Ward 1

Apparently this place has fallen victim to the Basil's curse and is no longer in operation (for what sounds like good reason). 

If you want to sit above the crowd
and people watch, that's a thing
you can do in the Ward 1 lounge.

New Year, new restaurant. Okay, so the new year started 30 days ago; the resolution against procrastinating didn't go so well. Anyway, I stopped in at Ward 1 which is where the Black Rabbit used to be... and some other thing before that, and Basil's a hundred years ago... that seemingly lucrative and cursed corner that can't keep it's doors open. You know, that one. Hopefully the current tenant sticks it out through the summer because although tis not the season for it, that patio is ace. The layout reminds me of something more common in Montreal and other, denser cities.

Vegetables wrapped in bacon and/
or deep fried: the way God intended

Last comparison to restaurants that no longer exist: there's some really interesting two-tier bar seating going on in the lounge that was not there before and it makes the place seem bigger and busier than it was. Which, with that and a hip, brassy soundtrack made for a cool, buzzing atmosphere that made for a great place to sit down and grab a drink, even by yourself. The menu is entirely Louisiana/Cajun inspired, which I believe is not really a thing elsewhere in Winnipeg. In any case, this made it one of the more unique places I've taken myself too, which also makes it fun. The seafood boil looked particularly interesting but is only available for 2+ diners. Sadface. I was also intrigued by the catfish options but since I get sucked in by compelling appetizer menus, and Ward 1's got one, I ordered a couple things that are delicious but probably terrible for me. Both things I ordered - bacon-wrapped jalapenos and deep-fried cauliflower (both or which are vegetables... good for me, right?) - were crispy and perfect; no soggy batter or bacon here. The portions were big enough to be shared but since that's not a thing I was doing, I took some home to not be a total glutton.

I felt too fancy for happy hour.
Champagne glasses = fancy.

I ignored the all-night happy hour in favour of reviewing the cocktail list (you're welcome). The girly and bubbly Tiffany Twisted was totally my jam combining both wine and gin and fruitiness. For those of you who do not like drinking the adult equivalent of children's juice, the ginger beer drink Wheels of Steel is less sweet than you might suppose; the grapefruit cuts the sugar and balances it out nicely.

I think the menu here makes this one another example of a restaurant that might be better for groups or a date that involves another human given the variety of dishes and the family-style options. Still a great place to hang out by yourself, but bring a bigger appetite than I have or opt for just beverages. The staff, as is often the case in my adventures, was super competent and efficient; I had three different women come to my table at different points and they somehow worked in tandem in a super hopping lounge to take my orders, being me drinks, box the food that bested me, and handle my payment. Bonus points to the girl who asked me if it was 'all together?' when I was settling up; I've been waiting since I started doing this blog to quote cute observations and comments like that.

Rating: **

Price: $$

Bouchée Boucher

Apparently I have to check the internet regularly to make sure the places I blog about still exist. This one, it seems, no longer does.

Super bright; super cool.

I don't talk too much about décor because it's largely irrelevant to my dining experience, unless it's truly awful, but Bouchée Boucher's was eye-catching enough to mention. Unlike many of the schmancy places I frequent, the restaurant here is big and bright and kind of a refreshing change from hiding in the dark, inhaling cocktails like some kind of of posh crime lord on the run and in hiding. A lot of places seem to equate dimness with chic, but this restaurant demonstrates that windows and light can be trendy too. If you're one of those people who complain how you can't read the menu in The Keg or Earls, you're going to like this place a lot better.

I really need to start remembering to
take pictures of my food before I
tuck into it.

The menu featured small, medium, and large plates that were priced accordingly and the server let me know right away what wasn't available that evening so I could plan my meal around that. As per usual, the cocktail list featured high prices that, in this case, I wasn't sure were entirely worth it. There was a cocktail with Zubrowka which I was super excited to try; as a Pole I feel particularly connected to that vodka and it doesn't show up on a lot of drink lists in town. It was a nice enough drink but the weird grit that was in the bottom of my glass, which I think was from the juniper berries used in the recipe, was fairly unappetizing.

