Cora's

Cora's (or Chez Cora in French)
340 Provencher Boulevard
(204) 9281204
840 Waverley Street
(204) 9281200

When my Toronto friend Mikael visited me in Winnipeg in October, we made a spontaneous and speedy stop at Cora's on Waverly between pedicures and his date. He insisted, as I love Quebec and crepes, and he thought it was a crying shame I didn't know Winnipeg was home to Cora's.

After informing the host and our server we were in a rush, we were served very quickly. Mikael had the raspberry burst, I believe, with English cream. I had three crepes with "a mountain of fruit." I was wowed by the size of the crepes. For $9, it was good value.

So, this past weekend, when Ebony and I had some time to spare before going tobogganing, we went for another spontaneous brunch. Being a Sunday morning, the place was absolutely packed. Cora's specializes in breakfast fare, with a two-page span featuring all sorts of crepes, as well as other breakfast favourites. They also have lunch items. Cora's is well-known for serving fruit alongside every dish, though I have found that this "mountain" usually isn't a very big one. Or if your dish already has fruit in it, like the raspberry burst, then you won't get any additional fruit.

Ebony had the raspberry for lucie and I had the ham and swiss. We shared a mango and banana puree, which was thick and yummy, but oddly room-temperature, which I don't especially like in a smoothie. Ebony was disappointed with the size of her crepe, as I had been raving about how many I had eaten last time, but as she tasted the raspberries and cream, she became reconciled. For $10.15, though, it's a bit pricey. My ham and swiss was delish, but again, seemed overpriced for what it was. The accompanying fruit was not nearly as nicely displayed as in the menu, so it seems Cora's doesn't meet expectations.

Overall, it's a fun atmosphere that makes me feel like I'm back in a sunny cafe in Quebec (though blown up to franchise proportions). The food is good, though most of it is overpriced. If you went for some staples, though, Cora's is comparable price-wise to places like Stella's, while the food itself takes you out of Winnipeg and into Quebec.

Luce

Luce
635 Corydon Avenue
(204) 4523037

Luce is now closed.

I took Colleen and Aaron to Luce on Sunday night for their Christmas present. We partook in an extended Dine Out $25 menu--lovely for the pocket book!

We all had the housemade ricotta and grilled eggplant tournedo to start. This appetizer is Luce's vegetarian take on sirloin tournedos. The eggplant is wrapped around the ricotta like bacon. Paired with a pesto sauce and a fresh tomato sauce, I found the two tournedos to be more on the bland side alone, though the ricotta was very nice.

Aaron and I both had the beef trio, which consisted of petit filet mignon with gorgonzola sauce, six pepper tenderloin kebab, and braised shank steak with chipotle and raspberry, accompanied by roasted garlic smashed potato and Asian greens. This plate was nicely presented but seemed rather scant, especially in comparison with Colleen's shrimp trio. However, the kebab and shank steak were both very tasty. The kebab was tender. I very much enjoyed the shank steak. Its texture and heat reminded me of Indian dishes. The gorgonzola sauce was lovely, but I was disappointd with the filet mignon. The piece of meat itself was fairly miniscule and, probably due to its size, the meat was tougher than filet mignon should be. The smashed potatoes were rather bland without a generous sprinkling of fresh ground pepper but were nice and hot.

Colleen had the shrimp trio: shrimp phyllo satchetti with blue brie and chestnut butter, grilled shrimp with smoked salmon veloute, and shrimp cake with chili lime sauce, accompanied by cactus pear rice pilaf. Her favourite part was the satchetti which she deemed tasty and surprisingly filling. The shrimp cakes surprised her with their tangy flavour. A great talker, though, by the time Colleen had finished the shrimp, the rice pilaf was cold, and she only had a few bites before tossing in the napkin.

We finished with Colleen and I having the cheesecake trio. The lemon ginger cheesecake was surprisingly good! The candied ginger lends a distinctive and sweet taste, but I avoided the whole ginger pieces. The mocha cheesecake was also nice, with a nice crunch from toffee. However, the chocolate-covered cheesecake didn't quite work, the chocolate being too hard and the cheesecake too soft for you to eat them together. Aaron had the cheese and fruit platter, which was rather skimpy, I think. He had two thin slices of gorgonzola and a few small squares of aged provolone and parmesan paired with two thin slices of pear, one of apple, a couple slices of more exotic fruit, and a spartan sprig of grapes.

