Rasoi the Kitchen

RASOI THE KITCHEN

596 Ellice Avenue

Hours: I made a mistake of not checking again but I'm pretty certain they're open Monday to Saturday, 11:00 or 11:30 a.m. to 7:00 or 8:00 p.m..

Atmosphere: The majority of their business seems to be takeout so there are only three small tables inside with bar stools for seats.

Service: It's like ordering food at a food court. Zero wait time.

Now that school has started up again I wanted to review some of my favourite more affordable restaurants in the city. I can't believe that people waste money eating out at bad fast food places when a lot of the restaurants I'll be writing about aren't any more expensive. By affordable I don't mean under 20 dollars, I'm talking 10 dollars or less including tip.

I'm not even sure if Rasoi the Kitchen has been open for more than a year yet but it has already become one of my favourite places to get Indian and Pakistani food for cheap. Although they offer a number of different combos there is only one vegan combo option which is chickpea curry with rice, a samosa and a drink for $4.99 (before tax).

The rice and curry can be a bit inconsistent. I've gone when the curry has been so good that it could stand up to most in the city but I've also eaten there when the rice has been a bit dry and the curry slightly flavourless. This has only happened on maybe two occasions so for a little over 5 bucks even on an off day it's still worth it .
On the other hand, the samosas have quickly become my favourite in Winnipeg. They are spicier and have a thicker crust than a few other restaurants in the city. Also, at $5.99 for a dozen they are the cheapest you'll find downtown.
Overall, don't let some minor criticism deter you from trying out Rasoi the Kitchen. As I've already mentioned, the price can't be beat when you're in the mood for filling Indian or Pakistani food but aren't looking to pay $10+ for a buffet.

Cousins Deli - Winnipeg Veggie Burger Tour Stop #1

It's been a while but I won't let this blog die because there are just too many big meals to write about.

To make things interesting and to give me a reason to try some new restaurants I've decided to go on a veggie burger tour of Winnipeg. What this means is that I'll visit any restaurant in the city that offers a veggie burger and review it. Let's start with the first stop on the tour and an obvious choice for me:

COUSINS DELI & LOUNGE
55 Sherbrook Street

Hours: I'm not 100% certain but I think they're open 7 days a week 12:00 p.m. to 2:00 a.m.. The "kitchen" closes at midnight.

Atmosphere: The later you go the more crowded it gets. The clientele is about as typically Wolseley as it gets. Sometimes the music can be a bit much for me but the place is essentially a bar so loud music should be expected.

Service: You order at the counter and they bring it out to your table. Pay your tab when you're ready to leave. Service is usually pretty speedy but obviously slows down the busier it gets.

The Burger:
- 2 bhajia patties
- lettuce
- tomato
- onion
- pickles
- banana peppers
- mustard
- tamarind sauce
- toasted bun

Over the past few years I've had sort of a love hate relationship with Cousins. I've never tasted bad food or even a bad drink from there but I just couldn't justify spending money on eating out at a restaurant that only has a microwave and toaster oven. However, I've yet to taste a better veggie burger in Winnipeg. The sweetness of the tamarind and tomatoes is offset perfectly by the mustard and onions. Plus I love banana peppers and pickles on any sort of sandwich so I couldn't ask for better toppings. The bhajia patties work surprisingly well for a burger replacement. Unique, satisfying and incredibly consistent.

Price: $3.95

Sides, etc.:

The other problem I have with Cousins is the lack of anything to go along with the veggie burger. $3.95 isn't too much to ask considering the quality but the burger alone is not filling enough to constitute a meal.

Perhaps one day I'll try a salad or something else from the menu (depending on how vegan friendly it is). My advice is to not eat there if you're starving.

If you're looking to replace food with alcohol then the Caesar they offer makes a perfect side dish with just the right amount of spiciness and garnishes. On Thursdays there's a Caesar special so a veggie burger and drink comes to just over 8 bucks before tip.

Overall it's a reasonable price to pay for a tasty and friendly evening.

Keep checking the blog to find out where the veggie burger tour stops next.

Minneapolis - To All the Meals I've Loved Before

I bet you thought this blog was done for but think again! I'll admit that I haven't taken many pictures of meals lately but that won't stop me from improvising. The pictures of the restaurants are stolen and the drawings can be credited to Mr. Lexington Oak. Enjoy! ;)!

