Food Review: Kawaii Crepe

Kawaii Crepe

201-99 Osborne St

UPDATED: February 9th, 2014

This hip little place nestled in the best part of Osborne village was a really great surprise for my wife and I. We have eaten at a lot of restaurants in the last year and we sort of agree that the places we like all have a similar ‘taste’ to them. Maybe it has to do with the limited options as a vegetarian, but there is something about restaurant food regardless of whether it is Indian, Thai, fast food, or Italian. They all have a similar ‘feel’ (for lack of a better term). As a result we haven’t been eating out as much as we did in winter. Part of this is also because we have had time to cook for ourselves. In any case, chance, hunger, and maybe the winds of fate blew us to this place. Like Gulliver in Lilliput, we had found a different world.

This is a small, clean, and definitely hip creperie with a great store front for people watching. One of the best parts of eating here is that there are so many options. There were enough vegetarian options that I think we made the people behind the counter worried we would never make a choice. The range of flavours was extraordinary.

On top of this we had a really pleasant conversation with the people making the food about how tofu is underrated by meat eaters. It was a really interesting conversation and made me realize that the staff who we talked to care a lot about the food they are making. That's a lot to say for a fast(ish) food restaurant.

In the end we ordered:

•           Uptown
•           Pump up the Yam

      The second time we ate here we ordered:

•       The Czar (with tofu)
•       Chickplease
•       Uptown

They were all extraordinary and very different from each other. The Uptown was good enough to order again but I accidentally ordered it with chicken once and it was not nearly as good - order it with tofu. The Czar is really tasty too. The chickplease is heavier than some of the others but that doesn't mean it was any less tasty. Pump up the yam is also a favourite. Some people I know don't like this place because they use the same batter for their sweet and savoury crepes. I don't mind because I have a sweet tooth. 

So, would I invite friends here? Yes, with the following caveat: it isn’t a place hang out for hours; it is primarily a fast food restaurant. 

Until next time,

Food Review: The Nook

The Nook

43 Sherbrook St

UPDATED: OCTOBER 2014

Call me crazy, call me old, call me whatever you like, but I feel like cheap diners are getting more expensive. Maybe my memory serves me wrong but I feel that the food at greasy spoons is now only a dollar or two cheaper than the food at much fancier places.  In any case, breakfast at The Nook at 6:30 am makes me feel nostalgic about eating at roadside diners somewhere in the middle of Saskatchewan (even though I’ve only done that a few times in my life). 

The nook has copies of the Sun sitting around to read over breakfast. I read one while I waited for my friend to arrive and have a pre-work breakfast with me. In the meantime I had a cup of earl grey tea and some time to sit and survey the place. It is a well-preserved example of the diners which can be found throughout the city. The seats are bench-style and the entire range of people who live in West Broadway and Wolseley might stop in at any time. I once walked by the patio and observed a man sitting opposite to a giant teddy bear. They both had a beer sitting in front of them.

Today it was mostly quiet, the patrons were retirees, 20 something’s, construction workers, and one of my high school teachers who I hadn’t seen in years. Winnipeg is a small city.

I ordered:

• Spanish Omelet, which comes with toast and hash browns.
• Veggie Burger

The omelet was well prepared, the toast was buttery, the hash browns were made with real potatoes. Overall it was a good place to eat, but not an exceptional one. The veggie burger is pretty good, a little bit dry, but with a bit of ketchup it was a 7/10 veggie burger.

What makes it a winner is the atmosphere, the feeling that there is a strong community built around it, and very friendly staff.  I would like to come back for lunch and dinner sometime and see what the rest of their menu is like. But based on breakfast alone I felt that it was worth the money I paid for it.

Until next time,

Food Review: Boon Burger Café

Boon Burger Café

79 Sherbrook Street

          This place is dedicated to the art of vegan burger making, and they also have good ‘milk’ shakes. Boon burger has been around for a few years and it is well situated both in the developing Sherbrook street strip and on Bannatyne, which is also developing a pretty interesting food scene. I have been to all the locations, and I have also ordered their food as take-out from mobile maitre’d. The Sherbrook location is pretty but small: there are two long tables and two private ones. This pretty much means you will be sitting beside a stranger while you eat. I imagine you could make new friends this way, but I decided not to try. Interestingly, it is also the only place I have eaten that is painted black and still feels well lit. The windows make it a nice place to be on a sunny day.

                One of the most magical things about the burgers at boon is the cheese the cheese they put on them. I wouldn't be surprised if the owner pulled a Robert Johnson and sold his soul in exchange for vegan cheese that actually acts like real cheese. The stuff is crazy! 

                Here is a sample of the food I have ordered:

-          Boon shake

-          Boon tangy lemonade

-          Wolseley burger

-          Vegan cowboy burger

-          Boon oven-baked fries

-          Boon burger

The thing about Boon Burgers’ burgers is that they all follow a similar theme:  Lots of veggies, very soft patties, soft bread, and tonnes of sauce. If you really like this than you will like every burger they make. But, it is a bit like eating an ice cream on a 30 degree day: you spend your whole time managing drips and preventing it from falling on the side-walk.  The result is that I have eaten the whole burger in about 10 minutes to prevent it from exploding all over my plate. I should really just eat them with a fork and knife. A second curious attribute of the burger is that the bun doesn't really have any power to resist my munching. It is like biting into something that should be solid and finding that it gives away perfectly. It sounds unappetizing but I actually like that about the burger. It means I can try to stop my toppings from making a run for the border without negotiating with the bun.

Overall I really like their burgers. They are really tasty and the sauces are always flavourful. They switch in new burgers from time-to-time so you get variety. There is a daily burger special and a soup of the day, which are great additions to the menu. They are in the running for the best veggie/vegan burger in the city, but I think The Grove still takes the 1^st prize.

So: should you bring a party of friends or guests from out of town there? If they are vegan you absolutely must bring them there. They will probably consider moving to Winnipeg because of the availability of vegan options. If you are bringing a group of people, you should go to the Bannatyne location because it is a lot larger. On the other hand, their food is so summery that a better idea would be to enjoy a boon burger in a park or the comfort of your own back deck.

Until next time,