Wake me up when September Ends

Almost a whole month of neglecting... wow.  So sorry.

In truth, I've been horrendously busy - Working two jobs, totalling around the 55hr/week mark pretty consistently and I've also gone back to school (granted, only one course).  For those of you wondering, I'm taking Intro Financial Accounting.  So far I really like it.  One thing I've realized is that I don't mind desk work as long as I find it challenging and not as boring as rocks, like archiving is 90% of the time (IN MY OPINION...).

I don't have a whole lot of restaurant reviews even to cover the month. This is mostly due to illness.  After the UTI fiasco that was the end of August, I broke out into a terrifying rash all over my body.  This time, armed with internet informations, I found a walk in clinic where I could get in within an hour almost consistently.  The first time I went to the walk-in, I stumped the doc.  He wouldn't really tell me what he thought, but he prescribed me some antibiotics and asked about my living conditions (particularly mould). He also told me that if my temperature elevates, I should seek immediate medical attention (emerg). I was on antibiotics for a week, but the rash continued to get worse.  I went back to the walk-in and saw another doctor, who decided to read the previous doctor's notes out loud. Terrifying shit - Impetigo, Mould poisoning, Scarlet Fever.  Yeah.  This doctor's first reaction was, "SCABIES" (equally terrifying).  Luckily, after further assessment, we determined it was not scabies. She then started to describe a condition called Pityriasis Rosea... and it brought back some painful memories of being treated for psoriasis by a dermatologist years back... and it being eczema the entire time.  I demanded a high-strength corticosteroid cream. She thought I was crazy... but I was right.  The rash is now almost complete gone.  Eczema can really look like some scary shit. On top of all my terrifying skin problems, the boyfriend developed Strep throat. Luckily he got it while I was on antibiotics so I ended up not catching it.  Funny how that worked out...

Another September fun-time was checking out ManyFest which happens on Broadway every year.  Apparently they call it ManyFest because there were so many festivals going on at the same time that it was difficult to distinguish between them.  This year the focus was a food truck war that took up a tonne of space on Memorial.  You purchase tickets at the ManyFest booth for food items at the trucks.  The unfortunate side of this was the long lines (people waited up to 45 minutes per truck) and trucks often ran out of food because the event was well-attended (probably more than expected).  Instead of this, the BF and I decided to try out beer and wine sampling.  I had a farmery, he had some Granville Island.  We then did some wine tasting (rather, he did, the wine made me sick last time).  It was nice to be out and about for the last hurrah of summer.  There were also tonnes of vendors with cool shit for sale and live music.

Speaking of live music, I also saw the Creepshow when they came to Winnipeg on September 14th at Union Sound Hall.  Overall, a great set.  The first band (whoever they were) was terrible, but the Hellbound Hepcats rocked it out as well.  Drinks were way too expensive, but hey, it's a club... (it sucks when you're used to Foufs).

Sushi Cushi

The boyfriend and I love sushi, so we end up going on sushi dates probably more than our pocket books really like us to.  We were in the Polo Park vicinity and were craving sushi, so we decided on a place called "Sushi Cushi" in the west end.  It was great since it was right next to an XS Cargo, and we all know how much I love looking at useless crap.

This was your typical sushi joint with some fantastic additions.  Firstly, they serve bubble tea.  Like to your table.  It's the little things that make an experience so much better.  I had yet to be to a sushi place in Winnipeg that does this.  Both the BF and I are huge bubble tea fans so this was a huge plus.  I also found the prices to be extremely reasonable for the portions that you ended up getting.  It's not Wako cheap, but for a sit-in, it's very good value.

Our service was so-so but existent.  I found that food took a little bit longer than normally noted.  However, the sushi was fresh and delicious.

Will return.

8.5/10

Dairi-Wip

A combination of hunger and not feeling well led us (the boyfriend and I, my partner in crime when it comes to trying new restos) to Dairi-Wip, a drive in located in St. Boniface.  I was dressed in icky sweats and did not want a sit-down meal.  I wanted greasy deliciousness that wasn't McDonalds.

Perhaps it's because I didn't grow up in Winnipeg and drive ins are not a huge thing in BC, but I'm enthralled by the concept of these little burger joints.  I should also mention I have yet to have a fat boy (also not a thing in BC).  Unlike other drive-ins I've seen, Dairi-Wip has fish and chips on the menu.  That's what I was feeling like, so that's what I had.

They made my fish fresh, so it took about 10 minutes.  That was fine. It was totally worth it.  The staff were unpleasant, but I didn't really care.  In this context, it didn't really seem to matter.

What did matter however, is how freakin' good my fish and chips were.  The fish (which I'm thinking was pickerel because it was so buttery and awesome) was fantastic and just the right about of fish and grease.  It came on a bed of fries, which were phenomenal and so good they didn't require ketchup.  They were somewhere between a shoe-string fry and a normal-sized fry.