Colleen and I both had Blackberry Lemonade, a cocktail with lemonade, creme de cassis, and Sprite. It was fun, light, tasty, and dare I say, girly! $5 for a glass that we sipped on throughout the meal. Aaron stuck to re-fillable iced tea for $2. Colleen and I had tea and coffee afterwards for $2.

I found Luce's food to be different and exciting, but I think that I would choose carefully if I were to return. Like any type of fusion food, especially presentation sometimes appears to take precedence, I think shock value or uniqueness sometimes nudges aside good old common sense for what tastes good!

In Ferno's Bistro - Part Deux

In Ferno's Bistro
312 Des Meurons St.
(204) 2627400

Nic and I took Marge, Arno, Ian, and Mell to In Ferno's for their Christmas present this past weekend. We had never been there during a busy weekend supper time, and I now understand why some folks are bothered by the noise level. The restaurant itself is really a renovated house that has had all of its walls knocked down, so the many patrons packed into a tiny space and the noise they produce really adds up.

I ordered the Prawns Pernod again, and they were just as fabulous as last time. The prawns are small, but the garlicky cream sauce combined with the tempura fried leeks are so tasty! This dish is the most expensive appetizer at $12.95 and is only offered occasionally as a feature. Nic had the crab cakes again. He loves them here. Ian had Le Billy-bi, which are the mussels. Though I found them chewy last time, he thought they were divine, so perhaps it was just an off night when I had them. Mell had the scallops, which she also thought were done very well.

For the next course, most of our main courses came with soup or salad. Ian had a cream soup with beet greens, which he said was good. Mell, Nic, and I had a Mushroom Cognac soup, which I found to be too strong and almost too salty. The broth was very dark and rich and the mushrooms are simply saturated with flavour. I prefer a lighter soup. Nic said the broth itself reminded him of German borscht. Odd.

The features this evening included pork loin, lamb shank (their signature dish), bison ribs, duck confit, swordfish, and beef medallions for $16.95, or a lamb duo for $26.95.

I had the mushroom stuffed pork loin. It came with a zippy coarse grain dijon rub. The taste was very enjoyable, complex with hints of other spices, like cinnamon. The sides for this evening were stuffed baked potato, steamed broccoli, and pureed squash--all done very well.

Nic ordered the bison ribs. Unfortunately, he didn't like the anise in the rub, and ended up trading dishes with me. Though I am not a huge fan of anise, I found the ribs to be very tender and flavourful. I had never had bison before and my expectations of a drier, leaner meat were not met. Instead, the ribs were moist. They seemed to have been slow-cooked and then finished over a grill. The rub gave the meat a smoky taste and the sauce a sweeter taste, but the meat itself I found to be quite mild.

Marge had the duck confit with orange brandy glaze, Ian the lamb shank, and Mell the beef tenderloin medallions, done medium-well. Judging by their plates, they were all pleased by their choices and impressed by the kitchen's ability to produce such different dishes so well. Arno had the filet mignon, done blue rare, off the menu. The filet is only about 5-6 ounces, but for $12.95, you can hardly complain. I had never had blue rare beef that I enjoyed before, but Arno convinced me to try a piece. The kitchen obviously has someone with a good hand for steaks because the filet was buttery in texture, moist, and warm, and not at all bloody.

In Ferno's has certainly redeemed themselves. The kitchen seems more attentive to detail at supper time and when I go back, I think I will go for an early supper once more. The food was delicious!

Ellice Cafe

Ellice Cafe
587 Ellice Avenue

This not-for-profit cafe, founded by Reverend Harry Lehotsky of New Life Ministries, is one of the best concepts I have come across lately. The cafe, with an adjoined theatre and crisis housing up top, has been beautifully renovated (with money out of Lehotsky's pocket) and is a comfortable and pleasant atmosphere. There is a cozy round booth that seats a larger group, one long booth running down the left-hand side of the small cafe, plenty of tables, and a diner-style bar.

The cafe is definitely tailored to serve the surrounding low-income residents and busy business people. You walk in and seat yourself. You can either speed up service by grabbing your own menu or they'll present you with one. When you are ready to order, grab your money (or Interac with a 35 cent charge) and go up to the cashier to place your order and pay. Then have a seat and restaurant service resumes as usual.

