Eating Out Winnipeg | Vol. 06Blü Fish

Here is one of our most frequented nosh spots. We can always rely on Blü Fish for great sushi and hot saké to keep us warm in the winter. They have a fairly wide variety of rolls both on the veggie and non-veggie side. Their caterpillars are fantastic and they are generous with the wasabi (if you’re into that sort of thing).

One of my favourite things about this place is the plates that the sushi comes on. Every time it’s something new, be it the purple galaxy or the silver leaf boat, it’s always a classy surprise.

The atmosphere would be quite bright with its red walls if it weren’t for the lack of light. Not so great for taking photos, but nice if you want to have a relaxing lunch. Although it’s probably one of the more spensive sushi places to go to in the area, it’s still one of our favourites. We recommend it.

Eating Out Winnipeg | Vol. 05The Paddle Wheel

If you live in Winnipeg, it’s pretty much a given that you’ve been to The Paddle Wheel (located on the top floor of The Bay downtown). But for whatever reason, Thom and I had only heard stories of this mythical senior’s haven. Having lived in Winnipeg my whole life, I didn’t really have an excuse, but Thom has only lived here for three years (most of those years spent trapped in University), so it was about time I caught up with Winnipeg culture and had lunch at The Paddle Wheel.

I headed straight for the salad bar and immediately lost Thom and Andrew. It probably would have been a good idea to stick with Andrew seeing as how he was an old pro. After loading my plate with almost every salad imaginable, I realized that if I wanted a hot sandwich, the best bet was to go to the meal counter and place an order. And then after realizing that, I found the infamous jell-o back at the salad bar – which required a whole plate to itself.

The whole time I was collecting plates of food, doing unorganized laps around the entire buffet area, I forgot that the price of your meal depends solely on how much your tray weighs. So this was by far the most expensive meal that I’ve had so far on Eating Out Winnipeg. Mere pennies when thinking about what it is to experience a part of Winnipeg history.

Oh and the food was pretty okay.

Eating Out Winnipeg | Vol. 04The Underground Café

The Underground Café is located in the basement of a building on Arthur Street in the exchange – just a building tunnel away from our office. This makes The Underground a frequent food source of ours. The first thing you’ll probably notice once you walk down the stairway to get to the restaurant is the walls (well, probably the strong food smell first, but then the walls make you forget all about that). The walls are painted with all sorts of familiar figures including Captain Jean-Luc Picard, Joni Mitchell and Salvidor Dali. Not exactly classy, but very interesting. It gets to be like a “Where’s Waldo?” once you start looking hard enough.

One draw back of The Underground is that it makes a better summer restaurant than a winter one due to most of the sandwiches being of the cold variety, plus it’s hard to convince yourself to go outside in the morning for a breakfast bagel (which are top notch at The Underground). Luckily, we know just what to order to stay warm and enjoy our sandwiches.

Andrew and I enjoyed a hot, delicious bowl of cream of mushroom soup while Thom and Andrew sipped on some nice warm tea. As an appetizer, we ordered a plate of toasted pita bread with hummus. Very delicious.

For the main course, Thom got the “Sun Burger,” The Underground Café’s famous veggie burger. I got a “Wendy,” and Andrew got a tuna melt. Quite delicious, but definitely overshadowed by our appetizers. Overall, it was probably the best meal I’ve ever had at The Underground. So, be sure to catch them on a good day and you wont be disappointed.

Eating Out Winnipeg | Vol. 03The Tallest Poppy

The Tallest Poppy (best known for its family-style Sunday Brunch) is a very unique restaurant. With its own fresh baked challah bread, slow-cooked meals and ever changing menu, The Tallest Poppy is a different taste adventure every time. We started our adventure by perusing the mini library which mainly contains photography and art books. Then we moved on to looking at the art from their artist residency program before having our orders taken by the one and only Kitty.

I had the grilled cheese sandwich on challah with the usual rippled chips and fruit garnish on the side. Thom and Andrew LITERALLY flipped their lids at the sight of the lamb sandwich and Andrew sprung for the salad. Mark ordered “anything vegetarian” and got some kind of custom-made delicious sandwich with no name.

After the food came and went, we just sat there – stunned and satisfied. Definitely one of our favourite places to eat in the city. Andrew went as far as saying, “Best sandwich I’ve had all year,” and took it one step further to say “top five of last year!” Thom’s ‘pinion: “Best lunch in Winnipeg.” (Watch out for our upcoming blog feature, “Thom’s ‘pinion Tuesdays”)

Eating Out Winnipeg | Vol. 02The Albert Diner

The Albert Diner is by far one of our favourite places to eat. Not only is it right across the street, but it’s also delicious! The staff there are extremely friendly and the dining area is located in the sun lit façade.

But things haven’t always been this pretty for the diner. It recently had to undergo a switching of the hands along with a make over by our Thom and his Nils. Thankfully, the dust has settled and we can eat.

They offer a wide variety of vegan and vegetarian options along with some great local grass-fed meat options. Not to mention their daily specials. The yam fries with their very special lemon basil aioli sauce is highly recommended. I dream about this stuff at night. All in all it was a great tasting time, as expected.

Eating Out Winnipeg | Vol. 01Kawaii Crepe

Eating Out Winnipeg is a new feature on our blog in which we showcase the ups and downs of eating out in Winnipeg. We will be documenting our lunch experiences every Wednesday. First up: Kawaii Crepe.

Kawaii Crepe is a new local eatery that serves up both sweet and savory crepes. It just recently popped up on Osborne Street near River Avenue. The food is quite delicious with names to match such as the Tofu Dill-Lite, Chickplease and Hit Me Baby One More Thai.

Chris Kroeker highly recommends ordering from the all-day breakfast menu while Thom’s favorite pick is A Lovely Pear off of the “Sweet” menu. Andrew, being the rebel of the group, decided to create a custom crepe of his own. I’d like to mention that it is a great place to get your bubble tea fix.

As far as the look goes, I think they nailed it. The interior is bright and fairly simple. It is a great addition to the visage of Osborne street and adds a much needed “friendly” vibe.

Unfortunately, it’s quite far from our office, so we don’t get to go there for lunch as often as we’d like. But we definitely recommend it. Check out their menu right over here.