The most anticipated release since Beta 2 in my books.
Maybe now I can finally play Call of Duty 4...I mean...test software and hardware compliance with this new OS
http://www.microsoft.com/windows/windows-7/download.aspx
I wonder also how the winxp emulation holds up..
So it has been a while since I blogged. But that is partly due to work, a final, a wedding I attended and overall summer just moving on by.
However, word on facebook suggested that the third restaurant to the Wasabi franchise opened up. So I decided to check it out for myself and see what they had to offer.
It is Wasabi Sabi which located on 4-1360 Taylor Avenue. It just opened Friday 08/08/08. So it is very new. The official grand opening is slated in September sometime.
If you are not familiar with the location, it is at the end of the La Grotta Mediterranean Market as it was an extension added to the building.
When you first walk in, it has a nice interior with tiled walls and a small reception area, there is a nice side couch with pillows for waiting to be seated, and an extra room which I assume is for waiting as well.
I went with a friend and we were greeted kindly by the server which I did not catch his name but he sported a blonde faux hawk and was very knowledgeable about the food as well was very kind.
Being that it was our first time, he gave us a nice tour of the restaurant, and told us a little about the history of the architecture. They had nice carved cherry blossom trees on the metal slabs for some of the dividing walls. It was very nice. There is a mezzanine type area, which is on the second floor which allows for if the bottom floor is filled up. It is an open kitchen style and has very nice lighting which allows you to see the sushi chefs make their masterpieces.
The bar looks very nice as well, as you walk in it is the first area you pass before being seated. It is a rectangular shape layout where half of it is the front entrance, waiting area, and bar, the other half is shared by the kitchen is in the middle and seating all around. There is the mezzanine on the second floor and at the back there are the washrooms as well as a nice private area for larger groups with a nice sliding glass door and curtains.
The food was on the higher end side, with top of the line sushi grade sashimi, Japanese red tuna, etc.
I came in for a light snack so for starters we had
martinis, the GT Tini, and the Sashimi Snow Kitten which also had watermelon balls inside
The server also highlighted some new key menu items and suggested a Sushi Tortilla which consisted of Tuna and Salmon Sashimi topped with jalapeno, cilantro, strawberry tomatoes and onions, on a crepe, think sushi pizza. It was delicious.
That was our appetizer, we complimented that with 2 rolls which were the White Dynamite Roll and the Rogerson roll, the contents of which I cannot remember.
This was more like an evening snack so we decided that we would save other menu items for another time. Instead we decided to order a small desert to top it off. Because we were new guests within the first week, the server treated us to a nice desert consisting of brownies made in house, as well as new zealand kiwis that just came in today, and some blueberries as well as two orange slices, this was on the house and was given to us while we waited for our desert to be made. The desert we ordered was Banana Spring Rolls topped with Hot Caramel and garnished with more blueberries as well as kiwis.
All in all the restaurant is definitely a winner and worth to check out. The prices may be a bit on the higher side as I believe they try to cater high quality food vs. high quantity food for your money's worth. It is priced around your typical Earls/Joey's/Moxies/Keg price. However, it is great for groups of people, just sitting in the lounge, or going out for the once in a while snack.
Look for the Grand opening in the beginning of September, maybe they will have some enticing prices to draw a crowd but for now it is word of mouth. The hours of operation I believe are until 10pm on weekdays and 1 or 2am for the lounge. I am not too sure but they too are playing around as they are seeing by how much business they make.
Make comments if you like these food blogs I do or suggestions if you want something changed or added. If there are places that you think I should try out let me know. I am always willing to try new things.
New Media Manitoba is hosting a second Demo Camp
http://upcoming.yahoo.com/event/872446/
looks interesting, I might attend, they had hosted one in June but I missed it. This is a local media group that I have joined for receiving the email updates. I think I'm going to start going to their events
So I haven't been blogging much lately, this is due to work, school, work work, then school, then work, oh ya, sometimes I have to eat and sleep also but that seems to be coming second to the others.
Anyway, I have come across some suggestions on places to go that are 1) Delicious, for the sake of my pictures, they showcase 2) Deserts, and are very good if you perhaps want to go on 3) Dates with people, friends, girlfriends/boyfriends, etc. Hence the title of this blog entry.
