Restaurant Review: Don Pedro’s

We had tried a while ago to make a reservation but the reservation manager never called us back (after a few tries) so we weren’t too happy with that, but a couple weeks later we went anyways. Our server was great, and the food was even better and it came out super fast.

Just this last Friday we had Marshall’s 25th birthday party there. We had 10-15 people coming so we needed a reservation. I called left a message (you never talk to someone live there). I waited two days, heard nothing back. I called again, left another message but stated very clearly I was trying to plan an event, I had waited for a call back but if I wasn’t going to get one I would go somewhere else (I don’t like slow server and when I’m not being taken seriously). I got a call back within two hours. The reservation manager didn’t seem very organized but we got our reservation. She called me back within 10 minutes asking for someone else. I recognized her voice and explained to her she just called me about my reservation and was calling the wrong number for that other person. I know, just a simple mistake, but it didn’t make the restaurant look very good, and it didn’t make me very confident that I would have a table when I got there on Friday.

We got there and all was well. Our server was great, again the food was great (although it took a while to come) and the atmosphere in there is so fun that it makes you forget about the hiccups for a while.

On a scale of 1-10 (1- Horrible, it should be closed down!! 10- Amazing, would go back again and again!) I give it “6- Slightly above average, but would go back.”

Chocolate Indulge: High Tea Bakery

I'll be honest, I'm pretty disappointed with this one. I had never been to High Tea Bakery before and I had heard really good things and had had a couple of cookies and tried wedding cakes from there, so I expected their choice for this event would be great..none. Out of the 8 that I have tried so far this was the most disappointing. It was not a lot of bang for your buck and I've made a lot better brownies myself, at home.

I like that most places give you the little Easter bunny though (from Morden's Chocolates) that made it a little better.

If you're looking for some good chocolate recipes here are a couple to choose from:
Black Forest Trifle, Twix Bar, Chocolate Chip Cookies, Mint Chocolate Surprise Cookies

I've shared this on:
Show & Tell Wednesdays
Idea Sharing Wednesday
Whatever Goes Wednesdays
What's Cooking Wednesday
Whatcha Makin' Wednesdays
What's Cookin' Wednesday
What I Whipped Up Wednesday
Recipes I can't Wait To Try

Restaurant Review: La Petite France

Three girlfriends and myself have formed a dinner club and this was our first pick. I had never been but had heard nothing but good things and I was not disappointed.

It isn’t much for modern decor, or atmosphere, but is cute and well worth the compromise for the quality of food you get.

I ordered a steak sandwich and it was the best I had ever had. It came with a salad and I was more than full before I was even half way through the meal.

We shared desserts at the end and they were all amazing (I especially liked the Crème Brulee!!)

On a scale of 1-10 (1- Horrible, it should be closed down!! 10- Amazing, would go back again and again!) I give it “9- Great all around, I would go back (After I’ve been to the other place I want to go!)”

Lucky Koi...Not so lucky us

We had my dad and his wife over for Easter and ordered from Lucky Koi Express.

All the food looked pretty good but to be honest all the main dishes tasted the same. They didn't have a lot of flavor to make them distinctly anything in anyway. The ginger beef didn't even really have much of a flavor of ginger. I think if I didn't know it was ginger beef I wouldn't have guested it.

The spring rolls and the wanton soup was good but other then that I didn't like any of the rest of it and I will not be ordering from there again.

On a scale of 1-10 I give it a 2- I would have been better of eating at home.

Chocolate Indulge: Sweet Impressions & Chocolate Zen

We had a double date on Tuesday and I had some time so I decided to bike with Ollie get some desserts. I had a couple more places on my list that I wanted to try so I went there. If you don't know Winnipeg to make it simple for you in total it was around a 10km bike ride. Ollie is a year old and full of energy. He pulled the whole way there (which helped, it was pretty windy!) and he only started to get tiered on the way back (his tiered is not dragging behind but rather simply just not pulling anymore).

The first stop was Sweet Impressions (on Tache). I was impressed but there cute little store front and the fact that they are a nut free bakery. That's not a problem for me but I'm sure the people our there with allergies really appreciate it.

The second stop was Chocolate Zen (on Osborne). It was also a pretty cute place, but I can't say I'm that impressed in comparison to the other bakeries in the city. It's a cute shop, don't get me wrong, but not my style I guess. They did have a couple things in their display I wouldn't mind trying, but that's sort of the case everywhere I go!

I picked up the chocolate option from each place so we (each couple) got a plate to share. The cupcakes didn't really make it (they smoshed on the way home) but wow, where they good! I could have eaten a lot more of them so it was a good thing there was only one! The chocolate macaroon was also really good but I didn't love the chocolate zen (moose).

Chocolate Indulge & A Restaurant Review: The Ground Floor

We had a triple date on Friday and we were going to go to Champa Bistro, we get there and they are closed. The number is disconnected, no message or anything, the website is still totally active but it's closed. I'm not too sure if it's a temporary thing or not but either way we had to find somewhere else. We talked for a bit, tried calling a couple of places to get reservations but we ended up trying The Ground Floor. It's downtown, and well, not that nice on the inside. It looks they are tried to redo it without gutting the whole place which can sometimes work but I feel in this case it still looks pretty traditional (when I think they might have been going for modern).

As far as I know you can't smoke indoors anywhere in the city (restaurants I mean) but I kept smelling smoke.

Our waiter was fun and the food came pretty quick. I had the club house which was great. Marshall had the ribs which, well I've made better at home. Everyone else seemed to be pretty content with their meals but I can't say anyone would say "You have to check out The Ground Floor".