The menu covers a wide range from classic diner breakfast (only served until 11 am, I believe) to pizza to nachos to roast beef sandwiches to pasta dishes. It's classic diner food with some special meals thrown in. There is always a daily special. The prices on the menu already include tax because Lehotsky is against "sticker shock."

I have sampled the regular smokie (a steal at $2.50), a bowl of chili (too bland for my tastes, but very meaty), several specials that were very tasty, and your regular assortment of French fries, onion rings, etc. The food, I would say, is fairly on par with other places of the same sort. The prices, however, are a good deal better, when considering that they include taxes. As well, I like the idea that the profit is going to subsidize food costs for other folks.

I had dessert there for the first time yesterday: pumpkin cheesecake. A slice of cheesecake costs $4.00 and let me tell you, it was heavenly! The cheesecake was not dense, but light and creamy, which is wonderful to find in this world of pre-packaged frozen goods. Like most of their dishes (save French fries and onion rings, I assume), the desserts are home-made and you can tell!

This is an excellent alternative to fast food corporations that don't care who you are. The place serves blue-collar to white-collar to no-collar, as they say. The service is friendly and the cafe makes you feel like you're in a city where everyone can get along.

Kum Koon Garden

Kum Koon Garden
257 King Street
(204) 9434655
Reimbursement available for $4 parking in adjacent lot

One of the secret culinary pleasures of the Indo-Chinese cultural scene in Winnipeg are the $25 holiday meals that take place as celebratory and fundraising events. I attended a belated Chinese New Year supper this evening with Nic and his family. For $25 a person, you receive a leisurely 10-course meal, served in the traditional slow-service style (generally one dish at a time). The meal price also includes red wine and sparkling wine, pop, and Chinese tea.

We began with an appetizer platter made of barbecued duck, steamed chicken, barbecued pork, ground pork wrapped in tofu, jellyfish, and seafood balls, garnished with slices of ham, pineapple, maraschino cherries, and cilantro. This is always a fun way to start a meal, especially those not familiar with traditional Chinese cuisine. There's a lot of variety. Safer bets are the barbecued pork, which I always enjoy. I also really like the jellyfish, which comes cold. It's slightly crunchy and slightly slimy, and as a result, is fun to eat. If you can get over the surprising texture, as Marge has, the subtle taste is actually quite nice.

The second course was fish stomach soup, which may sound disgusting to most folks. However, I assure you this soup's flavour is subtle and not at all fishy. The soup has fish stomach, pieces of crab, and egg whites. The consistency is similar to egg drop soup, I believe. The broth is clear and has been thickened. I always have this soup with a little red wine vinegar and white pepper.

The third course was steamed chicken, which Ian determined must have had a salt rub to give it its very tasty and well-seasoned flavour. The table receives the whole chicken cut up into manageable pieces, skin attached.

The fourth course was fresh sugar snap peas stir-fried with scallops, squid, and shrimp. Everyone at the table loved this dish for its freshness and the sweetness of the snap peas. We finished the platter.

The fifth course was deep fried tofu with suey choy and shiitake mushrooms. I personally didn't have any of this dish, but everyone else who had it seemed to enjoy it. The suey choy and deep fried tofu, having not much flavour in themselves, absorb the seasonings well. This dish is a little more pungent and has a thick, gelatinous mushroom sauce.

Halfway, what everyone had been holding out for arrived--the crab and lobster. This is always delicious, I find. The fresh crab and lobster are flash-fried in a light batter, I believe, before being stir-fried with ginger and green onion. Though a challenge to eat, it's well worth it. For those who are adventurous, the crab shell and lobster head are available for brain-consumption. I'm not kidding.

The seventh course was a whole deep-fried pickerel. Not being a fish fan myself, I can only convey others' opinions that this dish was heavenly. Again, batter and seasonings are light, the better to taste the pickerel. The fish arrives split in half. The server will cut the fish into manageable pieces for the table before leaving.

The eighth course was a Chinese-style ham hock. The entire hock is presented after having been slowly roasted in its own skin and juices. Topped with fine strands of black seaweed, the meat has an earthy taste and is so tender it falls off the bone.

