Saffron's - Tasteless & Overpriced

Celebrating Canada's Day with friends is always a great marker of a good summer. Having to work on the wards on Canada Day this year, I met up with a bunch of fellow residents for dinner and drinks on the patio. The location of choice, Saffron's Restaurant in the heart of Corydon Avenue.

Saffron's is located on busy Corydon Avenue with plenty of foot and car traffic. Curiously the main building is tucked away behind the main attraction, the large sprawling patio that almost obtrusively pushes itself onto the walking paths. One cannot miss the joy and laughter of party revelers milling about on the patio, nor of the delightful smells wafting in the air. Thankfully the service staff was attentive during busy Canada's Day.

The menu is decidedly pedestrian, choosing to focus on pub grub favourites. The usual sandwiches, "gourmet" thin crust pizzas and boring pastas adorn the mains. Thankfully the appetizers take on a much more appealing form including lettuce wraps, steamed mussels or Mediterranean sliders. A decidedly Mediterranean feel is evident with the inclusion of Chicken Souvlaki and a gyro or chicken pita. Nevertheless there is nothing here that warrants a second look as everything on the menu is ordinary.

These Lettuce Wraps were a huge disappointment. Featuring a tasteless and bland mixture of chicken, noodles and vegetables all covered in a thick hoisin based sauce wrapped in romaine lettuce leaves that were too large and cumbersome to use; this entire dish failed to deliver on a supposed Asian inspiration. In fact, the massive leaves of lettuce completely overwhelmed the overcooked chicken and soggy chow mein noodles. A disgrace at any price, not withstanding the outrageous $16 charge associated with this dish.

The Chicken Souvlaki equally disappointing. At least here the chicken was tender and cooked well enough to be edible. In truth though, it was missing any semblance of the supposed oregano and garlic marinade but instead tasted all of drizzled lemon juice. The accompanying salad boring and pedestrian; and the swapped side of Yam Fries ordinary and under-seasoned.

There is nothing worthwhile to eat at the extremely overpriced and tasteless Saffron's. It reeks of a decidedly ordinary restaurant whose sole claim to fame is a busy and bustling patio; and while it might succeed in drawing customers in once, it gives them no reason to return again.

Homer's - Average Greek

And oh back to Winnipeg! After finishing my elective in Edmonton, I was not shocked to find the damage both to my wallet and my waistline. Wanting to start on a healthier non-everyday eating out diet, I vowed to limit my outings this month for food. Well that ended quickly. After finishing my first day back on the pediatrics wards I felt the urge for some homey soul filling food. Finding a trusty resident friend who was also free, we landed upon Greek food to satisfy our hunger pangs. Known for their catering of many medical school events, I had consistently heard of Homer's and its promises of authentic and tasty Greek cuisine. And so we made the short trek to Homer's on Ellice.

Homer's is located on Ellice Avenue on the corner of Ellice and Young Street. The large brick building is hard to miss with its pleasant lettering that beckons prospective diners forward. For such a congested area of the city I was impressed by the relatively large parking lot associated with the restaurant, definitely a plus for anyone who knows the parking woes in this area of town.

This restaurant is beautiful. Pearly white walls with marble like columns adorn the large open dining space with thoughtful and tasteful decor. Definitely pleasant on the eye! The menu is sprawling and features a number of appetizers, soups and salads to start; and a venerable choice of meat souvlakis and combination platters for dinner.

Saganaki is a popular Greek dish known for its flair and theatrics, where servers take a pan fried portion of Greek Cheese and flambe the dish, often to screams and squeals of delight. Despite being known for its pomp and circumstance, the flambe actually imparts a nice smoky aroma and flavour to the seared cheese. Homer's does well to create a dichotomy between the crispy crust with the smooth creamy interiors. Tasty!

Avgolemono Soup is a humble looking soup that packs a strong punch of lemon-y flavour. Despite the initial intense tangy-ness, the lemon works to accentuate the entire dish to bring out the other flavours. Texturally you get the occasional chunk of chicken or bite of tender rice to contrast the broth.

The Homer's Platter is a venerable feast involving two skewers, a healthy portion of Moussaka and a large stuffed tomato. Their platters and dishes come with your choice of starch, potatoes or rice, and a handful of steamed vegetables. The initial visual inspection of the dish was rather disappointing with each item seemingly slapped onto the plate with little finesse or care for their presentation. But nevertheless, it is about the food.

