Restaurant reviews - part 42
Bimi - 1893 Grant Ave - https://www.bimijapaneserestaurantwinnipeg.com/#home
Once upon a time I think this was actually Japanese owned, but it is now yet another in a long line of Korean owned sushi restaurants. Not that there's anything wrong withi that, heck, years ago a significant portion of the sushi restaurants in town were all owned by the Chinese. Anyways.
If I had to pick a sushi place in this general area, Yujiro would be my hands down winner with better food, better portions, nicer atmosphere, etc. Bimi isn't bad, but their servings are a little on the smaller side, the quality is just eh for sushi, the cleanliness of the tables could be better, there's one section next to the seating that has an old cash register, vacuum and a pile of boxes... just not terrible professional looking. However, on Mon/Tue Bimi has half price sushi, and frankly the value there for what you get is fantastic. Any other day of the week, not worth it.
Grand Donut - 271 Grassie Blvd
A former Robin's Donut that has now reopened as a bakery that also serves Vietnamese subs and pho? I'm gonna label this place as having potential and will have to revisit later. The place looks super clean and renovated, and the staff is super friendly through their broken English, but they're obviously all still very new to this whole thing and figuring out how to run a restaurant. There were a couple things I tried to order which they didn't have available or had run out of, but I did manage to try a pork belly sandwich and a Vietnamese cold cut sub. My coworker did not like it, but I thought they were great (even though I don't like cilantro). The pork was very fatty, but fried just right and melted as you bit into it. The cold cut meats had that slightly sweet and sour flavour typical of this type of sandwich. Maybe not as good as others I've tried, but prices were also a bit cheaper. Your choices for Vietnamese foods are slim in the Kildonans, but this one is worth a visit. My other coworkers really liked the donuts there. I didn't think it was anything particularly special, there's a fairly large selection of baked goods so I will have to try some others and report back.
Delicious Chinese Vegetarian Restaurant - 1467 Pembina Hwy
Don't you just love it when the name of the establishment tells you absolutely everything that you need to know about it? Unfortunately, it falls a little flat on the delicious part. The style of food is rather americanized, and I was disappointed that the mixed veggie dish did not contain any Asian vegetables. Granted I could have been more specific, but still... in any event, I wasn't actually disappointed per se, but I wasn't thrilled either. The food is ok, the setting is ok, but considering just about all other Chinese restaurants have vegetarian dishes anyways, this one doesn't really do anything for me. I'd rather drive the extra two minutes north and go to Evergreen for better food.
529 Wellington Steakhouse - 529 Wellington Cres - http://529wellington.ca/
Ok so this is one of the most expensive restaurants in the city. I'd never come here under normal circumstances, but it was a work dinner so hey go nuts. You're spending on the order of $60-70 just for the main entree, and all the sides are extra aroung $12 each. I had the luxury of sampling a few things from my coworkers, and we all split a bunch of appetizers. Considering the cost of the meal, I actually took some notes:
Beef Wellington (medium well): I should have gotten the medium/rare, but other than that this was super filling despite looking small. It was a very high quality cut of meat, and I wasn't quite sure what the wellington part was but I guess that's just the crust. It was very buttery. Nice, but not amazing.
New York Steak (medium): this was massive, though I felt the cut of meat on my wellington was better. Honestly, aside from the size I've had similar quality from the Keg
Lamp Chops: Oh this was easily better than the Wellington and the New York steak. Super tender and juicy. Very light on the seasoning in a good way.
Sweet potato fries: I guess saying sweet potato sounds fancier than saying yam fries? These were actually quite good, skinny fries with nice seasoning and a chili mayo (negligible chili)
Potatoes au gratin: a fancy way of saying scalloped potatoes. I appreciate that they used proper gruyere and parmesan
onion rings: this was a hilarious stack of a dozen onion rings served as a tower on a paper towel holder. At least it wasn't generic store bought breading, but this was just... an onion ring
wild mushrooms: it's a bowl of fried mushrooms... not impressed
asparagus: just a plate of (boiled?) asparagus, it did not look appetizing at all. I did not actually eat any asparagus because I will toot up a storm afterwards
lobster bisque: very rich, very salty
French onion soup: also very rich and too salty to enjoy
(dessert) Chocolate Lava cake: real proper chocolate, house made ice cream, ok this is one of the items that I think could warrant the price if you felt like being decadent
So overall... I was disappointed. Nothing was bad foodwise, but I have had similar quality for a third the price. The setting is beautiful, the service is fantastic. I wouldn't do dinner here again, but a coffee and dessert wouldn't be out of the question (maybe just the dessert... the coffee is stupid expensive too). I didn't try any, but there is an extensive wine list if that's your thing.