Previously on the day I saw Remi at the local bar, I had gone to this place called, Inferno's Bistro, it is located on 312 Des Meurons St.
http://www.infernosbistro.com/
This nice Bistro is in the heart of St. Bonafice and it is a nice French restaurant. They have daily specials on a selection of entrees that are served to perfection. In addition, their deserts are baked, or made, daily and are immaculate in presentation as well as taste as good as they look. What is even better is that the menu is priced fair and the atmosphere is soothing. It is important however to make reservations in advance, although we did come for just desert on the spot, sometimes they have room. The dining room has two floors I believe, the servers are always glad to explain the menu and tell you how the food items are prepared, they also make sure that everything on your order is ok otherwise they can always cook a special variation to cater to your specific needs.
What I particularly like about this place is that it is very personal, it is not your typical "classy" Joey's or Moxies or even Earls where it is all the same ol same ol' the menu is franchised, and the servers could be your little sister who wore enough makeup and dressed just enough to get hired, no offence to anyone who worked there or currently does, I'm just being very blunt, in fact I worked Earls at one point myself.
Anyway this place is personal in that food items are prepared on a daily basis, specials can change, I guess depending on the souse chef's decision. Servers are well informed, and this is a place where tables do get turned frequently, but it is not surprising to see people hang out for a couple hours.
Anyway, these are the deserts we had that day and we all just ordered different ones and did a pass around kind of deal. It was great, I think it cost about 10 bucks a person just to put things in perspective.
Strawberry Bavarian Cream Pie White Chocolate Raspberry Cheesecake
Chocolate Cappuccino Cheesecake Blueberry Peach Cobbler
These were all made fresh that day. Yum! I want to go back again for some food sometime. If you ever want to go and need company just lemme know when.
Today I went to a new place that opened. It is called The Cupcakery
According to the guy cupcakes is the new begal these days, and it's all about how you want to customize your baking needs on the go.
Anyway I found out that this is a franchise of its own, it is located on 439 Stradbrook Avenue which is in the Osbourne district. This cost 8 dollars for 6 mini cupcakes. They sell two pastry flavours (chocolate, and vanilla) and 7 icings I believe in two different sizes.
The flavors were strawberry and banana on vanilla pastry and vanilla on chocolate.
If you search up the cupcakery on google
http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&rls=com.microsoft%3A*&q=the+cupcakery
There are many franchises of this sort all across North America, the most famous of which located in Las Vegas. I believe that there is a whole wack of places coming and ideas growing in Winnipeg, hopefully there are enough hungry mouths to feed. Come on, you can't expect me to eat it all :) *drools*
I saw Remi some weekends ago at a local bar. I know you subscribe to my blog...so if you are out there reading ...
In case nobody knows, Remy is a developer whom I had the pleasure to meet at DevTeach Toronto
This one goes out to you man!!
HAHAH FUN TIMES
So it was one Sunday and I decided to go to Joeys yet again. Perhaps after a couple weeks of training, the staff there will have sufficient knowledge to provide proper customer service.
Was that the case.....
I THINK NOT.
Let's start with the goods, since i missed showing pictures of the interior decor, i shall make up for that. Joeys still had a nice modern architecture, had mouth watering food, and was a nice atmosphere.
We sat in the lounge, yet again and this time Melanie came up to take our order, we ordered drinks and appetizers to start.
Earth & Surf Calamari Sweet Chili Chicken
Strawberry Lemon Drop Thai Lover Martini
Latino Mojito
As you can see the food was amazing, all of which is recommended, the strawberry lemon drop was a bit sour but the sugar on the rim of the glass was not :P
Now as I am waiting for my friend to come by and join the table, Melanie takes the order for the entrees. I ordered Ahi Tuna Club Sandwich and my friend ordered a salad if i recall correctly. It looked like she wrote it down so that was fine and dandy.
No pictures though....why might you ask??
Well after we finished our drinks and apps she MELANIE came back and took our plates and asked if we wanted to order anything else or any meals, in response to that i was like uhhh you just took our order about 20 min ago don't you remember?
She tells me to wait a sec as she checks her computer and says that something must have happened at the back or she gave some excuse that the kitchen did not receive it. HOW ABOUT, SORRY I FORGOT TO PUNCH IT IN??
at that point she asked if there was anything she could do...i took a nice pause waiting waiting...hmm this is Joeys, how about COMP our meal for your major inconvenience.....pause pause... ok so at that point I just replied "so its not even cooked yet ?" she replied "no do you want me to punch it in?" I replied "I'll just get the bill"
On the way out the greeter asked how everything was i said well our server forgot to punch in our meal, she asked if there was anything she could do to fix it. I was just so appalled by the lack of service that i replied, ya just get her to punch in our meals next time. Hmm perhaps the Joeys employees can next time just do their job? oh whoops thats a little too much to ask for because Joeys just hires a pretty face with no brains.
