Prairie's Edge

Audrey II peruses the menu;
she was impressed by all the
 tenderloin selection

I guess I'm breaking my own rules pretty quickly about dining alone, but I had to bring someone along this time. She was pretty nervous about her Rainbow Stage debut tonight, so we decided to go for dinner to calm her nerves before the show starts at 8:00. To be fair, she doesn't talk much and seems pretty preoccupied with being fed, so it will essentially the same as when I go out on my own.

Prairie's Edge is the restaurant in Kildonan Park, so it was a natural choice for a Rainbow Stage pre-show dinner. For this reason I did something that I have literally never done before, which is make a reservation for one. Usually, because my dates to myself are somewhat spontaneous, I just walk up with the understanding that if they can't accommodate me, I'll just walk somewhere else. This one is a little far out of the way to take that chance, especially because I have tickets to a show and am therefore a little more time-bound than usual in how my meal has to progress. Making reservations for one is annoying and a little weird, so I try my best to avoid it. It turns out that was pretty unnecessary. But, to be fair, this was a preview show, so maybe it's busier when the show at rainbow is in full-swing. It also appears to have a pretty big patio, but it was too cold for patio dining this week. Also my date, being from what appears to be the plant kingdom, might not have held up so well with the chill.

My Rainbow Stage
actor friend is so
Winnipeg -famous
 that she has a cocktail
 named after her at a
local eatery

As luck would have it, the cocktail menu included a beverage named after my new friend, so we tried that one straight away; I liked it alright even though it had melon in it (I'm not a huge fan). The cocktails here are fruitier and maybe not quite as pro as some of the other places I've been lately. My second one had some muddled blackberries which could perhaps have been more muddled as they kept clogging up my straw. Audrey II had to finish it for me and I didn't really want another cocktail, which maybe says something about their drink menu.

Audrey II just stuck with
drinks; they didn't have
what she wanted on the
menu and she's a
surprisingly picky eater.

The menu here definitely is 'prairie;' things that I kind of took for granted might be a Manitoban thing were all over the menu: pickerel, beets, wild rice, fruit crisp on the dessert menu (this week's was rhubarb; very Prairie). I wanted to try a few things to write the best review, but I don't have a huge appetite (unlike my voracious date), but the fried rice dish looked like something I'd like (someone out there try it and tell me if I should go back for it). I started with a VERY small cup of wild rice and mushroom bisque... I could find the wild rice in it but it looked pretty well puréed, so maybe it got immersion blendered in with everything else. It wasn't super flavourful; I added salt which is not something I usually do (although I am a pepper fan, and there were some cracked corns on top of the soup, so that was nice). I ordered a beet appetizer on which I found it strange that the bacon was hot; everything else (cheese, egg, beets, greens) were cold. Since it was more of a salad I didn't really like the hot meat on it. The deep fried pickerel dish I got was really nice and crispy but was't as delicious as the description led me to believe. Overall I guess I found the food to be as uninspiring as the cocktails although, to be fair, I did not try a main. There were tons of steak, fish, as well as veg options, so it's possible I just made the wrong selections.

Fortunately, for once, my date comprised of more than eating alone, so the meal didn't have to be the main attraction. Fortunately, my date got to have her own food preferences addressed during the run of her show. I think she had a better time there than with me at the restaurant. I guess I'm a lousy date. I was glad to have her along anyway though; this wasn't a great spot for me to go solo (distance, ambiance, ineffective wi-fi password,,,) and the menu didn't wow me. It would have been a rough go alone.

Price: $$

Rating: *

Quick, pre-show selfie to prove that I could totally
get a date to join me for dinner - I just don't wanna