You Gotta Eat ... at Bistro Dansk

My guilty pleasure is The Food Network. Whether be it a post-call day, a weekend off or simply an hour in between duties, I would almost reflexively pop on The Food Network. One of the newer shows was called "You Gotta Eat Here". Based off of a popular American show, it featured a foodie host traveling across Canada trying the local best and brightest. While in medical school in Edmonton, I recalled the host arriving at Bistro Dansk and marveling at their schnitzel and delicious Eastern European fares. Thus with unadulterated excitement and an eager belly, I went off to Bistro Dansk.

Located on Sherbrook Street you will not miss Bistro Dansk. A brightly coloured classy sign with a billboard of their daily specials beckon you come forth. The restaurant itself had an aged feel to it with distressed wood tables and eclectic pictures hanging of local celebrities. I have to commend them on having some of the nicest and most personable hosts I have ever had. Obviously a family run institution, the wait staff enthusiastically greeted you on arrival and meticulously checked in one your meal. I loved how many "regulars" came in for lunch this day and marveled at how the owners would strike up instant conversation with each of them. Lovely!

The menu is simple Eastern European fare. A smartly laid out two pager showcases a variety of soups, sandwiches salads and warm dishes. Displayed prominently on top is their special, the Chicken Schnitzel. In addition, Bistro Dansk also offers ongoing daily specials including two soups and two features.

I started off with their Goulash. A Hungarian stew filled with lean beef and root vegetables in a thick beef and tomato broth. This was an excellent start to a meal. Warm and piping hot, the beef was exquisitely tender and was contrasted nicely by the tartness of tomato.

Getting the Chicken Schnitzel was a no brainer for me. A popular food from Europe, I often use this as a measuring stick for Eastern European restaurants. And the version here did not disappoint! Featuring two large pieces of tenderized thin chicken fried to a crisp, it was served with lemon and a huge side of potato salad. The Schnitzel itself was expertly cooked with a crisp outside and extremely tender inside. The lemon does wonders here by adding sourness and tartness to the dish, delicious! The side of salad was a nice mixture of potato, egg and fresh herbs all in a mayonnaise based dressing.

Overall Bistro Dansk serves delicious European fare and lives up to the expectations set when featured on The Food Network. Not only do they offer amazing food with incredible portion sizes at a very reasonable price, I love the home-y atmosphere and attentive and personable wait staff. Overall it is a definite recommendation for anyone looking for good Eastern European cuisine in Winnipeg.

Gasthaus Revisted with great friends

Over the weekend I had the great honour of hosting a couple of my close Edmonton friends. The young couple were doing a tour of Canadian cities in anticipation of matching to a residency program in the country for their medical specialty of choice. Going through Winnipeg gave me a chance to show them the city, catch up with old friends and dine on some delicious food.

I had previously blogged about Gasthaus Gutenberger. There I raved about the wonderful lunch buffet. On a fine Sunday evening, we trekked over to Gasthaus to dine on their sit-down menu. I started out with a Krombacher Peach. I learned that the Krombacher brewery in Germany is one of the largest private breweries in the world. Having authentic German beer on tap made getting one an easy choice. A light beer with a hint of peach flavour, this was a refreshing way to start a meal.

My friend's girlfriend ordered the Krombacher Cherry. We were a bit polarized about this variant at the table. My friend thought it tasted like cough medicine, his girlfriend thought it a bit too sweet, and I thought it was perfect. Needtoless to say, despite the differing viewpoints, we all agreed that it was better than most Canadian brewery offerings we have here in Canada. And now off to the food.

Our orders started off with a soup of the day. Today's soup was a Cabbage Soup with German Meatballs. A tomato based broth served with boiled vegetables and huge heaping meatballs. All the flavours worked well with each other, with the fatty meatballs overcoming the tartness of the tomato broth.

Its not often I write about the bread that comes with your meal. Here at Gasthaus, they bake their own bread with ... bacon. At first we thought those red morsels injected into the bread were fruit, but we quickly picked up on the smokey fatty bacon flavour. Needtoless to say, this was lapped up very quickly.

A bit overwhelmed by the wealth of Schnitzel offerings, we decided to order the Schnizel Platter. Not realizing what we got ourselves into, our collective jaws dropped when we saw this massive heaping plate of food. Reserved only for a minimum order for three people, Gasthaus fills your tummies with (from the left, going clockwise):

Pork Schnitzel; Cauliflower and Asparagus; Veal Schnitzel; Candied Pears; German Potato Balls; Rice and Spatzle (in the middle)

We were impressed by the well breaded thin Schnitzel. Normally this is the dish that defines a German restaurant and Gasthaus nailed it out of the park. All the accompaniments were excellent with tender Spatzle and delightful potato balls being highlights.

Three sauces accompanied our meal: Hunter Style Mushroom Sauce; Gypsy Sauce with tomatoes and vegetables; Creamy Swiss Sauce. All three were excellent with the Schnitzel and starchy mains.

More vegetables on the side included: Sauerkraut with bacon; Red Cabbage; Mashed Potatoes. Altogether good but an afterthought compared to the main starches.

Overall, Gasthaus ranks highly on my list of Winnipeg restaurants. An incredible array of Schnitzels shows the skill and authenticity of this Bavarian establishment. Winnipeg should consider itself lucky to have access to such good European cuisine.

Gasthaus Gutenberger

Gasthaus Gutenberger has been on my radar for months. Some of my closest friends in medical school introduced me to European (and specifically German) cuisine. Thus I was beyond myself when I found a German restaurant so highly rated and touted on Urbanspoon. Usually I try not to dine on the buffets, but I could not resist the end of the week and weekend lunch buffet specials. After a long night of call, what better way to refresh oneself than German.

Gasthaus Gutenberger is located on the west end of Portage Ave. Located in an unassuming building, one can easily miss it if not paying attention. Again with buffets, I took a bit of everything for your viewing pleasures.

The soup of the day Gemuseseppe was a beef broth vegetable soup with mushrooms, onions and carrots. Nice start to the meal.

There are a large number of salads available including Kraut (coleslaw), Pickled Beet, Tomato, House, Potato, Caesar, and Cucumber and Dill. The beets were the standout here which were wonderfully sweet and salty.

The mains: Homemade Bratwurst, Schnitzel with Sauteed Mushrooms, Perogies with bacon and onions, Sauerkraut. Everything was delicious, but the bratwurst was a winner. Moist, fatty and aromatic, it went well with the homemade mustard. The Schnitzel deserves a honorable mention as it was a nicely breaded pork cutlet cooked perfectly to retain its juiciness.

Second part of the mains: Spaetzle (German Egg Noodle), Hungarian Beef Goulash (stew), Fried Potatoes, Red Cabbage and Mashed Potatoes. On the side is a Creamy Swiss Sauce. The Spaetzle was interesting as it reminded me of a thicker and coarser Shanghai egg noodle. It went perfectly with the creamy swiss sauce, which had a strong cheesey and mushroom-y flavour.

There was a huge spread of desserts available to diners. Unable to sample each dessert, I took only two: Apple Strudel and a Cream Cheese Tart. Both tasty and a nice accent to the end of the meal.

A few more snaps of the buffet line-up and the full selection of desserts.

Overall an excellent meal. Each dish was well executed and tasted of a ala-carte quality. Should be on the radar for anyone wanting German (and European) cuisine in Winnipeg.