Eddie D. 204 Eats

Large Beef and Lamb Shawarma from Shawarma Khan. I’m very glad that another shawarma place had opened in Winnipeg. If you don’t know what a shawarma is, shawarmas are a Middle Eastern-style preparation of meat (usually beef, lamb, turkey, veal, chicken, and other mixed meats) are hung and on a vertical spit, and can be grilled throughout the whole day. The meats are shaved off and placed on a plate with accompaniments, or in a pita bread as a wrap. I’ve had shawarmas before, at my favourite shawarma place “Shawarma Time” on the corner of Ellice Avenue and Maryland Street (I had wroted a previous blog on their shawarmas, and they have some of the best shawarmas in the city. Check this place out!). Shawarma Khan Restaurant is located on the corner of McDermot Avenue and Albert Street, and had just opened recently by CFL footballer Obby Khan of the Calgary Stampeders (formerly played for our Winnipeg Blue Bombers). I’m glad this place is so close to my work in the downtown and Exchange district area. I had decided to give their beef and lamb shawarma wrap a try. You can get them in a regular size, large size, or as a platter. No, I didn’t go for regular size, I always go for large! Obby Khan was working the till at the time when I walked in, and he’s super friendly to all of his customers there. After taking your order„ an employee will then shave off some of the beef and lamb meat from the vertial spit and place them onto your pita bread along with some veggies and sauces, and then they would warm it up under a press for about 10 or so seconds. And wow, this large pita is huge! It is roughly a foot long, and the price is not bad ($8.99. For a regular size, only $5.99!). The shaved meat tasted delicous. It also has some tomatoes, lettuce, onions, and pickled turnip. But my favourite part of the shawarma wrap are the sauces. It had Tzatziki sauce in it, but there is other sauce that had a tangy, sweet flavour to it. Too bad I had forgotten to ask the staff for some hot sauce. I am anxious to try out their chicken shawarma wrap next time very soon, and very curious to try out their tabouleh salad. If you’re working in the downtown or Exchange district area, give this place a try. Winnipeg definitely needs more shawarma places. Price: $5.99 for regular, $8.99 for large, and $11.99 for a platter.

The Chocolate Corrupto from Corrientes Argentine Pizzeria. Apparently more South American restaurants have been opening up lately in downtown on Bannatyne Avenue. First we have Hermanos South American-style restaurant and lounge, and then there’s Corrientes Argentine Pizzeria. And now a Brazilian restaurant is currently being built in the Waterfront area. Anyways, Corrientes Argentine Pizzeria just recently announced on their Facebook page their newest dessert added to their menu, so I decided to try it out. This new dessert is called the Chocolate Corrupto. It consist of a scoop of whipped cream, a scoop of white chocolate mousse, a scoop of DARK chocolate mousse, and my favourite, a scoop of Dulce De Leche ice cream. Each of these scoops is served on top of a piece of dark chocolate, and topped with cocoa and shaved dark chocolate bits. It is brought to you with an icy cold plate. Even my waitress told me to eat this dessert right away before it melts, haha (note to self: more eating, less taking pictures). Dulce De Leche is translated as “sweetened milk”, and it is a caramelized sweetened milk. It is also served with Dulce De Leche dipping sauce, and you can either dip your dessert or you can drizzle it on top. My waitress recommended eating the dessert with a cup of espresso, single or double shot, with or without sugar and cream. So I ordered a double shot of espresso without the cream and sugar. My personal favourite part is the Dulce De Leche ice cream, followed by the white chocolate mousse, since I’ve always favoured white chocolate over dark chocolate. The Dulce De Leche ice cream is very tasty caramel flavour to it. NOw try and break off a piece of dark chocolate underneath and have your spoon filled with the dark chocolate piece and the ice cream of your choice, and dip it in the Dulce De Leche dipping sauce. Now take a bite, AND then take a sip of espresso. Wow, you will be impressed with all the flavours bombarding all over your palate! I love this interesting dessert from Corrientes, and was glad that I’ve had the opportunity to try it out, especially the Dulce De Leche. Check it out! Price: $12.00.

Chivito El Plato from Hermanos. This was my first time setting foot in this restaurant. I pass by this restaurant zillions of times since my place of employment is just right across the street on Bannatynne Avenue. Alot of my coworkers have told me many times that I should check out this place. Well, I finally paid this place a visit, and I love it! I went here with a group of my closest friends, one of them also works with me. This is a South American style restaurant. I’ve tried Argentinian-style pizza (from Corrientes Pizzeria, just down the street, will blog it someday!), so I guess this will be my second time trying some South American style eats. What caught my eye in the menu was the Chivito El Plato. Once it was brought to our table, I was amazed by the huge portion (it’s always a good thing in my blog, haha). It consists of a 6 oz. New York strip steak, with smoked ham on top, and on top of that, and some smoked bacon on top of that (is your mouth watering yet? because that’s just part of the whole dish), some provolone cheese, onions, olives, and a fried egg sprinkled with chopped parsley. Oh, I also noticed that there’s a layer of banana peppers underneath the steak, and underneath all of this: a bed of homemade fries. Love the crispiness of the fries, the banana peppers add a little spicy flavour to this whole dish. And the ham, provolone cheese, bacon, and  the egg yolk drenching this dish, it is a definite party in your mouth with each bite. You get your moneys worth with this dish, especially with the huge portion served here. This is the only dish I tried here, but everytime I think about Hermanos, this is the only dish I want to order the next time I come here. This is definitely a must-try, and you will not be disappointed! Price: $17.00.