The nineth course was deluxe fried rice. In real Chinese restaurants, the fried rice is actually quite light in colour, not much soy sauce having been added during the stir-frying process. The fried rice has peas, barbecued pork, egg, onion, and shrimp in it. Traditionally, fried rice came at the end of a meal as a test of the chef's work. If you enjoyed the meal, you should be full at this point, and by not touching the fried rice, would signal to the kitchen that they have done their job. However, by eating the rice, you have shown the previous dishes were not very good and/or not generous enough. In the 21st century, though, such traditions are no longer kept up, but they make for a good story.

The meal ended with pre-packaged fortune cookies all around.

Unfortunately for those not connected to the Indo-Chinese community, these gatherings tend to be a mainly Chinese or Southeast Asian event. You need to know someone to get tickets in the first place! The one I went to this evening was for the Chinese Seniors' Association. If you can get tickets, though, it's a great night of eating!

The Fyxx

The Fyxx
310 Broadway Avenue
93 Albert Street
835 Dakota Street
330 Portage Avenue

The Fyxx hardly needs my promotion, but as a place dear to my young, girl-talk heart, I must. Ebony and I discovered The Fyxx in our teenage years when we were falling in love with the Exchange District and would spend half our lives wandering around the second-hand stores.

Unfortunately, neither of us are big coffee fans, so I can't give you a coffee review. Though, the word on the street is that their coffee is nothing spectacular.

However, The Fyxx also offers salads, sandwiches, soups, and a large assortment of desserts, as well as other beverages.

I absolutely adore their Caesar salad, playfully entitled Hail Caesar! I argue that The Fyxx's Caesar salad is the best in the city, and so far, I have not tasted one better. The key is their house dressing, a generous sprinkling of real parmesan (none of that powder stuff), and a slice of lemon. I have dreamt for many years of landing a job at The Fyxx to steal their Caesar dressing recipe, but, alas, I have never gotten around to it. The dressing is very creamy and full-flavoured and just garlicky enough for my tastes. They also offer a take on Greek salad and market salad.

They have a huge variety of sandwiches, from wraps to paninis to corn bread. The sandwiches often contain surprising twists on old classics. For instance, you might encounter some peach salsa or pesto mayo. I would recommend the Hercules, which has a delightful mixture of spiced capicollo, genoa salami, sliced roma tomatoes, diced red onions, feta cheese, baby spinach, and pesto mayonnaise, all on a panini bun.

Their desserts are always tempting and rich. This coffeehouse is also one of the rare ones offering wholewheat cinnamon buns, which I always find so much better than ones made of white flour.

And finally, The Fyxx makes a great Italian soda. They have tons of different flavourings and will top off your soda with whipped cream free of charge.

The Velvet Glove

The Velvet Glove
Two Lombard Place
(204) 9856255
Complimentary valet parking with reservations

Lewis and I went to The Velvet Glove today to sample the Dine Out Winnipeg menu. By the way, my site name is inspired by that title but is not affiliated with the American Express promotion. Dine Out Winnipeg offers three-course set menus at over thirty restaurants for either $15 (minimal) or $25 (plenty of choice). I was able to sneak a last minute reservation for an early supper at 5:00. Whomever answered the phone had informed me that the restaurant was completely booked after 5:00, but we noticed that it was only about 1/3 filled by 6:30, so I'm not sure what that was about.

The service was impeccable, as should be expected by such an instituation. So, I will just talk about the food.

The meal begins with a basket of freshly baked bread. There are two types of crackers and small buns, which come with two flavoured butters. All very tasty.

For our appetizers, we both had the Wild Mushroom and Manitoba Wild Rice Soup, with Roasted Leeks and Smoked Paprika Goat Cheese Crouton. I found the soup very pleasant. It was creamy, subtly flavoured, and had an abundance of wild mushrooms. Lewis is a bit of a salt fiend, so he added salt rather liberally.

For my main course, I had the Cranberry and Pumpkin Seed Stuffed Chicken Breast with Choke Cherry Jus and Smashed Fingerling Potatoes. I was also pleasantly surprised with steamed vegetables (red pepper, asparagus, green beans, and broccoli). The chicken breast was moist and tender and comes attached to the bone and with the skin, which can only add to the flavour. The stuffing is a mixture of a pumpkin seed paste, whole seeds, and cranberry raisins, and I thought it added an interesting flavour and a good texture contrast with the chicken breast. The choke cherry jus was the star of the show. It was rich and deeply-flavoured and paired excellently with the chicken breast, stuffing, and the side dishes. My potatoes were piping hot and seasoned well and the vegetables were steamed to perfection. Overall, I was very pleased.