The only downside I see here is that this joint is cash-only.

9/10

Sargent Sundae

Winnipeg has a plethora of ice cream shops that operate in the summer.  It makes sense - summer is short, winter is long.  Winnipeggers enjoy all the summer they can before the -40 hits.

Sargent Sundae is located across from Assiniboine Park in St. James (all you have to do is cross the river to get to the park - they have a cute little bridge for this).

Ice cream was good. Staff were friendly.  Apparently it's the "BDI" of this side of the world.  Apparently it's an institution, but neither of my parents had heard of it (my dad grew up in River Heights, my mom in East Kildonan) because they both went to BDI.

I've heard a rumour they have pumpkin soft-serve that I absolutely have to try...

9/10

Banana Boat 

In all honesty, the only reason we went to Banana Boat was because I had an Entertainment Book coupon that I snagged from my roommate (and the more I think about it... I need to use up the ones I clipped since the majority expire in November).  It's really your standard ice cream shop - they have hard ice cream as well as soft serve.  What stood out for me was the myriad of toppings you can get to turn your ice cream into a sundae.  I had an excellently gross combination of some sweet cake-flavoured hard ice cream with marshmallow on top.  Fabulous.

The nice thing about Banana Boat is the location - it's right on Osborne past confusion corner so it's a five minute drive from the house.  Great for an ice cream craving and open pretty late too.  Winnipeg and their ice cream, I tells ya.

Overall a very fun post-bowling treat.

9/10

 

This is the End... of August.

Hi everyone - I know I have been neglecting my blog. For that I apologize.  I've been super super SUPER busy with work and life.

First off, I'd like to point out that there are some pretty serious gaps in the Manitoba health system.  I have now lived in three different provinces, and Manitoba is #2 in my books for health care (Quebec being the worst, BC being the "best").  I was in some serious pain on Friday, but I didn't want to waste time at emerg, so I tried to find a walk in clinic.  I worked at 1 so I figured I would go up Pembina and find one (I usually go a clinic on Broadway that takes pretty much everyone).  I saw quite a few on Google Maps and figured it wouldn't be hard.

YEAH, 'BOUT THAT...

So... I guess walk in clinics by and large are closed on Fridays here? And closed for lunch? I went to four different clinics - 3 weren't open and one refused me saying that they're at capacity for the day (a la Montreal apparently).  Finally I find a clinic that isn't a walk-in, but I just plead for help. Any help. I was in so much pain and completely exasperated.  The lady just shook her head and told me where the hospital was. So that's where I went.  At this point I was in tears, but I was told it would be a 6 hour wait at Victoria.  I needed to go to work, I haven't been at my job long enough to accrue any significant sick time.

You know what I ended up doing? Sucking up my pain, going to Walmart and getting any OTC remedies I could think of that would (at the very least) reduce my symptoms so I could walk.  $60 later, I was at least "normal" enough to sell stuff, but I was certainly not well.  Although my infection cleared itself up by itself (or at this point I hope), I'm still really angry and bitter about the experience.  Why are walk in clinics predominantly not open on Fridays? Why are they closed for lunch?  Why did the lady at the clinic just tell me to walk to the hospital when I was clearly doubled over in pain?  It's not only a good case in what is wrong with the Manitoba health system but also with humanity as a whole.

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For the last couple of weeks, I only have one review for you! At first I was impressed with myself because this means that my boyfriend and I are eating out less... but that's not really the case.  We just continue to go to spots we like or sometimes chain restaurants or fast food.  Similarly when I dine alone, I go to my favourite places in the village and on Corydon that I have already reviewed.  So no, god forbid I save any money. Ever (and I need new face cleanser, waaaah!).

Tokyo Sushi

Tokyo Sushi is located on Portage in the western part of St. James heading towards Unicity (yes, this is how I describe directions in Winnipeg... more on that...).  We decided on sushi since we had both been craving it for a while and I wanted to try somewhere new in a different area (the only sushi places I've been to in the city are in the village and Corydon areas).  By the time we got to the restaurant, we were both extremely hungry and were ready to gorge on deliciousness.   We were promptly seated in the middle of the restaurant.

The decor of the restaurant is lovely and more what I'm accustomed to being from BC.  When you walk in there is a large wooden arch that is reminiscent of O-Zeki restaurant in Kelowna. You can also see the sushi chef preparing rolls to the right of the restaurant; this is always a good sign.

Our order was taken promptly and as per my usual, my eyes were much bigger than my stomach.  I ordered a sunomono salad, chicken teriyaki roll, alaska roll and some nigiri (salmon, tamago, inari, crab).  So yeah, a lot of food.  Our meal started coming out in various odd parts.  My boyfriend received most of his meal in one go where as I had to wait for each piece to come out.  The largest of these was my sushi which had on the plate tamago, salmon, and crab nigiri, teriyaki chicken roll and the alaska roll.  So where was my inari? How about that sunomono salad that's an appetizer? Hm?