Molten Lava Chocolate Souffle from Joeys Polo Park. For the longest time I’ve always wanted to blog about a dessert with chocolate in it. And here it is, my first chocolate dessert for my food blog. I love this dessert from Joey’s. Another favourite dessert of mine from Joey’s is their Baked Apple Pie, but I’ll save that for next time. Trust me, the Molten Lava Chocolate Souffle is a must-try! This lava chocolate souffle has hot, ooey-gooey melted chocolate, along with white vanilla ice cream right beside it, it is an excellent combo with the dark brown dessert. :)  Along with raspberry coulis on the side, this tasty raspberry puree decorated with raspberries compliments this dessert even more. And it’s topped off with a small sprinkle of powdered sugar. Try adding the chocolate souffle, ice cream, and a raspberry to your spoon and take a bite…..it’ll make you not want to share this dessert with anyone else. Next time you stop by Joey’s, order this dessert. Expect more dessert blogs here, this is just the beginning. Price: $7.99.

Mayan Salad with Chipotle Mango Chicken and Asiago Crisps, from Moxie’s MTS Centre. My #1 salad at Moxie’s has always been the Santorini Greek Salad with grilled Salmon. But now, the Mayan  Salad with Chipotle Mango Chicken is my NEW #1 favourite! This salad is mixed with black beans, chopped lettuce, corn, chopped tomatoes, shredded cheddar cheese, topped with slices of Chipotle Mango chicken and 2 asiago sticks. Picture a chicken burrito, but without the burrito wrapper, lol. The salad has a tangy taste to it, with the chipotle chicken adding a tiny bit of spice to it. The portion is huge too, which is always a bonus for me. Half of the time I will put a bit of salad and a small piece of chicken onto the asiago stick, and then take a bite. Now that’s a party in your mouth right there! My server also suggested to add avocado next time, which I will definitely try and I come back to Moxie’s. Another must-try salad from Moxie’s. Price: $13.99.

Mexican Breakfast from Stella’s Cafe. Stella’s Cafe have six different locations. Pick one, any will do. The one I went to is probably the first one in the city, on Sherbrook St. Their bakery is right beside their cafe, with freshly made bread, cookies, jam, any pastry you can think of. Me and my sister stopped by there just to check it out, then we headed over to the cafe next door. For the longest time I wanted to  check out Stella’s, ever since I passed by their 4 different locations hundreds of times around the city. I looked up their menu multiple times, and I’ve been curious about their Mexican breakfast. Finally, I had the opportunity to try it out, since it says on their website “Stella’s favourite!”. They serve breakfast all day, check out their website “www.stellas.ca”. This breakfast consists of sunny side eggs served on top of corn tortillas and refried beans, topped with cheddar cheese, green onions & tomato. It is also served with salsa, guacamole, cilantro sauce & hash browns on the side. It is an interesting breakfast. I loved every bit of it! The cilantro and guacamole is delicious. It is similar to the Huervo Rancho breakfast that I use to enjoy at another Mexican restaurant in Winnipeg that closed down, but I loved this kind of Mexican breakfast with sunny side eggs on corn tortillas. I’m definitely coming back to Stella’s, there’s alot of dishes I wanna try out from there. They have been here in Winnipeg for quite some time and they have expanded, and because of their reputation I now and anxious to try their other dishes from their menus. Price: $9.45.

Japadog from Blu Fish Sushi Restaurant. Japadogs have finally arrived in Winnipeg, it’s about time. The Japadogs were a huge hit in Vancouver. Thanks to Blufish sushi restaurant, now Winnipeg can enjoy these Japanese hotdogs. When ordering the Japadog at Blufish restaurant you can choose either beef, pork, chicken, or vegetarian wieners. Next you choose your sauces from Bluefish bbq sauce, teriyaki sauce, or sweet mayo sauce.  I chose the chicken wieners topped with teriyaki sauce. You have a choice of 3 toppings, out of 10 toppings to choose from. The 3 toppings I chose are tempura crumbs,  wakame seaweed (don’t get seaweed stuck in your teeth!), and Japanese-style egg omelette called Tamagoyaki. The Japadogs are not bad, it’s something different from the typical hotdogs. Imagine hotdogs with a unique twist with seeweed, tempura crumbs and teriyaki sauce instead if the typical ketchup, relish, and sauerkraut.  The crunchiness of the tempura crumbs made this hotdog fun to eat. Along with the sweet flavour of the teriyaki sauce this hotdog is delicious. If you decide to order a combo, it comes with either a canned drink, or with Edamame beans. If you’re looking for something different from your typical hotdogs, give Japadogs a try. Price: $8.00 for Japadog, $6.25 for Combo (with canned drink or Edamame beans), for extra toppings add $1.00.

The Bronx Burger from Earl’s. I heard about this burger from a buddy of mine, that Earl’s have a unique burger that’s filled with onion rings. So I ordered one, despite going against my diet, at Earls on Main Street. I decided to accommodate my diet, I will replace the fries with a salad, as I usually do, and just eat half of the burger. Once the burger arrived, sure there were several onion rings in there, but I had no idea they were beer-battered onion rings! Besides the beer-battered onion rings the burger is also filled with roast garlic aioli, red pepper relish, aged white cheddar, and some rocket greens. This burger is not bad. It is a huge burger but I love the crunchiness of it. My favourite part is of course the beer-battered onion rings. I wish there was a second beef patty in there within this huge burger, but that’s just me. The salad itself is the house mixed green salad, with feta cheese, organic greens, julienne apples and candied pecans, and dressed in apple cider vinaigrette. I loved the salad, especially with the apple cider vinaigrette dressing that makes this salad tasty. Give this burger a try, the beer-battered onion rings gives a good crunch to your palate. Price: $15.75.