Lewis chose the Prosciutto Wrapped, Basil Scented Salmon Filet with Beluga Lentil and Chantrelle Mushroom Ragout and Fresh Haricot Vert. Though Lewis wasn't wild about the lentils, he enjoyed the ragout nonetheless. The salmon filet, a generous piece, was delicious, he said.

Our dessert was the Creme Brulee Trio (Mocha, Grand Marnier, and Bourbon Vanilla Bean), which we both found to be a little too sweet. The trio actually refers to a layered creme brulee, with the vanilla on top, Grand Marnier in the centre, and mocha on the bottom. Of the three, I enjoyed the mocha the best and Grand Marnier the least (this was the one that was too sweet), which is unfortunate as the mocha was on the bottom. The creme brulee is paired with a cookie.

We both had lemonade. Our bill came with four chocolate-covered maraschino cherries--a nice touch! Too bad they weren't fresh cherries. I am not a fan of maraschino cherries.

All in all, a good experience, and I'm very glad I went. They have started a new sort of diner's club, so Lewis and I both signed up. We received coupons for 20% off our next meals and the club membership will notify us of promotions, special events, etc.

If you want to try to catch some of the Dine Out menu, go visit Ciao Winnipeg.

In Ferno's Bistro

In Ferno's Bistro
312 Des Meurons St.
(204) 2627400

In Ferno's Bistro is run by chef-owner Fern, formerly of La Vieille Gare, so we already know by reputation that his menu is tasty. This bistro serves a mixture of French-Canadian, French, and Mediterranean dishes. The restaurant itself is attractive, with a warmly-coloured and tightly-packed room downstairs, a bright upstairs, and a summer roof-top patio. They have several decadent choices in their dessert case and a fairly extensive wine list stored in an old vault.

I have been to In Ferno's Bistro twice, once with a small party of four and once with a larger party of seven. I have another reservation coming up on February 11th, so look for an ammendment to this post.

On my first occasion, I left the restaurant absolutely in love with it. We had impeccable service from a gentleman server and I'm sorry to say I forget his name. He was young with short, black hair, and I suspect he's actually the host, because on our second occasion, he wasn't serving. We had a light early supper with reservations for 4:30, so when we arrived, we were literally the only customers in the restaurant.

Nic and I had two appetizers, two main courses, one dessert, and drank water. So, we're a little cheap. At any rate, our bill came in under $30. Mikael and Stephen had one appetizer, two main courses, one dessert, two espressos, one glass of very old expensive port, and one bottle of wine. Their bill came in under $60.

I had spinach and camembert soup to start, which was really delicious. Nic had crab cakes for the first time, and he thought they were wonderful. You get two crab cakes (balls, really) with a small garnish of spring greens with berry dressing and mango salsa. The crab cakes are not bready at all and are flavoured well.

For my main course, I had poulet a la facon du chef, which I guess is a chicken specialty. The chicken is stuffed with lingonberries and type of cheese. To be honest, I didn't find the flavour match to be spot on, but regardless, the sauce was creamy and delicious. I was greatly impressed with my side dishes. The broccoli was steamed to perfection--crisp but cooked all the way through. The twice baked stuffed potato was moist and well-seasoned.

Nic had the salmon panini with artichokes and French fries. Though he's not too fond of artichokes, he still thought the sandwich was great. The salmon was fresh. The French fries are a little too thin-cut, more like those mesquite hickory sticks (the chips), and a bit greasy for my tastes, but he liked them.

We finished with creme brulee, which was a fun first-time experience. Unfortunately, they only have one flavour--espresso.

Mikael had a green apple, blue cheese, and candied walnut salad and Stephen had a salmon dish, both of which they thought were great-tasting.