I found the tartare surprisingly flavourless, considering the place doubles as a butcher, you'd think they'd have a really good one. The really, really charred grilled lines in the sourdough that came with overwhelmed what little taste there was and the texture wasn't awesome either, so overall this dish was a bust. I also ordered some heirloom tomatoes, which were nice, but nothing that you couldn't make for yourself at home.

Mmmmm... Taleggio... the cheese
I didn't know was my favourite
until now

Now, in retrospect, the meat and cheese boards are the obvious choice at this kind of restaurant; if you want a three-star experience, stick with that and you will have it. There are two sizes available and you get to pick your meat/cheese ratio depending on how carnivorous you are feeling, with no change to the pricing. You can also select your meats and/or cheeses specifically, but I'm indecisive, so I left the choosing up to the server/kitchen.Now, the really cool part is that if you particularly like something that was on your board you can walk next door and buy it because that's a service you can offer when your restaurant also doubles as a butcher/deli with a retail space in the same building. Pretty damn cool. If you're up for trying something new that you can also purchase and assemble fro yourself/impress your friends with at home, this is the only place that I can think of which was designed to facilitate that. Check it out.

Rating: **

Price:$$$

Cornerstone

I've mentioned my renoviction before and was thinking about my standard solo date-nights that are now slightly further for me to walk to and thus not as common these days for me as they once were. So I decided to head over to Cornerstone, which is my favourite place to go on a Monday night. Not only is the restaurant geographically convenient for someone like me, but it's open until 2:00 every day which is nice, given that most places shut down by 9 or 10, particularly on weeknights.

From my small, corner table, I
probably looked like a psycho,
taking pictures of other humans in
their natural environment

So, why Monday? the specials for their 'TGIM' include $1.50 oysters and discounted bubbly, which can be a perfect after-work date on a day of the week many 9-5ers loathe. When I lived in Osborne/Corydon I was a big fan of using this place as an after-work stop since my bus stopped literally steps away from the door and it got quite a bit of seating. It can be pretty hopping there, even on weeknights, but right after work it's fairly easy to snag a seat at the bar or at one of the small tables along the window. The TVs and loud-ish music might be distracting if you are here with friends, but it makes chilling alone super easy.

The bar service can be slow, especially when there are like-minded after work crowds, but the cocktails are smooth and creative (in addition to my standard Cornerstone-Monday Cava, I snagged myself a Citrus-Sage Sour) without falling too far away from classic to be threatening or obnoxious. Speaking of drinking, in cool, crafty bars like this one, I find they can make a decent mocktail since they have a lot of house-made syrups and such. Don't ask for one here. I requested a non-alcoholic drink from the bar and my server looked at me like I was an alien and informed me that the bartender couldn't do that. Maybe she thought that keeping me drinking booze would keep my bill up, even though I find that fancy virgin drinks are usually $5-8 anyway... I don't know. It was weird. I wouldn't recommend trying it.

The red stuff in the middle is super
good.

Anyway, food. Let's talk about that. Naturally I ordered oysters, which can come with hot sauce or horseradish, if you're into that, but I declined since I just really like the dressing/vinegar that it comes with; if it ain't broke, don't fix it. Also, since it's cold out now, I went with the chickpea soup, which was amazing and had all the textures going on at once and is anything but boring (some people think that soup is boring; those people are wrong). I've got a bit of a cheese platter obsession going on right now, so I got that too. It was both great and awful all at the same time. The crosini was weird and, like... stale? I don't know. It was really bad. I don't usually ask for a reboot, but this time I did. Round two was the same. I've had cheese here before and I don't remember the crostini being oily, not crunchy, and old-tasting but I also don't like making a fuss, so I just let it go. Not having crostini that's palatable might have been okay, but the cheese bits were really small, so without bread, it ended up being a pretty minuscule plate. Regardless, the cheese was really good and since that's the name of the game, I suppose that's a pass. I didn't know it until having a Cornerstone cheese platter, but apparently I can like blue cheese. Even when it's not smoked. The server told me that it was something Dutch and I found it way milder than the other blues that I try to force myself to eat when they show up in dishes that I've ordered in an effort to not look picky. There was also some kind of soft cheese from Quebec that made me equally happy and a Parmesan to round everything out. It all came with a couple of savoury jams, which I prefer over sweet when eating cheese.

