Travels in Canada - Winnipeg: Day 3
You are reading Day 3 of our adventure. To start at Day 1 clickie.
The great thing about Winnipeg is how much there is to see on foot. After getting ourselves out of the comfy bed of our hotel room we went for a walk around town for breakfast. The park is a great place to get some morning exercise and stretch your legs a little. It's a short walk to Osbourn Village an award winning neighborhood in Canada. Sadly for us, the location had a lot of road construction going on during our visit so we weren't paying too much attention to our surroundings.
Our number one goal for the morning was crepes. We don't have any big crepe shops in Southern California, at least not to the extent that there are in Winnipeg. This is a disappointment as crepes are the most delicious things ever and Winnipeg has a restaurant dedicated to them in Osboure village called, Kawaii Crepe - a shop that's specializes in crepes production. Their menu covers a large wall with every imaginable ingredient combination ready to put into your crepes from chipotle slow roasted beef to coffee infused nutella and bananas. You could eat every meal on planet earth at Kawaii Crepes as well as a couple hobbit earth's (second breakfast anyone?).
Kawaii Crepe
We were there for breakfast though and breakfast was what we would have. After a few hours trying to figure out what we both wanted we finally ordered. Waiting for the order is an experience as well since the crepes are all made in front of you.
A Lovely Pear with fresh cut pear, roasted almonds and honey.
Morning Sunshine with bacon, cheese and scrambled eggs.
Both are amazingly tasty and made to be an easy to eat portable meal on the go. Just what we were looking for as we set off into our day in Winnipeg.
With our new tasty treat we set off back to our hotel. We saw a group of young girls in one of the apartment play yards all playing tetherball. It took us both a minute to get over such a simple sight, children playing in yards together. We aren't use to seeing such thing back in our town. Parents have a tendency to keep their kids locked up inside where we live not allowing them to go out and explore the world with their friends. It was a nice thing to see, just kids being kids.
I'd like to point out at this time that our host had told us that Winnipeg was the murder capitol of Canada. I didn't believe him but apparently its true. Winnipeg had the highest homicide rate and violent crime rate in the country. The murder capitol of Canada and kids are in their front yard playing tetherball. Doesn't seem that bad of a place if you ask me.
For lunch we decided to try some local pizza. Not just any pizza though. We requested the best pizza in Winnipeg. The one place, when you are sitting in traffic waiting to get home and all you can think of is the cheese and the crust. The pizza that whenever the office has a pizza party with some cardboard paste pie, all you can think of is, "This isn't pizza, I know a place that serves real pizza."
Our host informed us that in his opinion the best pizza was from Calabria Market, but they never order it for the office because it's on the other side of town. He spent a few minutes rattling off other closer options but we shut the down right away. We wanted a taste of the best so after looking up their online menu and placing our order over the phone, we set off.
Calabria Market
Calabria Market is a specialty Italian market store that also makes pizza. We ordered two so we could get a taste of everything, the Deluxe and Bruschetta. The hardest part about the 30 minute drive? The drive back. The most difficult part is always waiting to get home to eat the first piece.
Back at the office we opened them up.
Deluxe and Bruschetta. Gorgeous tasty pizza. The bruschetta is extremely tasty.
Their Bruschetta pizza is amazing, perfectly cooked crust with tomatoes, basil, fresh garlic, olive oil, and topped off with romano cheese. The deluxe was good as well, but everyone who had a bite commented on how tasty the bruschetta was. The Deluxe pizza was just as good topped with pepperoni, ham, mushroom, green peppers and sausage.
Calabria Market really does produce some fine tasting pizza's, definitely worth a trip even if it's on the other side of town. Try out the Bruschetta if you are in the mood for something other than the norm.
After work was done we took off back to the hotel to get some rest. It was too early for dinner so we decided to explore the French district and the graveyard nearby - French District - Saint Boniface
Cathédrale de Saint Boniface - The first church on the site was founded by Fr. Norbert Provencher, a priest and future bishop, who ordered its construction in 1818 in the form of a small log chapel. In 1832 Bishop Provencher built the first cathedral but on December 14, 1860, a fire destroyed the first building. In 1862, Bishop Alexandre Taché rebuilt the cathedral in stone.
The walk around the cathedral is peaceful and quiet. Time passed quickly as we found ourselves exploring the cemetery and nearby area on foot and didn't find ourselves back in the hotel until late. Dinner hadn't been planned as the pizza had filled us both up, but after all the walking we did we were both hungry. We consulted the local guide put together by reddit and decided the In Ferno's Bistro was nearby and possibly still open.
In Ferno's Bistro
In Ferno's was a few moments before closing time when we walked in, but they were happy to seat us and we were grateful for it. Taken from their website - "... In Ferno's has been providing Winnipeg with fabulous food since 2003. Join us and experience Chef Fern Kirouac’s latest creations. A variety of menu offerings and daily features are presented in order to satisfy even the most experienced palette. Indulge yourself at In Ferno’s Bistro."
Indulge ourselves we did. Our order was placed and shortly after our food arrived -
French Onion Soup - The french onion soup's ingredients were tasty, but the broth was bland and under seasoned.
Sweet Curry Mussels and Frites - Prepared with onion, peppers, mango chutney and cream. The mussels were clean with no grit and perfectly cooked. The sweet curry mussels is hands down our favorite mussels dish. In Canada, in the USA, the best overall. Delicious and incredibly tasty.
