Postcall Brunch, Marion Street Eatery

Marion Street Eatery has been trending on the top of Urbanspoon for quite a while now. Located in picturesque St. Boniface, it is touted as one of the new players in Winnipeg's food scene. Giving that as a tagline is more than enough for me and so a cold post-call morning I decided to pack on the snow suit and head out to Marion Street Eatery.
 

I was initially shocked when I arrived. Located in the Marion Street Hotel, the eatery takes up a significant portion of the first floor. I was concerned that this would turn into a basic eatery catering mostly to small meals to hotel guests. Boy was I wrong. 

This restaurant is gorgeous. It is obvious that a significant amount of work went into renovating the space. A sprawling restaurant with beautiful decorations, a good number of tables, booths to accommodate larger groups and a small bar area for those looking for a quick bite. I was impressed by the simple but elegant decor, the friendly wait staff and the amount of customers, especially for a Tuesday afternoon.

Post-call snacking requires copious coffee ingestion. The home brew at Marion Street was nothing to brag about but delivered the nice kick of caffeine one needs to tide them through the rest of the day/meal.

Wanting some greens, me and my dining companion requested a Oven Roasted Salmon Salad. The half portion was a nice mixture of spinach, cucumbers, carrots, feta topped with a piece of roasted salmon and finished with a maple mustard dressing. The dressing was wonderful and held all the flavours of the dish together. The salmon, serving serving aside, seemed like an afterthought simply to deliver protein to the dish. To their credit though, the salmon was nicely roasted tender with a herbal seasoning.

My co-diner ordered the Mac & Cheese with Potato Wedges. This Mac & Cheese was excellent. Tender pasta and sharp cheddar is mixed in with broccoli and bacon, all aspects of a mean Mac & Cheese. The key ingredient here is the pretzel topping: it had a lemonly sour flavour which augmented the sharp cheese, creamy pasta and fatty bacon wonderfully. The potato wedges were roasted nicely but altogether average.

I went with the Bison Chili. This hearty chili of Manitoba bison, beans, corn and tomatoes is topped with Havarti, sour cream, fried onions and served with baked bannock. This was also excellent. The chili base was good but the shock factor was the inclusion of sour cream and Havarti which added creaminess and smoothness to the overall dish. The baked bannock fulfilled the starch requirement of the dish but was altogether ordinary.

Instead of the usual sides I opted for an upgrade to Poutine. This was a bit of a disappointment as the already salty french fries were mixed in with salty gravy leading to a unpalatable plate of saltiness. The cheese curds, on the other hand, were excellent and had the perfect amount of "squeakiness" one needs in poutine. Just wish they had gone easier on the salt!

Proudly shown in the middle of the restaurant, this beautiful sign completely exemplifies their passion for food. Marion Street Eatery is a gem in St. Boniface. Offering excellent mains and salads which add unique twists to the classics, it is an easy recommendation to make for anyone looking for a hearty and exciting brunch. Despite their side dishes needing a glint of inspiration, I was very impressed and left a thoroughly pleased, and full, customer.