Apart from some of the weirdness I mentioned (one I didn't because it's not super relevant, but still confuses me: there's an ATM by the door. I don't really understand why it's there, but it is. I guess that's just a bar thing? They take credit and debit so...? Yay for choice?)  this one is a pretty cool spot that's buzzing and fun but not full of teenagers. I recommend it if you'd like to play a trendy business person who's who's unwinding after work some Monday. Or another day of the week if oysters aren't your thing.

Rating: **
Price: $$

The Palm Lounge

Oooooh, ahhhh.

I've been relatively recently renovicted from my Osborne/Corydon area apartment and thus find myself downtown a lot more these days. It's a bit a of a re-adjust since a lot of my go-to's for after-work dinner dates were along Osborne or Corydon. But then, I remembered the place I usually stop after getting my hair did because it's just down the street, which is also downtown and also super convenient for one.

If you're out alone and want to blend in while having a schmancy meal, a hotel bar is actually a really good place to do it. The Palm Lounge is one of the classier places that I've sat at a bar; the live music thing happens most evenings and makes it feel like you're doing something more significant than just drinking alone, although here that's a really normal thing to be doing since you're essentially in a hotel lobby. If you dress nice, maybe people will think you're successful or something and on a business trip. That's what I tell myself and it makes me feel important. The bartender also recognized me even though I haven't been by in a few months, so that definitely worked with my sense of self-importance.

The appetizers here are too pricey to really do more that one, but the entrées are a little more reasonable. In any case, I appreciate a good cheese board, so that's what I did.It was a nice mild to medium selection with both hard and soft cheeses that came with fresh figs, strawberries, dried berries  and apricots, grapes, and nuts. Everything went together really well, unlike some accoutrements out there.

Yes, this is now irrelevant, but I
was just excited that I'm not the only
freak who likes to mix iced tea with
her gin.

Now, I took down notes for this in the summer (yes, I put off writing this one for way too long) so I had the summeriest cocktail (cucumber, elderflower, and prosecco) but really wine is the thing you're supposed to do with cheese, otherwise they kill you. I think. Anyway, my bartender did a mini wine-tasting for me which was SUPER awesome. Not just because, cool, free wine, but she was busy AF because a couple wedding parties had stumbled in. She still somehow found the time to chat with me about cheese (they were from Quebec <3 For some reason, I have really enjoyed Quebecois cheese whenever it comes up), recommend wines (New Zealand Sauvingnon Blanc  makes me happier than any other Sauvingnon Blanc, it seems), and have a quick discussion about how diversity in the workplace cuts down on employee harassment in the hospitality industry sometimes (at least, that's the conclusion we came to about both The Palm Lounge and the restaurant that I work at on the weekends).

If you aren't super into eating whole chunks of dairy fat like me, the shrimp dumplings are steamed and will make you look healthier and worldlier since they come with chopsticks, and you can show off your skills (or lack thereof) with alternate eating utensils.

Anyway, if you find yourself downtown and want to go out alone, this one is definitely a prime spot, being in a hotel. They are probably super used to serving single guests as well as people who are in a rush. So if you don't want to spend too much time sitting alone, you don't have to. But, for the same reason, you can kind of chill as long as you like and just pretend you have nothing better to do for the rest of the night than hang out listening to lounge music. Classic.

Price: $$$

Rating **

Peasant Cookery

While the bartender may not know
your name, she is unlikely to look
at you like you're a loser because
you're eating alone in the lounge.

If I'm going to keep going with my Exchange District theme, it would be silly to wait any longer to write about Peasant Cookery. Their patio is a nice alternative to the one at King's head; you can feel a little fancier and you can still see what's going on in Old Market Square, if there's something going on in Old Market Square.

Because of the patio/lounge seating and the small plates, I've come here a few times on my own; the servers always make me feel normal eating en seule and give me excellent service every time. However, I feel that the menu is getting kind of tired. Maybe I'm just there at the wrong times; the menu has got a date on it, so I assume there's some variation, but whenever I go I don't really see new items. The day I went I was dying for a cheese platter for some reason, but I didn't see it on the menu. A friend of mine swears up and down that there's a cheese platter there, but I equally swear I had no idea. Perhaps a cheese selection is posted inside somewhere; serves me right for sitting on the really awesome patio.