Stop #1: Grand Forks - Gas Station

The first stop on any road trip is crucial to it's overall outcome. Will you be the wimp that gets an orange juice, or worse, a bottled water and a granola bar? Or, will you be the tough guy that eats a rotten hot dog and drinks an energy drink that spontaneously explodes only a few hours after you've bought it? I like to think I'm not a wimp so I took the middle road and went for a small bag of Poore Brothers chips and a bottle of Arizona Iced Tea. Poore Brothers Habanero are usually my flavour of choice but I went for Jalapeno this time and enjoyed them quite a bit. They actually taste like jalapenos, or at least, as fellow road trip friend Oakington Xander said, they taste green. Arizona Sweet Tea in a can was a real treat for me a few trips back so I figured why not get it in a larger bottled version? My taste buds must have played a trick on me the first time or this batch was totally fucked because this tasted so sweet that it hurt. A deadly concoction of highly concentrated corn syrup and water.

Stop #2: Fargo - Taco Bell

In sticking with tradition we stopped at a Taco Bell in Fargo. I must say that out of the countless times I've eaten at Taco Bells in Fargo, I've never been disappointed. The 7 Layer Burrito was adequate, and the guacamole wasn't ice cold as it sometimes tends to be.

Main Meal #1: Pizza Luce

I can't remember the last time I've been to Minneapolis and not eaten at Pizza Luce. It's always good but I wasn't incredibly excited about this meal as I consider myself fairly well versed when it comes to their menu. The element of adventure just wasn't there. I went for the the Mock Muffaletta, a sandwich I've enjoyed once before but that experience was slightly overshadowed by the fact that I'd be sleeping in the trunk of a car that night. This sandwich is big and sloppy, sort of like a sandwich version of my favourite pizza, The Rustler. It's comprised of mock duck, BBQ sauce, olives, banana peppers, lettuce, onions, tomatoes, rinotta and I'm sure a few other ingredients that I'm forgetting. My only complaint would be the chips on the side. Chips on the side are fine if you're dining on hot dogs, swamp water and birthday cake but at least offer me fries or something. I think I was offered the choice of a salad when I ordered a sandwich here once before but for some reason I didn't get it. A fine sandwich if you're not in the mood for pizza.

Main Meal #2: Hard Times Cafe

This place was right around the corner from the Triple Rock and since the Triple Rock only has breakfast on weekends, Hard Times was the next best thing. I'd never been to Hard Times before and wasn't overly impressed with the decor.

I was pretty excited about the breakfast options but a little bummed that I couldn't get a Bloody Mary with it (or maybe I could and just didn't see it on the menu). I went for the vegan biscuits and gravy breakfast which came with shredded style hash browns, tofu scramble, one veggie sausage pattie (the picture shows a link), and of course the biscuits and gravy. The tofu scramble was plentiful but kind of basic as far as seasoning is concerned. At least the hot sauce offered spiced things up. When cooked right, shredded hash browns might just be my favourite version of hash browns and these were indeed cooked right. I wasn't crazy about the veggie sausage but since it was only one I can't complain. I was a little concerned about the biscuits and gravy as vegan versions of gravy tend to be either super greasy-spoon'esque and thus delicious or super healthy and kind of gross. Thankfully this gravy was just right and the biscuits were flaky and delicious. I have no idea what traditional biscuits and gravy cooked with animal parts tastes like but I'm sure this is the next best thing. Overall, Hard Times surprised the hell out of me. Since breakfasts seem to be the hardest meal to master a vegan version of this ranks up there with one the all time best ones that I've eaten at a restaurant. One last thing, this place cheap! The huge breakfast cost a little more than $6.

Small Meal #1: The Mall of America - Taco Bell

I'd eaten at this Taco Bell before and liked it for two reasons. The first being that I wasn't shouted at by guys hocking their wares. Possibly one of the worst jobs ever? The second reason I liked this Taco Bell is that instead of offering a tray like most food court restaurants or even a paper bag they give it to you in a plastic bag. Fuck you environment! Unfortunately the person that took my order of "no cheese or sourcream" interpreted it as "no cheese and extra sour cream." Thankfully Sexy Lexy came to the rescue and ate most of this for me. What kind of pervert gets extra sour cream?

