Fionn
MacCool’s
204-654-0008
Perhaps
it’s the return of the Winnipeg Jets, perhaps it’s the opening of the Canadian
Human Museum of Human Rights, perhaps it’s the expansion of the Convention
Centre, perhaps it’s a combination of events but suddenly, multinational
restaurant chains are exploding into every neighbourhood. While it’s great to have more representation
and variety, unfortunately it takes away from those local restaurants that hang
on by a tread. It seems that name and
recognition trump heart and soul every time.
I don’t want
to leave the wrong impression—not all chains are bad. Some have great food but some serve awful,
awful slop and people continue to line up at the sties—but that’s another
discussion. To continue this rant,
follow: http://squidthecook.blogspot.ca/2013/01/commentary-local-vs-chain.html
Onto the
business at hand, the Fisher’s Chowder comes with a cheese scone, which still
hums with warmth from the oven. It’s
quite solid though and judging by the size of the portions here, you might
consider leaving the scone alone. The
rich soup broth tastes wonderfully complex and the plentiful bits of celery add
to the depth. There isn’t too much
potato, which is often a trick restaurants use in gunking up their soups. I would like to see a bit more fish and I’m
glad to see clams in the fisher’s chowder.
There’s enough flavour in these clams to tell me that they’re not all
from cans.
The mains
are hit and miss. On the miss side, Ma’s
Crispy Chicken surpassed crispy a long time ago—it spent enough time in oil to
be dry and borderline leathery. The
accompanying rainbow slaw in honey mustard seems to be missing honey and
mustard. The vegetables taste fresh and
crisp but it seems like there’s barely any dressing at all. The creamed corn tastes good but it’s an odd
combination. The bowl of corn looks and
tastes like it’s the result of immersing your corn into gravy. If you’re a corn purist, you’ll hate this,
but if you like all of your foods oozing into each other on the plate, this
tastes just fine.
The Fish
& Chips come with the same rainbow slaw and thick-cut fries. These massive fry sticks hold lots of
potato. If you like chewing on starch, these
fries are for you—but if you prefer crunching fry sticks with lots of surface
area, these definitely won’t impress you.
The well-prepared cod retains its firmness within the crispy beer
batter. I’m not sure what Dungloe Sauce
is but it tastes suspiciously like tartar sauce, with lots of chunky pickles.
The huge
and meaty Lamb Shank comes moist and delicious.
Unfortunately, there isn’t a lot of sauce to go with it; I would love to
have had some of the braising liquids for both the meat and the potatoes. By itself, the buttermilk mashed potato
tastes rich and creamy but I love the sauce so much, I want to slather it over
everything. There isn’t a whole lot of
mashed potatoes but the mounds of grilled vegetables make up for it. I’m not normally a fan of zucchini but the
grilled slices tastes wonderful.
If you have
room for dessert, Fionn makes everything on site. The French Vanilla Ice Cream tastes rich and
buttery on its own, but it tastes so much better when coupled with the crispy,
Dark Chocolate Brownies.
MacCool
just opened this week so I can forgive some of the opening day jitters. The servers are friendly, helpful and
attentive, but there are stretches when they’re gone for a long time. As far as chains go, they could take some
lessons from Earl’s but they’re heads and shoulders above Olive Garden.
*** /5
(extra half because of opening week)
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