I feel there's a joke that I'm 

supposed to make here about the 

Peasant Sodas being, uh, fit for

teetotaling royalty or something, 

but I don't think I can without

sounding like a lame-o.

Even though I did not get the cheese that my heart desired, I was super pleased to see some cool, new sodas for their summer cocktail menu. Since my visit was during Fringe, non-alcoholic options were real nice to have since my liver can only take so much Festival boozing. My placebo cocktail was so well-made that it was virtually indistinguishable from its harder counterparts. This place might be a good option if you want to take yourself to drink fancy things but you can't do alcohol for whatever reason; the virgin drinks don't feel like they're missing anything unlike a lot of other alcohol-free attempts at a cocktail. If you are feeling drinksy, I really recommend Peasant Cookery for wines; all of the wines available by the glass are the same price so you don't have to worry about the server's recommendation being an excuse to tack on a couple extra bucks onto your bill or settle for a chardonnay when you really wanted a sauv blanc because the latter was five bucks more than the former.

Mmmmm... various meat products.
The pickles were all spectacularly
ordinary, but I didn't order this dish
 to get my veggies.

As is my custom, I go with a tartare whenever possible. I'm not a huge fan of their's though; it's dressed in a way that is super acidic. Too much... vinegar? Mustard? I'm not foody enough to know exactly what I do and do not taste, but whatever it is, it really overpowers the meat for me and, hey, if I'm going to eat raw meat, I wanna taste it. If I'm gonna risk the salmonella, I better get to experience the thing that's going to land me in the hospital. Speaking of things that come from animals that I really enjoy but other people find icky: the chicken livers are amazing. If you're the type to give organ meats a try, I feel you will not be disappointed with these. And speaking of things that are likely to give me gout, in lieu of the cheese board that may or may not exist, I went with a charcuterie. The meats were AMAZING and finally let me let go of the weird dairy craving I had. I was especially a fan of the pates/mousses/things that were on my plate that weren't sausages, although the sausagey bits were delicious as well. As I'm writing this, I realize that this is definitely a restaurant for a meatetarian, I feel vegetarians will miss out on the more delightful menu offerings that this place has. While I have enjoyed a salad or two, this one is definitely the place to go for an iron/B12 boost. 

Price: $$$
Rating: **

PEG Beer Co.

Looks like this one died and went to Winnipeg Restaurant Heaven.

You may have noticed that my last post was on the Winnipeg Fringe Festival. While food trucks are generally the way to go during festivals, I figured it would be a great time to try out some restaurants in the area; you'll likely notice a bit of an Exchange District theme the next couple times I write. Fringe is, admittedly, a time when I tend to be more social in my dining habits, but since I was writing up a few show reviews, I thought I might look cool critiquing theatre while dining alone in a trendy place with classy drinks.

Ok, so maybe this one isn't really a classy drink place, but PEG Beer Co. lured me in with a Fringe Special, which was any one of their amazing flatbreads (or 'pizzas' as us common folk might call it) with a pint of any one of their craft beers. Now, I'm actually totally not into beer at all. It's not a thing I generally enjoy, but I dig places like PEG Beer because I can order a flight and discover which beer I hate least, in the event I find myself in the awkward situation where I have to pretend that I like beer and need to order one and drink it.

This time, since the special included a pint, I found myself in the awkward situation where I needed to order one beer and drink it. Fortunately, the lady at the bar where I was sitting was super proactive at offering me a small sample so I could figure out if I wanted to drink a whole 16 ounces of Guten Tart. I decided that I did. If beer isn't your thing, and you're not persuaded by a lunch/dinner special, there are also a handful of cocktails and wine available. However is IS called PEG Beer Co. so, if you feel obligated to drink the stuff as I often do, you can be non-committal and get a flight of four different ones.

Apparently I was enjoying my flatbread/pizza too much to
remember to take a picture. So here's one of the beer flights
I appreciate so much that I lifted from the CBC.

For the part of the Fringe Special that I knew I was going to like, I got the Bacon & Egg Flatbread (pizza) which was outstanding and available gluten free (there are also vegan cheese options, all those clearly the Bacon & Egg is so non-vegan there'd be little point). PEG Beer has amazing flatbreads due to the super simple toppings that are somehow surprisingly innovative in the world of pizza (or perhaps that's the difference between a flatbread and a pizza? That I feel the topping are interesting and basic all at the same time?).