Jarret D'Agneau - braised lamb shank served in a maple balsamic reduction with roasted beets, mashed potatoes and broccoli.The meat from the lamb fell off the bone and was juicy and tender. The beets were quiet simply put made in such a way that it sparked an interest in beets. They were soft, and full of flavors that had us both guessing what they were cooked with. It tasted as if they had been soaked in a pear or apple sauce and really provided an amazing experience for the palate.
The other sides however didn't match up to the quality of the lamb and roasted beets, as the potatoes and broccoli were both undercooked and as a result hard and inedible. Luckily the lamb and beets were large enough and amazingly cooked that it was hardly noticed.
And for dessert
Creme Caramel Custard... Oops. This piece was so delicious it was gone before we remembered to take a picture...
In Ferno's was a decent dining experience. On one hand the food they got right was some of the tastiest food of the trip, the stars of the plates prepared with creativity and cooked exceptionally well. On the other hand, the side dishes lacked not only flavor but the detail given to the main dish as well, leaving half of the meal untouched. That being said, we didn't leave disappointed and felt the as a whole In Ferno's was a place well worth visiting.
We were finding that Winnipeg has so much to offer and we were only halfway through our trip. Follow the yellow brick road to continue to Winnipeg Day 4
The great thing about Winnipeg is how much there is to see on foot. After getting ourselves out of the comfy bed of our hotel room we went for a walk around town for breakfast. The park is a great place to get some morning exercise and stretch your legs a little. It's a short walk to Osbourn Village an award winning neighborhood in Canada. Sadly for us, the location had a lot of road construction going on during our visit so we weren't paying too much attention to our surroundings.
We were there for breakfast though and breakfast was what we would have. After a few hours trying to figure out what we both wanted we finally ordered. Waiting for the order is an experience as well since the crepes are all made in front of you.
Both are amazingly tasty and made to be an easy to eat portable meal on the go. Just what we were looking for as we set off into our day in Winnipeg.
With our new tasty treat we set off back to our hotel. We saw a group of young girls in one of the apartment play yards all playing tetherball. It took us both a minute to get over such a simple sight, children playing in yards together. We aren't use to seeing such thing back in our town. Parents have a tendency to keep their kids locked up inside where we live not allowing them to go out and explore the world with their friends. It was a nice thing to see, just kids being kids.
I'd like to point out at this time that our host had told us that Winnipeg was the murder capitol of Canada. I didn't believe him but apparently its true. Winnipeg had the highest homicide rate and violent crime rate in the country. The murder capitol of Canada and kids are in their front yard playing tetherball. Doesn't seem that bad of a place if you ask me.
For lunch we decided to try some local pizza. Not just any pizza though. We requested the best pizza in Winnipeg. The one place, when you are sitting in traffic waiting to get home and all you can think of is the cheese and the crust. The pizza that whenever the office has a pizza party with some cardboard paste pie, all you can think of is, "This isn't pizza, I know a place that serves real pizza."
Our host informed us that in his opinion the best pizza was from Calabria Market, but they never order it for the office because it's on the other side of town. He spent a few minutes rattling off other closer options but we shut the down right away. We wanted a taste of the best so after looking up their online menu and placing our order over the phone, we set off.
Calabria Market is a specialty Italian market store that also makes pizza. We ordered two so we could get a taste of everything, the Deluxe and Bruschetta. The hardest part about the 30 minute drive? The drive back. The most difficult part is always waiting to get home to eat the first piece.
Back at the office we opened them up.
Their Bruschetta pizza is amazing, perfectly cooked crust with tomatoes, basil, fresh garlic, olive oil, and topped off with romano cheese. The deluxe was good as well, but everyone who had a bite commented on how tasty the bruschetta was. The Deluxe pizza was just as good topped with pepperoni, ham, mushroom, green peppers and sausage.
Calabria Market really does produce some fine tasting pizza's, definitely worth a trip even if it's on the other side of town. Try out the Bruschetta if you are in the mood for something other than the norm.
After work was done we took off back to the hotel to get some rest. It was too early for dinner so we decided to explore the French district and the graveyard nearby - French District - Saint Boniface
In Ferno's was a few moments before closing time when we walked in, but they were happy to seat us and we were grateful for it. Taken from their website - "... In Ferno's has been providing Winnipeg with fabulous food since 2003. Join us and experience Chef Fern Kirouac’s latest creations. A variety of menu offerings and daily features are presented in order to satisfy even the most experienced palette. Indulge yourself at In Ferno’s Bistro."
Indulge ourselves we did. Our order was placed and shortly after our food arrived -
The other sides however didn't match up to the quality of the lamb and roasted beets, as the potatoes and broccoli were both undercooked and as a result hard and inedible. Luckily the lamb and beets were large enough and amazingly cooked that it was hardly noticed.
And for dessert
In Ferno's was a decent dining experience. On one hand the food they got right was some of the tastiest food of the trip, the stars of the plates prepared with creativity and cooked exceptionally well. On the other hand, the side dishes lacked not only flavor but the detail given to the main dish as well, leaving half of the meal untouched. That being said, we didn't leave disappointed and felt the as a whole In Ferno's was a place well worth visiting.
We were finding that Winnipeg has so much to offer and we were only halfway through our trip. Follow the yellow brick road to continue to Winnipeg Day 4
