J & H Restaurant
2635 Portage Ave
204-888-4968
March, 2017
Growing up in St. James/Western Winnipeg means that Portage Avenue acts as your major conduit to access the rest of the city. Cruising down Portage, you cannot help by witness the bright yellow sign that draws your eyes to J&H.
Having visited hundreds of restaurants in my lifetime, I start to see some patterns. Often, when you see a vintage sign such as this, surrounded by flashing holiday lights (with a requisite few burnt out), sitting atop an awning, you have certain expectations. First, this is mom & pop kind of place that's been around for ages. Second, you expect the place to be a bit on the divey side. Finally, the owners probably love what they're doing and they'll be very happy to see you enter their doors.
We hit on all three today. This restaurant certainly isn't a grand, palatial dining room but it's comfortable enough, roomy and clean. The decor reminds me of relatives' homes in my youth and it's in desperate need of updating but that's a minor issue.
Several friendly faces greet us as we open the door. I still can't believe how eager and willing-to-please every member of the staff here is. Putting on this much greeting and good will would certainly cause me to collapse within minutes.
I firmly believe in eating what you specialise in. Even though there's no indication from the sign or the name of the restaurant, this is a Greek establishment and Greek is what I'll have.
The Greek salad comes with the usual fare, lettuce, olives, plenty of tomatoes and notably feta cheese.
Aside: remember the old commercial "it's betta with feta?" That shameful commercial caused an entire population to mis-pronounce the word. Feta is a Greek letter, like beta, eta, theta and zeta. These Greek letters are all pronounced with the root "ay-tah," not "et-tah." The correct pronunciation of the cheese is "fay-tah" cheese.
Curious that they slap on a slab of cheese, rather than bust it up and incorporate it through the salad. Cheese is cheese I suppose but trying to break it up in a small bowl teeming with vegetables provides quite a challenge.
All the vegetables come bright, fresh and crisp. There more dressing than necessary, leaving a pool at the bottom of the bowl. Otherwise, this enjoyable salad is a good way to welcome the main.
I asked for the beef and lamb gyros, which comes with a choice of potatoes. I opt for the fries with the addition of gravy.
I like that the gyros comes wrapped in foil, which gives me plenty of opportunity to savour the fries while it stays warm.
You can't tell from the image but the fries sticks are huge! If you like the taste and texture of potatoes, these are definitely for you as each stick holds enough heft to allow you to taste starch. They obviously cut the potatoes on site, which guarantees the fries to be fresh and not frozen.
The gravy has bits in it, which is always a good sign. The best gravy comes from deglazing pans and that's what I suspect is here. Both the fries and the gravy could use some seasoning, both salt and pepper, but aside from that, this side is superb.
This is an unbiased, free public service that I am happy to provide. If you enjoy these reviews, please consider clicking on the accompanying ads. This is the only compensation I receive.
For continuous updates, please follow me on Facebook @Ray Yuen's Winnipeg Restaurant Reviews or Twitter @food_winnipeg. As usual, thanks for reading and good food to you!
2635 Portage Ave
204-888-4968
March, 2017
Growing up in St. James/Western Winnipeg means that Portage Avenue acts as your major conduit to access the rest of the city. Cruising down Portage, you cannot help by witness the bright yellow sign that draws your eyes to J&H.
Having visited hundreds of restaurants in my lifetime, I start to see some patterns. Often, when you see a vintage sign such as this, surrounded by flashing holiday lights (with a requisite few burnt out), sitting atop an awning, you have certain expectations. First, this is mom & pop kind of place that's been around for ages. Second, you expect the place to be a bit on the divey side. Finally, the owners probably love what they're doing and they'll be very happy to see you enter their doors.
We hit on all three today. This restaurant certainly isn't a grand, palatial dining room but it's comfortable enough, roomy and clean. The decor reminds me of relatives' homes in my youth and it's in desperate need of updating but that's a minor issue.
Several friendly faces greet us as we open the door. I still can't believe how eager and willing-to-please every member of the staff here is. Putting on this much greeting and good will would certainly cause me to collapse within minutes.
I firmly believe in eating what you specialise in. Even though there's no indication from the sign or the name of the restaurant, this is a Greek establishment and Greek is what I'll have.
The Greek salad comes with the usual fare, lettuce, olives, plenty of tomatoes and notably feta cheese.
Aside: remember the old commercial "it's betta with feta?" That shameful commercial caused an entire population to mis-pronounce the word. Feta is a Greek letter, like beta, eta, theta and zeta. These Greek letters are all pronounced with the root "ay-tah," not "et-tah." The correct pronunciation of the cheese is "fay-tah" cheese.
Curious that they slap on a slab of cheese, rather than bust it up and incorporate it through the salad. Cheese is cheese I suppose but trying to break it up in a small bowl teeming with vegetables provides quite a challenge.
All the vegetables come bright, fresh and crisp. There more dressing than necessary, leaving a pool at the bottom of the bowl. Otherwise, this enjoyable salad is a good way to welcome the main.
I asked for the beef and lamb gyros, which comes with a choice of potatoes. I opt for the fries with the addition of gravy.
I like that the gyros comes wrapped in foil, which gives me plenty of opportunity to savour the fries while it stays warm.
You can't tell from the image but the fries sticks are huge! If you like the taste and texture of potatoes, these are definitely for you as each stick holds enough heft to allow you to taste starch. They obviously cut the potatoes on site, which guarantees the fries to be fresh and not frozen.
The gravy has bits in it, which is always a good sign. The best gravy comes from deglazing pans and that's what I suspect is here. Both the fries and the gravy could use some seasoning, both salt and pepper, but aside from that, this side is superb.
This is an unbiased, free public service that I am happy to provide. If you enjoy these reviews, please consider clicking on the accompanying ads. This is the only compensation I receive.
For continuous updates, please follow me on Facebook @Ray Yuen's Winnipeg Restaurant Reviews or Twitter @food_winnipeg. As usual, thanks for reading and good food to you!
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