In addition to the signature flatbreads, I have enjoyed their olive mix and their sandwiches, which are pretty decent with some excellent fillings including a gorgeous variety of cheeses and smoked pike, for a change of pace. the ISA and Aged Cheddar soup is shockingly lacklustre for a place that has beer in it's name and a clear appreciation for cheese and again made me wonder why we can't have salt and pepper on the tables in case of such emergency. Anyway, the soup gives you a reason to order a side salad with your sandwich that isn't trying to be health conscious. Again, if you're looking for pure indulgence for your meal, look to the pizzas. Or flatbreads. Whatever it is that the cool kids are calling it.

There is a lot of solo seating at this one, either at the bar as I did or, uh, randomly facing a wall that is uncomfortably close due to the width of the table. The tables do have cool purse hooks under them though so you don't have to calculate how to sling your bag over your seat, when you're on one of those super tall chairs that usually comes with bar seating/dining alone, to avoid making the trek down when it slips onto the floor. Anyway, like the trendy person I pretend to be, who uses purse hooks and writes online critiques, this is definitely a place that can class up something so ordinary as pizza and beer.

Price: $$

Rating: **

Naru Sushi

A recent article on the CBC got me thinking about sushi. It sounds like a good chunk of these restaurants in Winnipeg was using an unlicensed guy to hire Korean workers. While that's kind of sketch, it isn't inherently exploitative BUT at least one of these restaurants made their staff hand over a good chunk of their wages, which is just sick. Pay your staff, srsly. To my knowledge the restaurant(s) that did/do this have not been made public, but if you know who they are, please share. There's a ton of sushi in Winnipeg and I'd really like to frequent those establishments that pay their staff. Call me a crusader.

It took me awhile to get a picture
that showed off the steam sufficiently;
I am terrible at snapping pics of my
dinner.

ANYWAY, one of my fav solo sushi dates is at Naru Sushi. It's on the way home/to a lot of places from where I live so the convenience of location probably plays into that. The service is really great too and accommodating for a solo diner such as myself, so I sincerely hope that the owners don't skim off the servers' (or kitchen staff's) cheques. If it ends up being the case, I can content myself that the experience isn't quite as good as it once was; they've axed their shrimp gyoza and the nigiri has been a bit dry. As is fairly typical, they use 'crab stick' for their California rolls, but you can upgrade to real crab for a slight charge, which is a nice option to have.

There's nothing terribly special here for booze, so I don't make this an alcoholic night out since wine and beer is something you can get anywhere. But if you're the kind of person who abstains, there are some fun 'kid-friendly' virgin drinks available. I had the Pineapple Spumoni (pineapple, grapefruit, pop) which was a nice alternative to getting a Coke. I usually go with tea with sushi since that seems to be the things to do, but it was a zillion degrees Celsius in Winnipeg that day, so a cold drink seemed to be in order.

That said, their hot dishes at Naru are pretty great. I have to get miso soup or I feel like I cheated and theirs is just as good as any. I really dig their sushi pizza; raw salmon is one of the best things to serve with avocado and the rice patty it's all on is not too thick and nice and crisp. If you're not sure what to try, give that one a go. It'd make sushi purists gag, but it's worth it.

One of the reasons I love sushi as a solo-date is you can get nigiri in single orders/the rolls are usually small enough that you can get a couple different ones without stuffing yourself to the max. As I've mentioned before, I don't have a huge appetite, so I definitely go for variety over quantity when I take myself out for dinner. Naru in particular has great combo trays for one. My go to and the one I got on this visit was the 8 piece sushi, California Roll, and a miso soup. As I said, the nigiri has failed to live up to what I was used to getting and I'm always a little disappointed when they don't identify what the fish is when you order a 'chef's choice' kind of combo. That said, the server might have just took my confidence in ordering as a sign that I could tell what I was eating by sight (which is half true, but beyond the tuna, salmon, and ebi, I have no idea).

Naru is a pretty small place, so I recommend making this spot a weeknight dinner venture so you don't feel too guilty taking up the space that a larger party might need. If you live in the Village, it's a solid stop-off before or after some grocery shopping, if you're walking to the Safeway or Vita Health.

