Café Dario

Café Dario
1390 Erin
Winnipeg, MB
Tel: 204-783-2813
Reservations recommended

The first thing you should know about Café Dario is that there is so much more than meets the eye.  Tucked away in the Westend, you might miss the corner where this little café is located if you don't know what you're looking for, as there are no other eateries around the general area.  But, you would be sorry to miss such a unique restaurant. 

The menu at Café Dario changes seasonally and according to availability and the chef's inspirations.  While the flavour of the menu is definitely South American, there are a lot of familiar and local mainstays on the menu, including chicken, bison, beef and pork dishes, as well as seafood.  What makes them unique here is the chef's interpretation of the ingredients.  Also unique is the way the meal is presented.  For around $40 you will be served a 5-course meal.  This alone makes it worth the trip as you can hardly find such a thing anywhere, let alone at such quality.  You will choose your appetizer and main course from a good variety of selections.  The soup, salad and dessert are whatever the chef has created for that day.

On our trip, our soup was a roasted vegetable soup, hearty with garlic.  The salad was a simple mix of organic baby greens, but topped with an exquisite, creamy cucumber, honey and dill-infused dressing that left us all wanting more.  The dessert was a chili-lime-ginger mousse -- a surprising combination that was a perfect ending to the Latin flavoured meal.

 

For appetizers we ordered and shared the frog legs in seasoned corn meal, the carpaccio, the escargot diablo, and a pequillo pepper popper.  Favourites of the selections were the popper and carpaccio. The escargot diablo was marvelous, but a little spicy for some.

For main courses, we ordered chicken breast with a cream cheese stuffing that was "crazy awesome good chicken" as one of us declared.  Truly it was an excellent combination of flavours. We also ordered a bison roulade and the lobster dinner.  The bison roulade was surprisingly tender, as bison can tend to be tough sometimes, yet this was almost melt-in-your-mouth tender, and the sauce beautifully seasoned with just enough spice.  The lobster, too, was tender and luscious. 

The service at Café Dario was very friendly and warm.  We commented many times at how we felt as if we were simply at a friend's home.  We sat in the front part of the restaurant in a cozy nook by the window, which afforded us a fun view, but also a quiet and relaxing experience.  We would highly recommend going a few blocks out of your way to Café Dario.  You won't find a better meal at a better price, and you certainly won't find such expertly crafted dishes with such welcoming service anywhere.

Pembina Valley Inn

Pembina Valley Inn
120 Railway Avenue, PO Box 8
La Rivière, MB  R0G 1A0
204-242-2633
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I'm very late getting this out, but life gets hectic, and I kept forgetting to do it.  I will update with pictures shortly.

On February 15th, we BAGz visited Pembina Valley Inn, which is a new restaurant, lounge and hotel in La Riviere.  As they just opened on January 18th, we were among some of the first visitors.  The revamped decor is very warm and inviting. There are some excellent choices on the menu, but some room for improvement, as well.

In brief, the steaks, chicken and pickerel were top quality, cooked to order correctly and well and very flavourful.  The side dishes, however, seemed to lack seasoning and were somewhat bland and needed the chef's hand in seasoning for flavour.  The exception would be the roasted root vegetables, which were beautifully carmelized, flavourful, and a favourite of everyone. 

One item we all ordered was the "Chef Michael Smith's Caesar Salad."  This name is quite misleading as this salad did not resemble Caesar salad that one would expect.  The dressing was a very tart lemon-vinegar dressing, not the Caesar dressing that makes a salad a Caesar salad.  While the assemblage of ingredients was good, the dressing was overpowering.  If the salad were not called a Caesar, one probably wouldn't be so confused.

For dessert, the homemade strawberry shortcake was a delight.  The cake was light, tender and moist, and the fruit very ripe and fresh.  It was a pleasant end to the evening.

Service is very friendly and welcoming at the Pembina Valley Inn.  As there is a lounge, they are also licensed.  The restaurant closes at 9:00, which is a nice change of pace from the small-town early closing of 8 pm that is so common in the area. All in all, we would recommend a stop at the Pembina Valley Inn if you are passing through for the scenery and want to enjoy the local ambiance, or are having a ski weekend and need a good, friendly homestyle place to eat.