On a scale of 1-10 (1- Horrible, it should be closed down!! and 10- Amazing, would go back again and again) I give it a 5- Average, I wouldn’t go back, but at least I tried it!

This was the Chocolate Indulge dessert. I don't know if you can tell how big it is here but it was huge!! We didn't get through a lot of it (and that was me and Marshall sharing) and to be honest it wasn't that great. It was my least favorite one so far that I have tried. It was pretty dry, I don't know if that's because it was flour-less but it just wasn't that great. Quantity didn't make up for quality in this case.

Restaurant Review: Chop

Originally my first time to Chop was supposed to be for my birthday but long story short it ended up being just me and my husband.

We went there for dinner, the lights were down, the mood music was on, and the atmosphere was relaxing and calm, just the way I like it!

We got a table in the corner which made it more intimate and personal, which I also love when I go out for dinner.

I had a cerser salad and my husband had a steak. It was the best salad I had had in a long time, and the steak was pretty great too! (and I’m really picky with my steaks).

They didn’t have the drink I wanted on the menu so I explained it to them and they made it for me perfectly (but it did cost me $7 to have my special drink. I think that was a dollar less them my salad!)

On a scale of 1-10 (1- Horrible, it should be closed down!! 10- Amazing, would go back again and again!) I give it “8- Good Service, good food, good pricing, I’d go back if someone really wanted to”

Restaurant Review: Pembina Village Restaurant

My husband took me here for Valentine’s Day. You may not think it’s a great place for Valentine’s Day, it’s not really romantic, and you’re right, it’s not, but that’s if you’re going for the typical on V-day (which we weren’t; we wanted to go somewhere we hadn’t been before).

It’s a nice enough place, well laid out, enough servers, fast service, and friendly help. The only things that weren’t satisfying was the food and the fact that the cold was coming in the windows and door to our right and left (bad seals I guess?). And seeing as I get cold naturally as I eat this was a bit of a problem. I wore my down filled coat almost the whole time, which was unfortunate because I wore something especially nice for the evening out and I didn’t get to show it off (I am a woman after all!).

They say their souvlaki is the best in the city. They’re wrong. It wasn’t very good at all, I’ve had better at the food court to be honest. But the Greek salad I had was great, and I could have just had that. You get a lot of food for your money, which is the upside, but the flavor and quality is lacking which is the down side.

On a scale of 1-10 (1- Horrible, it should be closed down!! 10- Amazing, would go back again and again!) I give it “5- Average, I wouldn’t go back, but at least I tried it!”

Restaurant Review: Wasabi Broadway

I went with my friends Carrie and Mike and I have to say that I was really happy that it was his treat because it was an expensive place when it comes to sushi.

I guess when we have celebrities in town they seem to go there if they want sushi, so I think that’s why the prices are a little higher because I can’t see the reason being the quality of the sushi.

Out of the three rolls I tried only one of them (I think it was called the pizza roll) was unique or different then something I could get any other sushi place (and for cheaper).

The atmosphere was really nice, and I loved the low lighting, and the pear tea, but other than that, and my company it wasn’t worth going, or going again.

On a scale of 1-10 (1- Horrible, it should be closed down!! 10- Amazing, would go back again and again!) I give it “5- Average, I wouldn’t go back, but at least I tried it"

Restaurant Review: Wako Sushi

My girlfriend Sara and I were looking for a new place to try sushi and at the time Wako was still pretty new (Coco Pod used to be in there). We walked all the way there (I lived on the other end of Corydon), ordered and sat and waited.

There are a couple places to sit in but it’s mainly a takeout place and when I went (not sure if it’s still the same) the pricing was surprisingly low. I got a dynamite roll for $4.50 and another roll for $5.

It took a bit to get our order but that was ok because watching them make it was entertaining.

I can’t say the sushi was the best I ever had but it was definitely worth what I paid which I can’t say often (I usually feel sushi is over prices).

On a scale of 1-10 (1- Horrible, it should be closed down!! 10- Amazing, would go back again and again!) I give it “8- Good Service, good food, good pricing, I’d go back if someone really wanted to.”

Restaurant Review: Lovey’s BBQ

I’ve been to Lovey’s twice. The reason we went the second time was because it was so good the first time. But I’m glad I didn’t write my review until the now.

The first time we went it was full and busy with action. The girls were bustling around clearing tables and getting things done. We ordered our food and stood and waited by the door for a table. We knew it would be like that so it wasn’t a big deal.

Once we got our table it wasn’t long until we got our food. We dug right in and it was amazing. The ribs were so tender and the beans were great. Marshall is a big eater and even he had left over’s.

It’s a really cool set up in there too with photos all over the walls and TVs up (and they have them on good channels too not just sports!).

That brings me to the second experience. We get there right when it opens and get a table no problem. We all pick (we took my dad there) what we want and I go and order. The food comes in good time, no problem. Problem? The actual food. The ribs were over cooked, the beef was tuff to chew, the pulled pork was tuff and dry and the chicken was also dry. One thing that was consistent was the beans; they were still great.

And to add to this the owner (or at least I think he was the owner) kept walking around the restaurant sort of hovering and telling the girls what to do. I get that, if you have a crew of waitresses that are new, sure you need to be there, but they had it totally under control and you could tell they felt smothered. I could feel the tension in the air. He was just giving off that vibe of “I want you out of here quick so I can get more people in here”. I’m sure he means well and just wants to be successful but it was not making the experience great.

We had a lot of left over’s but our bill for three people was $65 and all we had was a bunch of meat to take home that was worse than old gum to crew.

On a scale of 1-10 (1- Horrible, it should be closed down!! 10- Amazing, would go back again and again!) I give it “2- I would have been better off eating at home”