Once upon a time I think this was actually Japanese owned, but it is now yet another in a long line of Korean owned sushi restaurants. Not that there's anything wrong withi that, heck, years ago a significant portion of the sushi restaurants in town were all owned by the Chinese. Anyways.
If I had to pick a sushi place in this general area, Yujiro would be my hands down winner with better food, better portions, nicer atmosphere, etc. Bimi isn't bad, but their servings are a little on the smaller side, the quality is just eh for sushi, the cleanliness of the tables could be better, there's one section next to the seating that has an old cash register, vacuum and a pile of boxes... just not terrible professional looking. However, on Mon/Tue Bimi has half price sushi, and frankly the value there for what you get is fantastic. Any other day of the week, not worth it.
Grand Donut - 271 Grassie Blvd
A former Robin's Donut that has now reopened as a bakery that also serves Vietnamese subs and pho? I'm gonna label this place as having potential and will have to revisit later. The place looks super clean and renovated, and the staff is super friendly through their broken English, but they're obviously all still very new to this whole thing and figuring out how to run a restaurant. There were a couple things I tried to order which they didn't have available or had run out of, but I did manage to try a pork belly sandwich and a Vietnamese cold cut sub. My coworker did not like it, but I thought they were great (even though I don't like cilantro). The pork was very fatty, but fried just right and melted as you bit into it. The cold cut meats had that slightly sweet and sour flavour typical of this type of sandwich. Maybe not as good as others I've tried, but prices were also a bit cheaper. Your choices for Vietnamese foods are slim in the Kildonans, but this one is worth a visit. My other coworkers really liked the donuts there. I didn't think it was anything particularly special, there's a fairly large selection of baked goods so I will have to try some others and report back.
Delicious Chinese Vegetarian Restaurant - 1467 Pembina Hwy
Don't you just love it when the name of the establishment tells you absolutely everything that you need to know about it? Unfortunately, it falls a little flat on the delicious part. The style of food is rather americanized, and I was disappointed that the mixed veggie dish did not contain any Asian vegetables. Granted I could have been more specific, but still... in any event, I wasn't actually disappointed per se, but I wasn't thrilled either. The food is ok, the setting is ok, but considering just about all other Chinese restaurants have vegetarian dishes anyways, this one doesn't really do anything for me. I'd rather drive the extra two minutes north and go to Evergreen for better food.
529 Wellington Steakhouse - 529 Wellington Cres - http://529wellington.ca/
Ok so this is one of the most expensive restaurants in the city. I'd never come here under normal circumstances, but it was a work dinner so hey go nuts. You're spending on the order of $60-70 just for the main entree, and all the sides are extra aroung $12 each. I had the luxury of sampling a few things from my coworkers, and we all split a bunch of appetizers. Considering the cost of the meal, I actually took some notes:
Beef Wellington (medium well): I should have gotten the medium/rare, but other than that this was super filling despite looking small. It was a very high quality cut of meat, and I wasn't quite sure what the wellington part was but I guess that's just the crust. It was very buttery. Nice, but not amazing.
New York Steak (medium): this was massive, though I felt the cut of meat on my wellington was better. Honestly, aside from the size I've had similar quality from the Keg
Lamp Chops: Oh this was easily better than the Wellington and the New York steak. Super tender and juicy. Very light on the seasoning in a good way.
Sweet potato fries: I guess saying sweet potato sounds fancier than saying yam fries? These were actually quite good, skinny fries with nice seasoning and a chili mayo (negligible chili)
Potatoes au gratin: a fancy way of saying scalloped potatoes. I appreciate that they used proper gruyere and parmesan
onion rings: this was a hilarious stack of a dozen onion rings served as a tower on a paper towel holder. At least it wasn't generic store bought breading, but this was just... an onion ring
wild mushrooms: it's a bowl of fried mushrooms... not impressed
asparagus: just a plate of (boiled?) asparagus, it did not look appetizing at all. I did not actually eat any asparagus because I will toot up a storm afterwards
lobster bisque: very rich, very salty
French onion soup: also very rich and too salty to enjoy
(dessert) Chocolate Lava cake: real proper chocolate, house made ice cream, ok this is one of the items that I think could warrant the price if you felt like being decadent
So overall... I was disappointed. Nothing was bad foodwise, but I have had similar quality for a third the price. The setting is beautiful, the service is fantastic. I wouldn't do dinner here again, but a coffee and dessert wouldn't be out of the question (maybe just the dessert... the coffee is stupid expensive too). I didn't try any, but there is an extensive wine list if that's your thing.