Maxime Restaurant and Lounge 1131 St. Mary’s Rd
204-257-1521 / 204-257-1526
info@maximesrestaurant.ca
http://www.maximesrestaurant.ca/
July, 2010
Since I first attended university back in 1986, the name Maxime floated around as one of Winnipeg’s great restaurants. I remember waiting in line every time I wanted to dine there. The restaurant was always busy and everyone walked out with a smile. The servers flitted busily while the owner hustled around and ensured that everything ran just right. How would this cornerstone stand up 24 years later?
The exterior looks identical to how I remembered it, way back when. A surge of memories floods my mind as we walk through the doors and see that the interior décor hasn’t changed one iota either. There’s no line-up but it’s also Canada Day so I expect many diners to revel at one of the activity hubs, rather than settle for a cosy dinner indoors. I would never infer from the name Maxime that this is a Greek restaurant, but the statues of Greek Gods and the Ionic columns seem to indicate otherwise. Theme adornments stand the test of time but décor styles come and go. Today’s restaurants have square lines with black and grey dominance, and you’ll rarely find a new restaurant that boldly features wood panels, stained glass and red vinyl seating (think Rae & Jerry’s). Maxime boasts this assemblage, and without the Gods and columns, it would very date, but as is, the place doesn’t feel dated or old.
I expect the menu to teem with Greek offerings but aside from three souvlaki dishes, the menu presents the typical continental fare with a smattering of Italian. The adequate wine list gives you the expected selections; you’ll find something of interest but nothing unusual.
The meal starts with a sourdough and a pumpernickel bun, both steaming hot and fresh from the oven. The light and fluffy bread leaves you wanting for more, but alas, you only get one per person. Pity.
The only regular soup is baked onion although a special accompanies it every day. Today’s beef barley is a little puzzling to me. With the first sip, I found my mouth shrivelling up, much like a slug sprinkled with salt. A lot of bad restaurants prepare their soup in the morning and let it simmer through the day. By the time dinner rolls around, the reduction tastes so salty, it would melt ice on your driveway. Giving it another try, the second sip tastes a lot less salty and by the time the third sip comes around, I find the soup perfectly balanced. Odd. Regardless, the carrots taste a little soft, but not soggy by any means. The plentiful beef tastes perfectly tender and the barley adds the contrast to texture. Good stuff.
The fresh salad has the usual vegetables, although a few of the leaves were larger than bite-sized, unless you have a t-rex mouth. The lemon dressing with poppy seed reveals little hint of lemon but plenty of sweetness. I like the texture of poppy seeds and would have liked to see a few more, but overall, this is nice dressing. Ordering lemon, you expect a tart, rather than sweet dressing, so if that’s what you want, be warned.
Maxime offers a number of steaks (and prime rib on the weekends). The strip comes with either mushrooms or in a peppercorn sauce, and they don’t skimp on the peppercorns. I find the sauce a little overwhelming, mostly because the searing of the steak isn’t strong enough to hold up to the peppercorns. The steak comes exactly as order, telling me that their grill isn’t putting out enough BTUs. This is a good effort, considering that Maxime doesn’t profess to be a steakhouse.
Maxime offers a considerable selection of Italian dishes so I have high expectations. The veal parmesan comes with a nicely breaded and cheesed veal, with an optional side of spaghetti in marinara sauce. The marinara comes from fresh, crushed tomatoes, where you can taste the freshness out of the fruit. While the composition of marinara spreads across a wide spectrum of interpretations, you normally expect an herbed tomato sauce with onions, garlic and parsley as constants. Alas, the only thing I taste out of Maxime’s sauce is tomato. This good sauce has the potential to be a great sauce, but it falls a little short. The accompanying spaghetti comes ideally al dente, and considering the mountain of spaghetti that they give you, even the last strand on the bottom remains firm. Excellent. Although the spaghetti comes perfectly cooked, they overcooked the veal, which ends up dry and almost hard, even among the drooping cheese.
Twenty-five years ago, when Winnipeg had a lot fewer restaurants than it has now, I see how Maxime would have stood among the favourites. In today’s world, Winnipeg restaurants pop up like mosquitoes and you need the sharpest stinger to catch the finickier-than-ever dining crowd. You can easily tell that Maxime takes great care in what they do and what they prepare, and (whom I presume to be) the owner continues to peck around the dining room to ensure that everything runs smoothly. Maxime has superb fundamentals, making for a solid base around which to build great food, but I recommend that they research into some new and innovative ways to jazz up their meals. The retro ambiance can stay, but the food should be current.
***½ /5
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