The second time I went to In Ferno's, I took out a few friends for Christmas. Between all of us, we had, to start, prawns pernod, crab cakes, and mussels. The prawns pernod were made with small prawns, but the sauce was so delicious, we overlooked that. The mussels were slightly chewy in texture, but passable. For our main courses, we had the day's chicken feature, sole feature, and croque monsier (fancy ham and cheese sandwich) with French fries. The chicken feature was absolutely to-die-for. The kind of melt-in-your mouth chicken breast with a wonderful creamy wine sauce. This time around, though, the sides needed work. The sweet potatoes were far too soupy and the dollar fries were much too oily, though it seemed I was the only one bothered by the latter. The sole feature, Ebony found too fishy. For dessert, we shared a strawberry cream pie, creme brulee, and espresso chocolate cheesecake. The best by far was the strawberry cream pie with ripe strawberries, decadent cream, and a wonderfully tender buttery crust.

Our service was a little lacking on this day and less formal than I would have liked. The waitress struggled for about ten minutes or more to open our champagne bottle, and there were lengthy periods between sitting down and getting our menus, menus and ordering drinks, and between finishing our main courses and ordering dessert.

For such a well-priced restaurant, though, I greatly enjoy their food and find it a wonderful option to, say, Moxie's.

We will see what the next visit will be like!

Pete's Place

Pete's Place
1777 Main Street
(204) 339-7225

Pete's Place is one of those good old Greek family restaurants that has been a mainstay of Winnipeg for at least two decades. I went to Pete's Place for the first time a year or two ago on the recommendation of a friend's mom and I've been visiting them regularly ever since. Their parking lot and interior recently got a makeover, so the restaurant is a little fresher-looking than it used to be.

Though I have tried some of their other food items, there are only two things that I think Pete's Place does exceptionally well: house-cut shoe string French fries and saucy slow-cooked pork ribs. The fries are great almost all the time, though once in a while, they'll be too greasy, probably because the fryer temperature was too cold. However, their fries are just the right thickness to be crispy, and with a sprinkling of salt and ketchup, they are the best fries in the city, in my opinion.

The pork ribs, though, are a house specialty. The portions are large, approximately a rack and a half, and for around $17, you also get one starter (salad or soup) and fries. The meat is very tender and very tasty. Once in a while, the restaurant will have ribs as their house special, so watch for that for some cheap and good eats!

Madina

Madina
841 Ellice Avenue
(204) 7791820

I have some unfortunate news. Madina has closed down due to a lack of business. The owner has moved to Edmonton to start a restaurant with his brother.

Madina is a small Somalian restaurant located in the West End. Somalian food reminds me of Haitian food, though other people have said it's similar to Ethiopian food. Though the decor is lacking (the building's facade is ugly pink stucco and the door is recessed and unwelcoming), the food is great! The owner is a former student refugee sponsored by the University of Winnipeg's World University Service Club, so this is his first entrepeneurial attempt in Canada. Overlook the spelling and grammatical errors in the menu and embrace the ethnic food experience!

The menu is fairly small, with about twelve or so choices that are all under $10.

I have been to Madina twice, once with a larger group of about 10-12 and once with just my boyfriend.

Both times, I had the Sugar Chicken, which is really, really fantastic. The chicken is cooked with a mixture of spices (that remind me a little of Indian food), onions, and peppers. The main courses come with your choice of rice, jabati (a sweet-ish flatbread similar to nan), or a combination of both. Definitely opt for the combination because both are delicious. The rice is yellow in colour with specks of red, perhaps a saffron rice, and tastes, again, reminiscent of Indian food. The jabati is wonderful for scooping up the chicken dish, as traditionally, this dish is eaten without cutlery.

Nic had the goat dish, which he found to be delicious. The goat must have been slowly stewed because the meat was very tender. The flavouring was an interesting combination of tomato and spiciness and sweetness that I have honestly never tasted before. One slight complaint, however, was that the goat meat was slightly too fatty.

I also tried both the vegetable and meat samosas. They are filled with a mixture of chopped vegetables and/or ground meat with a spicy kick. I like them way more than Indian samosas. They also offer an herbal tea that is very strong on cloves and cinammon, so beware. Also, it tastes awful with cream added. The restaurant brings out cream with it, I think mainly because people expect cream.

The only main dish that is a complete waste of your time is the vegetarian dish, which appears to be steamed/boiled frozen vegetables sprinkled with seasoning, the seasoning not even being the wonderful stuff in the sugar chicken or beef dishes. I think it was just a pity offering for any vegetarians.

So, in the end, great food for a reasonable price with huge portions! Something a little out of the ordinary.