Food Review: Deseo Bistro

Deseo Bistro

696 Osborne Street

UPDATED: OCTOBER 2014

Walking into Deseo from from the cold of a Winnipeg winter is a pleasure. The restaurant is cozy without being crowded. Their services is extraordinary, their choice of art is interesting, and their willingness to accommodate vegetarians a real pleasure. Reserving a table online was convenient. I cannot say enough good things about this place. This is very clearly one of the best restaurants in the city.

We ordered:

Goat Cheese Cheese Cake (amazing)

Crisp Cauliflower

Black Truffel Gnocchi (amazing)

Crunch Salad (amazing)

Faro as Risotto

On my second we ordered:
Eggplant
Beet Salad
Chicken
Tagliatelle

The goat cheese cheese cake changed my wife’s life. The crunch salad very nearly changed mine. The rest of the food was fantastic but they were not as good as those dishes, but how could they have been? Then I tried the chicken. Man oh man that chicken is amazing! The battering, the hot sauce, and the exquisite juiciness of the meat was more than incredible. It may have been the best chicken I have ever eaten. The eggplant also stood out, it was perfectly cooked and very tasty. These dishes are everything I look for in professionally prepared food: well balanced flavors, rich but not heavy, perfectly portioned, nice to look at, and impossible to replicate in my home kitchen without many flops and tons of practice. Deseo charges exactly the price I would expect for food of the quality they offer. I also happen to know that they source their ingredients locally as often as possible. What more could you want? Bring a date, bring friends, bring anyone you can. This place is worth eating at.

Until next time,

Review: Punjab Sweet House & Restaurant

Punjab Sweet House

88 Mandalay Drive

I heard about this place from a friend who said this is the best Indian food in the city. Claims like these are always a little bit hard to take seriously because there are so many choices. However, my wife and I were having dinner with some family members who regularly travel to India. Maybe it was selfish of me, but I wanted to test this food to their well practiced palate. They choose the dishes and they picked up the food so I can’t say a lot about the location or the atmosphere except from second hand account. Based on  their description it sounds like the Punjab Sweet House is very much family run, with grandpa sitting in a chair supervising the on goings and the grandchildren playing at a table nearby.

We ordered:

Burtha

Chana Masala

Dal Makhni

Shahi Paneer

Mix Vegetable Curry

Samosas

Nan

Rice (I don’t know if it is included in the price)

Of these, the chana masala stood out as the best chickpea curry I have tried in a restaurant.  All the other dishes were very good as well. The samosas and the naan were pretty standard. My globetrotting family members said the food was authentic and very tasty. I should mention that everything is vegetarian, which disappointed the butter chicken lovers at the table. This is the best Indian restaurant in I have been to in Winnipeg.

If you go to their restaurant you can order from the buffet, which gives you a range of delicious food what isn't expansive, but it is delicious. They sometimes change what is served so it would take along time to get tired of this extremely well priced buffet. One of the interesting things about eating in is how good the service is. There is always a staff member checking to make sure you have enough hot naan or making sure you are enjoying your food. Its nice.

Until next time,