I figured it would arrive later.  By the time we were done our meals, we were both stuffed and  figured it was a blessing in disguise that the rest of the meal didn't come.  Just as we were getting up to go pay, my inari comes out (I should also mention I am the world's slowest eater, so maybe a half hour after we initially got our food).  I didn't really know what to say, but I asked for it to be wrapped up since we were leaving.  We made sure the sunomono that we never received was taken off of our bill, and it was.  However, we didn't receive anything aside from a half-hearted apology at the till regarding it.

The sushi was okay, the seaweed was a little chewy for my liking.  It was maybe a tinge better than average, but nothing to cry home about. The terrible service, however, sticks in my brain pretty hard.  It's the old adage in customer service: If a customer receives good service, they'll tell 5 friends.  If they receive bad service, they'll tell everyone.

6.5/10

Resto Review Mash-Up Pt. 2

I've been to so many new restos in the last month that I now have to write YET ANOTHER wonderful review mash up (two in one weekend, GO ME!).  In a way it's good - it's concentrated information to your brains.  When I look at my stats, it is clear that most of my traffic is coming from UrbanSpoon and I'm sure UrbanSpoonites don't really care about my insane personal life.  So without further adieu...

Kenko Sushi

I'm a sushi lover, I'll admit it.  So whenever friends want to go out for sushi, I am there. It doesn't matter how broke I am. Don't even care. Om nom nom nom nom etc.  Kenko Sushi is located on trendy Corydon (the cool part, where there are a lot of restos and bars etc... Little Italy and a little further towards Stafford) amid many other sushi restaurants.  With diners having this much choice, sushi places really have to stand out in some way or another in order to survive.  Kenko Sushi stands out from the rest of the sushi joints because it is a separate building all together.  Aside from that, it is painted fuchsia. You can't miss it.  The restaurant inside was beautifully decorated with a lot of interesting details (the flooring, for instance, looks like typical "fake wood" vinyl flooring, but it has little flowers creeping out of it here and there).  The seating was the most interesting part and it felt like you were sitting on little loveseats.  They were very comfortable, but I had never seen this type of set up before.

As a party of two, we decided to order the maki combo since we were indecisive on what rolls to get.  That's when the wait started (in the end I'm pretty sure we waited up to an hour for our food).  Luckily this was noted by the serving staff who offered us edamame on the house so we didn't starve to death (although it was served cold - I prefer it warm, but I wasn't going to argue about freebies).

When the sushi finally did come, it was superb.  The small maki combo filled us both up for a pretty decent price (around the $30 mark).  It came with a mix of traditional rolls and fusion rolls (deep fryed, spicy sauces, the whole bit).  To me, the rolls were very fresh and well constructed. The wait was worth it... somewhat.  Although the rolls were good, I have had good rolls elsewhere too. I understand having a one-off time issue with service, but looking at Yelp/TA/US this seems to be an issue overall for the restaurant.

7/10

Market Burger

I was so excited to try Market Burger, a new addition to the slew of restaurants on Corydon.  I'm such a huge fan of Unburger that anything with a similar concept totally intrigues me.  Upon entering the restaurant, you can already tell the vibe that the owner(s?) were going for, which is completely opposite the Unburger concept.  It has a rustic flair to it - none of the chairs match, there is a chalkboard menu, but the bar looks lovely and new.  The concept is eclectic and I like it very much.

Given that it is a brand new restaurant, it was extremely busy.  We wanted to sit on the patio, but unfortunately it was full.  We decided to sit inside, but the table we got was very claustrophobic - My ponytail kept touching the ponytail of the woman sitting behind me, which was probably an uncomfortable situation for us both.  After about 5 minutes, we noticed another table came up in a corner, so we alerted the server and switched tables.  It was much more comfortable.

The menu is extremely different to Unburger, which is nice (you can frequent both and not get sick of anything).  The concept is local, not necessarily health.  They had some unique options like the mac n' cheese burger, a Vietnamese style burger or a butter chicken burger.  I had the butter chicken burger (done skinny style - they offer this on most burgers... it comes with a smaller patty and a smaller bun for a buck cheaper if you don't have the world's largest stomach... such a nice feature!). My dining companion (there has got to be a better word for this) had the mac n' cheese burger (he added fried onions, the server warned us that the mac n' cheese burger was devoid of any vegetables).  We also decided to share an order of half fries/half onion rings (after I embarrassingly asked the waiter if the onion rings were made in house, which, of course, they are). A neat feature - all of their buns are from Stella's. Nice!