Adorning one part of the dish was the Pork Souvlaki and Moussaka. I was impressed by the treatment of the tender pork that had enough of a charred crust to texturally contrast the moist interiors. Unfortunately the flavours were dimunitive with it lacking seasoning and taste. Thankfully the Moussaka was much better with its combination of exquisitely creamy eggplant, tender but crisp zucchini and a luxuriously rich sauce. Eggplant tends to soak up all the tastes surrounding it and Homer's does a nice job of pairing it with the strong bechamel sauce.

The other half of the dish consisted of another average skewer, this time Chicken Souvlaki. Like its porky counterpart, I have no qualms with the cooking of the chicken but rather find it dull and lacking of any flavour. Similarly also, the accompaniment, a Stuffed Tomato was excellent. The oven roasted tomato is filled with a pilaf of rice, herbs and small diced vegetables. In the roasting process, the starch nicely encapsulates all the inherent sour, sweet and salty flavours from the tomato. Well done!

My dining companion's dish, the Lamb Souvlaki plate comes with two large skewers of marinated lamb, a few mouthfuls of vegetables and again your choice of starch. I was thoroughly disappointed in this dish, as the lamb, like its pork and chicken cousins, was not only dull and devoid of flavour but also dry, overcooked and tough. For a culture that is known for their lamb, this laughably poor effort will impress nobody. Thankfully the lemon-y potatoes are delicious.

Homer's is a beautiful restaurant serving ordinary and, at times, subpar, Greek food. While diners will be initially impressed by the decor and authenticity of the restaurant environment, the food will be unfortunately disappointing. With that said there were tasty bites in our meal, but they comprised accompanying dishes rather than the main hitters. In the end there are better Greek restaurants in Winnipeg and Homer's should be only a consideration for anyone stuck in the Ellice area with a craving for Greek.

Nikos - Tasty Greek

I am not well versed in Greek cuisine. My knowledge prior to residency consisted of Greek salad, Souvlaki, Pitas and Tzatziki and little of the intricacies of Mediterranean food nor the contexts in which they became so popular. However with such a vibrant Greek population in Winnipeg and so many working in pediatrics, I have had the honour and pleasure to see Mediterranean art, taste its food and explore its culture. With that, I knew I had to frequent the typical Greek restaurants in town, starting with Nikos.

Nikos is a well known popular Greek joint on Corydon Avenue. Consistently ranked as one of the best Mediterranean restaurants in the city, Nikos was also a staple amongst the pediatric residents (Greek and non-Greek alike). The bright blue signage and modern white lettering make an attractive entrance and beckons one forward to its Greek delights.

The menu is extensive and features a litany of items ranging from their signature submarines sandwiches to large breakfast items to full on dinner options. Reading about the restaurant and perusing through the menu you get a sense of authenticity in their food; in fact, according to their website, Nikos has been family owned over the last 22 (!) years.

A majority of Urbanspoon patrons seem to swear by the Avgolemono Soup, a chicken and lemon based broth soup filled with chicken breast and rice. The initial spoonful provided an overwhelming tart lemon-y flavour, almost rendering any other flavours null. However, after a few more bites my tastebuds adapted to the tartness and began to appreciate the hint of salt, a playful amount of sugar and the creaminess of the rice. In fact, by the end I was unashamedly shoveling the addictive soup down.

Wanting to try a variety of things I ordered the Roast Lemon Chicken Dinner. It started off with a "Authentic" Greek Salad which was, in fact, the North American version featuring lettuce, cucumbers, a wedge of tomato, onions and feta in a olive oil vinaigrette. I was rather disappointed by the authenticity of the salad but had no qualms with the taste and portion size.
 

The dinner includes Roast Lemon Chicken, Roast Lemon Potatoes and Pita Bread. Nikos here does not skimp on the protein and delivers three large pieces of tender roast chicken. The chicken had a nice lemon-y aroma and a hint of rosemary and sage on the semi-crisp outside while juicy and tender on the inside. Although tasty I did find the tartness of the lemon a little overpowering, especially after the initial overload of lemon flavour in the soup.

The potatoes here were excellent with a beautiful flaky tenderness and a sharp rosemary aroma. Again the major flavour here was of lemon, but I did not mind it here as the creamy dull potatoes needed a strong counteracting taste. The pitas were as you would expect, warm and toasty.

Overall Niko's offers solid Greek cuisine and is easily one of my recommended restaurants for anyone looking for Mediterranean cuisine. I feel they went overboard with the liberal use of lemon and would have appreciated a more balanced attack of Greek flavours, but they nevertheless offer tasty, large portions at reasonable prices.