295 Garry Street
Downtown
204-414-9040
Facebook: @FamenasFamousRotiAndCurry
January 2021
This dive sits at the base of a parkade and if you don't know what you're looking for, you can easily walk right by. If you're not familiar, this is what it looks like:
This tiny establishment has the circular core as the kitchen and the surrounding bar seating has room for less than 20. Perched at the bar, you have no choice but to talk to the staff, which (I assume) is Famena or the husband. Through numerous visits, I haven’t spent enough time to get to know the proprietors but mainly, that’s because everyone’s a regular, and everyone wants to make small talk with the owners. The place oozes with joking, jibbing and good ribbing. It’s a nice atmosphere but I’m certain that’s not why the place booms at every lunch hour.
The roti comes with various meats and vegetables, and when it comes, it’s about the size of a loaf of bread! I swear that I will come here one day with my scale and I’m certain this thing will tip it at two pounds! Be sure that you have an appetite before you come! Sorry, this photo does no justice to how big this behemoth is:
As for the contents, the sauce and ingredients have great
flavour but I would chop the chunks of meat smaller. Some of the meat can rival the size of
billiard balls. Yes, it looks impressive
that they give big chunks of meat, but it’s too much for one bite. More importantly, the larger the chunk of meat,
the harder it is for the (delicious) marinade to penetrate; half-inch cubes
would absorb a lot more flavour than two-inch cubes.
The starches make up a considerable portion of the severe mass. Some of the potato chunks rival the meat chunks in size and honestly, I don’t need that much carbo. I love chic peas but it’s almost starchy when there’s too much. You have the options of ordering with no potatoes or straight all-meat.
The vegetables are the weakest link to this franchise. It seems the snow peas see too much heat so they’re limp. Even the baby corn don’t have snap anymore and I can’t imagine how much heat you need to turn your baby corns flaccid. The broccolis taste fine but I would like to see more florets and no stem. There isn't much for veggies so they're easy to pick out.
I love the Caribbean—enough where I plan to retire there. Especially, I love jerk, although I probably wouldn’t choose to retire in Jamaica. Regardless, I know good jerk. I jerk a lot and I jerk well (ahem). Great jerk has two foundations: good marinade and good smoking. Yes, the Jamaicans use pimento wood but I think that’s easily substituted with apple wood and augmented with extra allspice in your marinade. Famena’s jerk doesn’t taste like what I expect of traditional jerk. It’s a nice flavour with a good bite, but it has a different flavour profile that I can’t quite explain. I don't like it as much as traditional jerk but it might be up your alley. Try it and find out.
If you want to stay away from the monstrous roti, you have the option of having the same goop on rice or noodles. I like noodles with sauce but I consider rice a better conduit since it has greater absorption power than noodles. Famena uses a Mexican-like rice with kidney beans. If you're not a bean fan, don't worry, there isn't a ton of it and you can easily brush them aside. By itself, the rice tastes great and with the sauce, it tastes spectacular.
Admittedly, the photo here doesn't make the dish look very appetising so you need to have faith that this curry chicken tastes out-of-this-world good.
This hefty dish comes with four full pieces of boneless, skinless white meat. As a chef, I do not use white meat very often because it overcooks very easily and becomes bone dry. Even doused in sauce, an overcooked chicken breast tastes dusty. The obvious way to overcome this culinary-trap is to ensure that you cut the heat as soon as your meat hits temperature (160F). The other way is to overcook it in liquids until the proteins break.
That's what you get here--chicken that's either been boiled in sauce or braised until it's just ready to shred. Any more heat and it falls apart (like in gumbos), and any less, the proteins would still hold the dryness. Famena does this perfectly.
I include this photo to show you the size of the container this dish comes in. The container measures a full 6cm high (2 1/2 inches), twice the size of the usual Chinese take-out container. Even for a big eater like me, there is enough for two meals here.
See the little container in front? That's Famena's famous (to its patrons) hot sauce. It's not your average hot sauce so don't spread it as readily as you would sriracha--it has a powerful kick, but it also has great flavour. You can also buy the sauce by the bottle.
Under normal circumstances, if you want to hang out with
the regulars, come at lunch. If you want
to get to known the owners better, come mid-afternoon. Either way, come by because there’s good food
and great company to be had here. Sadly, in the heart of the COVID lock-down, take-out is all that's available. Just call ahead and they can have your order ready in as little as 10 minutes. Famena also subscribes to Door Dash, but please consider calling directly instead. Third-party delivery companies take a huge cut of the restaurant's profits, despite charging you for delivery already. Those companies are a disgrace and Skip the Dishes is the worst, taking 30% off the top.
I spoke with the owners and they're not afraid to say that COVID has put them in peril. They need the business so this is a call to action to help out this Winnipeg staple. When you talk about mom-and-pop restaurants, this is it. This is a mom-and-pop (not sure if they actually have kids) trying to run a local business. They are in trouble and I would really hate to see them disappear. Famena's is a true local gem.
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 @RayYuenRestaurantReview. As usual, thanks for reading and good food to you!
Certified Kansas City Barbecue Society Judge – Badge #97736
Certified Steak Cook-off Association Judge – Badge #7788
Canadian Barbecue Society Member
Comments
Post a Comment