Price: $$

Rating: **

Asian Hot Pot

Okay, I'm going to start this one off by saying that just because someplace is not so great of a solo dining place does not mean that it's not a great place to go. I decided (finally) to stop into Asian Hot Pot for the first time a couple weeks ago and I liked it so much that I brought a friend a week later.

The place is literally tucked in a corner on Corydon between Nikos and Freshii and I've seen it a zillion times over since I moved to Winnipeg, always wondering what it was like, but never trying it. But the beauty of going out alone is you can just say to yourself, 'Self, we're finding out what this restaurant is like right NOW.' So that's what I did.

Their website is for take-out, so I don't
believe their in-house menu is online.
Mmmmm... lookit all the noodles...

I don't know if there's other places that do this in Winnipeg, but I've never seen it; what they do at Asian Hot Pot is... a hot pot. They give you a burner, you pick a broth and then you kind of cook the stuff you ordered yourself.This was intimidating since I'd never done it before but only for about 13 seconds; the service here is AMAZING. The server did everything short of actually holding my hand to help me through this first hot pot experience. It's all-you-can-eat which she wisely picked up would not be a great option for me, so she graciously sold me the lunch special even though it was about 9 PM  and told me precisely what I should order (one veg, one meat, one ball, one noodle). She then walked me over to the sort of condiment bar that they have (included in the price) and told me how that works (it's got green onions, garlic, spices, sauces - soy, oyster, and the like). They even have handy combos printed on the wall in case you are not sure what goes well together.

The broth is $2-5 above the cost of the all-you-can-eat (or in my case, 5 topping lunch special) and comes with free refills to accommodate your culinary endeavours. I'd ordered green onion and ginger broth and soft tofu, udon, bean sprouts, quail egg, and lobster ball for 'toppings'. My server gave suggestions on how long I should simmer everything and we had a great talk about how awesome noodles are and she invited me back to try all of them (I will).

Now, the down side of all this (for a solo diner) is that it is definitely a social eating kind of place. Going with others would have allowed me to try more things and dicking around on my phone was hard to do when trying to cook. It wasn't a cocktail kind of place, although there was beer and wine, so I just stuck with tea. Food-wise, everything was perfect. The only thing I'd recommend in terms of what to order/not order is to make sure you grab salt from the condiment bar - I didn't since, typically, Chinese food is super salty. The broth here doesn't seem to be salted at all, which is great if you're sharing since everyone has different tastes. Another sort of negative seems to be entirely with me; I made a huge freaking mess. A quick look around at other diners seems to dictate that this was my problem alone. If anyone can give some pro-tips on how to not look like a slob when eating here, I'll take them.

Even though I enjoy eating animals,
I am super pleased by all the tofu;I
really enjoy the stuff. I think I
counted eight different options
 (two with fish in it though, sorry
veg friends)

Since this is a solo dining blog, this may seem a little off topic, but going with my friend who is super duper vegetarian brought out some points that might assist someone like me who doesn't eat animals. Again, the service was spectacular when we went and there is a good variety of vegetarian broths (all of the $2 ones can be vegetarian. The $5 ones can't since the upsell on those is that they have chunks of meat in them). You can see from my menu shots that there is a huge variety of vegetarian stuff and none of it has hidden animal products in it - if it says it's a noodle, it's just a noodle. Again, one of the servers accompanied us to the condiment bar where he gave my friend a personal tour of the vegetarian options (which was about 75% of the selection). There was also one point where my friend was about to say we should get a second pair of tongs as we were trying to figure out the order of things so that my animal choices didn't taint his soup, but before he finished his thought, a server just kind of materialized with a second set for us. As I said, every server here was almost magic they were so genuine and I really regret that I lack the income to lavishly and obnoxiously over-tip them.

So, to sum up: unless you have a much bigger appetite than me, this probably isn't a great option for you, dear solo date. But the food is unique and delightful, and the service rocks. Skip this one if you're looking for something more than ordinary in the alcoholic sense or want to look classy, because unless you discovered the secret that every other patron there seems to have mastered, you might get soup on your everything.

Price: $
Rating: **