The food took a while to come.  We watched the table next to us eat and pay their bill all in the time we were just waiting for our food.  I chalk a lot of this up to the follies of a new restaurant.  There are going to be some problems with service.  When we got our burgers, we weren't disappointed.  The butter chicken burger I had was delicious - just the right combination of sweet and savoury since it had chutney on it (yum yum).  I had a bite of the Mac n' Cheese burger which was also delicious (and the beef was very high quality, you could tell), but was in some ways really bland and needed more cheese.  The onion rings didn't disappoint - they reminded me of A&W rings but done better (I believe they were breaded with panko).  The fries, however, were extremely soggy and unpalatable.  They served the rings and fries with house made ketchup, which although a cute feature on maintaining an "everything local" flair, I didn't really get.  There wasn't enough ketchup for all of the items.  They serve everything on wooden cutting boards which, although a really cute idea, does not make it easy for tables to order multiple items since not everything will fit.

I see lots of potential here once the restaurant works out some of its kinks.  I'll come back at the end of summer and see how it goes.

7.5/10

The Nook

The Nook diner is located on the cusp of the West Broadway and Wolseley neighbourhoods and has been on my radar since I moved to Winnipeg.  UrbanSpooners and Yelpers alike proclaim this spot as one of their favourite greasy spoons in the city and a fantastic place to have breakfast.  Before a long (lol) trip up to Winnipeg Beach/Gimli, my friend and I decided to have a late breakfast at 'The Nook' since we had both been meaning to try it. (As a complete aside - apparently this place is "trendy" and "hipster"y?)

We were seated right away since we came between meal times (around 11:45) and noticed how eclectic the restaurant was.  There were booths, some chairs, and a little dining room attached to the main restaurant.  They also have a patio that looks onto Sherbrook.

I ended up having just a regular ol' breakfast (and for once, not pancakes or french toast!).  Scrambled eggs, rye toast, bacon, hashbrowns.  Food was fairly quick given that it is a busy little joint.  My eggs were done well, which is how I prefer them, but watch out if you like them a little on the soft side.  Bacon was crispy and delicious.  Toast was buttery and awesome. I did have some complaints about the hashbrowns; I'm a big fan of breakfast potatoes and these felt like potato mush that was undercooked (indeed, my friend had a crunchy undercooked potato in his).  Mine were also cold - such a let down.

Service was mediocre - I ordered a tea, she brought me coffee.  However, she quickly corrected this error.  I asked for ketchup and it was only when I was staring at her long enough while she was bussing tables did she notice we didn't have ketchup on our table and promptly brought it over.  Afterwards, I had about three different people ask me if I wanted more hot water for my tea. The bill was slightly below average for breakfast.

To me, The Nook is nothing special - just one of those fandangled Winnipeg institutions.

6.5/10

On a completely different note:

Kelowna, BC (my home town) now has the highest crime rate in Canada.  I'm surprised it took this long.  Anyone who has lived in Kelowna for any good length of time will tell you how seedy and horrific this place is.  I rarely go to visit (and my parents still live there).  My folks have really encouraged me not to and in fact, they prefer to come see me in Winnipeg.  There's something wrong with that statement, isn't there?  Smoke and mirrors, that's what Kelowna is.

The Osbourne Village: Wasabi Sushi Bistro

Last night I was really hungry. I didn't (and still do not) have any real food in the house to cook with (plus I'm still getting used to everything).  Needless to say, this results in eating out A LOT. So pardon my millions of posts for the next few weeks while I get settled. So anywho, back to last night. Hungry. Needed sustenance. I decided that I was in the mood for sushi and instead of looking up the best sushi restaurant in the neighbourhood like I probably should have, I decided to just take a stroll down Osbourne in the village area (which I keep writing as Obsourne - sigh).

Wasabi Sushi Bistro (on Osbourne) 

 The first sushi place I found was Wasabi Sushi Bistro located between Stradbrook and River on Osbourne.  It looked clean and people were eating there, so I decided it probably wasn't going to kill me and decided to get an order to go.  The waitress was very pleasant and gave me a take out menu and I ordered a Dynamite Roll, a Will-San Roll (spicy mayo, avocado, cucumber and salmon) and a miso soup.  All of this was $23 dollars; a bit on the pricey side.  But, I figured if it was good it would warrant it's price.

I received my order very promptly, probably after about 10 minutes of waiting.  I took it home and was saddened to see that the quantity for $23 was very, VERY small.  Regardless of the portion size, it was enough to get me full, which is what I needed.  The Will-San roll was very tasty, but I found the nori to be very chewy.  The dynamite roll was small and  disgusting. The shrimp was not freshly deep-fryed and you could tell. Ick!  The miso soup was acceptable, but not the best I've had.  The other thing I found is that I felt a bit queasy after eating it and a bit bloated.   I found it interesting that looking on Urbanspoon afterwards, another reviewer mentioned the same thing.

It appears that in the area there is probably better sushi at a lower cost.  I'm going to make sure I try them!

4/10