435 Pembina
Highway
204-453-3012
April, 2026
This is one
of those restaurants that you’ve likely driven by a thousand times but never
thought of entering—unless you already knew about it. We’ve been here many times, and every time we’re here, we need to wait to be seated. It’s not a
long wait but regardless, there’s always a small lineup at the door. That tells
you how popular they are and how far their reputation stretches.
The widespread
formula in Winnipeg repeats here: Greek family serves great Greek food but banks on
the popularity of their classic North American dishes: burgers, pizzas and
Western breakfasts.
They serve
breakfast all day and obviously, the breakfast menu is a hit because our early lunches here
see many regulars lounging around long after finishing their trite bacon, eggs and toast.
According to the menu, the standard omelette comes with three eggs. The first time I had it, it felt like three emu eggs—seriously, the meal came like the size of a loaf of bread. The Veggie Omelette comes with onions, mushrooms, green peppers and tomatoes. I don’t see a lot of onions, and there are a couple of chunks of tomatoes. As you can see in the photo, there’s a generous spread of green peppers and oodles of mushrooms. It’s more chopped-up than normal, more resembling a Chinese egg fu yung than a rolled omelette. It’s a simple meal but done very well.
The
breakfast comes with toast and hash browns. There are probably two potatoes'
worth of hash browns here, pan-fried over high heat with some lovely, crunchy,
charred bits.
Next outing, I don't want to overload on starch, so I try the omelette with back bacon, mushrooms and
cheese and forego the hashbrowns. Instead, they offer to substitute with slices of tomatoes, which instantly adds a vegetable injection to this dish.
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As you can
see in this photo, it comes with lots of meat and a nice sprinkling of
mushrooms. This time, we look more like a rolled omelette, rather than fu yung.
The infusion of cheese adds a lovely boost of body.
When in a
Greek restaurant, you have to try a Greek dish and there’s nothing more
fundamental than the Greek Salad. The full portion comes with massive mounds of
fresh lettuce in a wonderful, rich homemade dressing. I see just enough olives
to add a zing and plenty of huge chunks of feta (pronounced fay-tah) cheese. An
abundance of onions adds lovely zest.
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Mains come
with a variety of sides and their soups taste wonderful. The chicken noodle
today comes with big pieces of pasta, nice shreds of chicken and chunky pieces
of vegetables. They all blend together with the lovely broth to make a hearty,
homey start to your meal.
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If you’re
more of a traditionalist, the steak comes nicely grilled. The cuts aren’t thick
compared to the steakhouses where people pride themselves on gluttony while
gnawing on a slab that’s 4cm high. Despite being modest in thickness, it comes
cooked to order at a lovely medium-rare. The side fries taste a touch greasy, but they hold some crunch with a spongy core. The slaw leans towards the acidic
side, rather than the sweet side, but swims in a nice dressing.
The pizzas
come loaded with gooey cheese, reaching 1 cm thick in places. The menu lists
the Garwood Special with pepperoni, mushrooms, onions, green peppers, and back
bacon. From the photo, you see huge pieces of back bacon, although I don’t see
much for pepperoni. I would like to see a bit more vegetables, especially the
green pepper, which not only adds flavour, but colour to the presentation. I
would also like to find a bit more tomato sauce; it seems like just a light, painted-on coating on the crust. The crust itself feels quite soggy but I imagine that’s
the result of the grease seeping through from the mound of cheese—and I like
that just fine.
This is a
wonderful restaurant known for monstrous portions, very good food, and
extremely friendly service. We keep coming back for all those reasons and if
you haven’t been here yet, you really need to try.
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
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