Main Meal #3: Triple Rock

Unless I've gone right when it opens on the weekends the Triple Rock is always packed. It didn't help that we were trying to eat there just before a show next door. Because of this we ended up waiting at least a half hour for a table and in the end sat at the bar. Fuck it, eating meals was what I came eight hours for so I didn't mind waiting to eat what I was positive would be one of the best meals of the trip. Since I turned 21 a whole new and fantastic aspect of the Triple Rock has opened up to me... alcohol. Before I go off about the wonders of drinking I'll say that proving that I'm old enough to be at the Triple Rock is a pain in the ass. Every time I go there they stare at my ID for a good minute before I have to explain to them what it is. Getting back on track, ordering a Bloody Mary with my meal has quickly become a tradition for me. Breakfast seems like the ideal time to drink one as they always get me a little bit drunk on my empty morning stomach. The Bloody Mary is super spicy and comes with a nice pickle and an even nicer small glass of beer as a chaser. Yum! By the time my food had arrived the drink had worked it's magic and I encountered a bit of a dilemma. The effect of the alcohol on my memory resulted in me forgetting whether I specified for my order to be made "vegan" (fake cheese, fake mayo) or not. Before you label me as a whiney vegan (I guess I'm not really even vegan) who is too much of a cry baby to eat a little mayo or dairy let's get things straight. If my mind isn't sure that something is fake dairy or not, within a half hour my body will let me know. On top of that, the Triple Rock washrooms are not the kind of place one wants to experience that sort of surprise. Oh well, the eat goes on. My road trip buddies both ordered Po'Boys but I wasn't really in the mood for that so I went for a "meatball" sandwich. Like I said, I was kind of drunk so I'm not entirely sure what was on this. The fake meatballs tasted really good and the cheese was the closest I've tasted to real mozarella cheese (maybe it was?). The mayo was kind of out of place but as a whole this was a great and filling sandwich. From what I recall it was topped off with lettuce and tomatoes and came with a side of fries. If you're wondering, I didn't get sick after so that means that I either ordered it vegan or my body toughed it out. The food at the Triple Rock never disappoints.

Small Meal #2: Some restaurant with egg in the name

I ordered hashbrowns here under the guise of "American Fries" or something equally ridiculous. They were actually okay but this place overall wasn't so hot. No love lost.

I think that covers all the meals I ate. Folklorama is coming up fast and that means a lot of drinking and a little eating. Be prepared!

Miyabi

I decided to visit Miyabi after it was recommended to me on more than one occasion. Since my girlfriend and I discovered a favourite sushi restaurant around a year and a half ago, everywhere else that we visit ends up getting compared to it. The sushi in Winnipeg can be divided into two groups. Upscale vs. super casual, pricey vs. moderately affordable, etc. Unfortunately some of the more "upscale" sushi establishments I've visited have failed to impress which has caused me to be wary of going anywhere that isn't a tried and true favourite.

Miyabi is located right on Osborne Street, one of the trendier areas of Winnipeg that just happens to be around a 10 minute walk from my apartment. Osborne Village has a few good restaurants (Sukhothai) but is mostly comprised of hip bullshit that I can't be bothered with. From the outside Miyabi looks rather quaint (small) but I was surpised to see it could seat as many people as it did.

The menu looked to include a lot of different appetizers that I'd never seen offered before as well as a large number of special rolls. I've never been a huge fan of elaborate rolls full of mayonnaise, tempura crumbs or other sauces as I think that the fish or seafood often speaks for itself. However, I'd be curious to try one or two of Miyabi's signature rolls if I was there with a larger group of people.

My friend and I both chose the Sushi & Sashimi dinner combination ($18) while my girlfriend and my friend's girlfriend chose the Vegetarian dinner combination ($16).

The Sushi & Sashimi combination came with miso soup that was average and sunomo salad that included the traditional piece of crab. The main dinner combination had five pieces of nigiri, a healthy portion of sashimi and two hand rolls. I was most excited to try the Saba nigiri (I think it's mackerel) and the surf clam sashimi as I'd never had them before. The sashimi tasted fresh (along with the surf clam it came with tuna, salmon, and octopus) and there was a decent assortment of nigiri that tasted great as well (fatty tuna, scallop, shrimp). Besides the nigiri and sashimi, the dinner came with two handrolls. One of them a California roll which I've never been a huge fan of but tasted good regardless. The other I believe was a tuna hand roll which I think is fine as maki but was a bit much in the form of a handroll.

My girlfriend's vegetarian combination looked very good and included several vegetable tempura type rolls as well as a large portion of tempura and the crab-less sunomo salad and miso soup that came with my combo.

I would have to visit Miyabi a few more times to come up with a more well rounded review but I was impressed by my first experience and would try it again if I was craving sushi in my neighbourhood.

Service: Average.

Price: Slightly above average. Expect to pay at least $15 to $20.

Location: Very close to downtown.

Hours: I think it's open until at least 10:00 p.m. on the weekends and probably until 9:00 p.m. during the week. Maybe even later.

Hi there!

I'll use this first entry to introduce readers to my blog.
Winnipeg has a pretty diverse assortment of restaurants and on my limited budget I've tried to visit as many as I can afford. Eating a primarily vegan diet over the past few years has introduced me to many different types of food and I aim to place a large focus on how "vegan friendly" the restaurants I review are.
Aside from the vegan aspect and the food itself I'll be placing a certain degree of importance on the service, atmosphere and accessibility of the restaurant (be it in terms of location or hours).
My overall goal is to spread the word about good restaurants (or talk shit on bad ones) and learn about new ones in the process.
Now go and eat a big meal!