margarita is Cafe del Lago, opened about a year ago in the Mercado del Lago mini-mall.

The atmosphere here is relaxed. Adobe pink and cactus green walls carry over from the previous business, a Persian restaurant, and the American Indian paintings are on loan from a neighboring store owner who asked to showcase them on the cafe’s walls.

The largest wall is glass, and provides a panoramic view of the peaks rising above the community and of the colorful sailboats gliding across Rancho Santa Margarita Lake.

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The view is a real bargain when taken during the ideal gazing time--a late-morning, easygoing weekend breakfast on Lago’s waterfront terrace. Prices for lounging over the cafe’s traditional breakfast fare begin at $2.95 for buttermilk pancakes and stop at $7.95 for a plateful of top sirloin and eggs.

The tastiest and cheapest options are the specialty pancakes prepared with either blueberries or apples and cinnamon. Each is served in threes for $3.25. The apple cinnamon pancakes are particularly worth trying: loaded with pieces of apples chopped into a rich buttermilk batter.

Egg dishes include five varieties of omelettes ($3.50-$5.25), each made with three eggs and paired with a sweet, moist muffin or toast and jam. On the downside, the scrambled eggs here have been known to be a bit dry, and the accompanying hash browns were recently undercooked and bland.

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The cafe also serves hearty, but affordable, lunches and dinners. Among the selections are pasta, steak, seafood, chicken and gourmet burgers. Children under 12 may choose other items from a special menu priced from $1.50 to $3.50.

An awareness for health pervades many menu selections. Hot and cold sandwiches ($2.75-$5.75) come packed with lean meats, and salads may be topped with low-calorie dressing.

Health concerns aside, though, there’s a good selection of domestic and imported beer and wine, and for dessert, fresh pies, cakes and cheesecake. Just circle the lake a few extra times after dinner to ease the guilt.

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Cafe del Lago, 31441 Santa Margarita Parkway, Suite P, Rancho Santa Margarita. Open Monday through Friday 8:30 a.m. to 9 p.m., Saturday and Sunday from 8 a.m. (714) 589-1155.

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