To try and decide each week where and what to eat in and around the Truckee-Tahoe region can be a challenge — there are so many amazing choices. In this feature we’ll dive into dishes that will surely satisfy those hunger pangs and leave you wondering where to go next. 

I realize there might be some nacho purists out there who might say this week’s feature aren’t technically nachos. If there are indeed nacho purists out there, they need something else to complain about because this dish is delicious. 

The chips in this dish come in the form of fried wontons. They are joined with marinated ahi and avocado, then topped with habanero aioli, unagi sauce, sesame seeds, and green onions. 

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The traditional melted cheese takes a seat on the bench and the two sauces sub in. The habanero aioli is equal parts creamy and spicy, although the heat is not anything that’s going to blow out your palette – it’s just the right level. Unagi sauce, if you’re not familiar, is essentially a sweetened and thickened soy sauce. It adds the sweet and salty balance to the creamy heat from the other sauce – both of which mesh with the ahi perfectly. 

Ahi is a fairly mild fish, but when that buttery goodness comes in contact with the wontons, avocado, green onions, and the sauces, it’s one of the more perfect bites of flavor. Not only is there balance throughout but also there’s multiple textures bouncing all around your mouth with each bite. 

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This dish is noted on their menu as a starter, but I could be completely happy with a couple orders of these as my main dish and plopped right in front of a football game for the night. Yeah, they may not invoke those same feelings as watching the game with traditional nachos, but sometimes the best play of the game is something unexpected. 

Bar of America is located at 10040 Donner Pass Rd. in downtown Truckee. For more information visit them online at barofamerica.com or give them a call at 530-587-2626.