Perhaps the lesson to be learned is to not sit at the lounge as i have been told that the dining room is very good service. Or perhaps for Joeys to teach their employees what an American Express Card is or even better how to do their job. I've worked in the restaurant business and the lack of service in this place just makes me laugh at the supposed respectable upper-class name that the restaurant is given. A few other people I know also have had bad expereinces at that Joeys and recommend the polo park one for your dining needs.
So i'm randomly driving around on Sunday, going down Corydon to Kenaston and remember those cows all staggered on the lawn...
well to add to that I saw a bunch of Cougars and it seems like this is a common trend in Winnipeg. It was someones B-Day i guess it was a prank to some 30 year old cougar..
Be as it may i guess..
Soo, not long after I got back from Toronto DevTeach, my friend Angie, that used to live in Winnipeg, came for a visit with her boyfriend Nick. She came from Moncton, NB and they were doing the whole cross Canada east coast to west coast trip and then down south to California back east again through there. Apparently their trip was going to span 4 weeks so props to that.
On the drive back home from the airport I noticed that the new Joeys on Kenaston opened, I used to always pass by it going to work and was wondering when it would start business, it opened the Monday May 12 that I left for Toronto.
I decided why not take them for a quick snack since we were hungry and it was lunch time.
It had a nice interior as seen from this picture, this is Nick Everyone, lets all say "Hi Nick"....(pauses for echo)...behind is a view of the bar
The bar was nice we sat in the lounge with rounded semi-circle booths, the walls had some of that new modern stonage look that you may see on exteriors of expensive houses, there was a bunch of lcd's as usual, everyone was dressed in black and the servers seemed rather nervous, or at least ours. Everyone was new but I am not sure how experienced they were prior. At least at the Joeys in Polo it seems second nature to them, the server may even come sit down and chitchat with you for a bit.
Angie ordered a Thai Lover Martini, Nick some pale ale, and for myself a rum and coke + a glass of water
Thai Lover Martini
We decided since we were in a bit of a hurray we stuck to just appetizers and so we ordered the Pan Friend Gyoza, Earth & Surf Calamari, and the Club Med? correct me if I'm wrong.
Pan Fried Gyoza
Earth & Surf Calamari Club Med, with skinny fries
They all looked amazing as well as tasted very well, food was great, atmosphere was great, server was new and seemed nervous and inexperienced. Not that it was a deal breaker or anything, but what always stuck out the most was the fact that when the bill came which was in a nice leather case with American Express embroidered on it, and I handed her my AMEX, she was not sure what it was. She asked if "oh is this like a debit card or something,? .... .... or is this like a visa or somethin" I told her it was an amex. An american express much like what is on her leather case, treat it like a credit card. It wasn't that big a deal though.
However my sister went with her husband and said that in the dining room it was amazing service, to the point that they even caught them before they left after their meal and asked to make sure if the service was ok. Perhaps it could have been because the managers were working..who knows.
Everyone there looks nicely dressed, food is presented well, atmosphere is right, perhaps i will try it again in a few weeks and see how the service is.
In efforts to Take Pride Winnipeg, This is yet another great fine dining choice brought to you by me... KHAWYE!!
So I decided that I shall further extend my blog to include more than just DevTeach. I must start by saying that if it wasn't for the fact that I went to DevTeach and agreed to blog some of my experiences I probably wouldn't have made this in the first place.
But....
Now since i have a blog I figured why not just use it for everything, I mean we all already sort of blog some aspect of our lives whether it be through facebook, twitter, friendster, hi5, myspace, or whatever.
I have added new links to the blogs worth reading section, I made some categories to test out trying to organize my blog posts, for now I have two, they are Fine Dining which will dive into the exquisite cuisines that Winnipeg, Manitoba has to offer, and I also grouped all the DevTeach blogs together.
Let's see how this goes for now, I am thinking of adding another section for places to go throughout the week because as many other fellow peggers may agree, there's just not much to do here and so knowing about a few nice places to go that are fun on a specific day of the week is always good information.
I am not sure though since there are already blogs devoted to like like www.mywinnipeg.com, www.yournightyourcity.com, etc.
I was rollerblading around the neighbourhood and i stumbled across this..
I'm not sure what to comment but yea...got milk?