PARK CAFE
Neighbourhood: Tuxedo
Address: 330 Assiniboine Park Drive
Phone: 204-927-6080
Entrees: $10 – $19
Overlooking the lush setting within Assiniboine Park from behind expansive wall of windows inside the beautiful Qualico Family Centre, dining at the Park Café is as close to a picnic as one can get while still eating indoors.
The nature-steeped experience begins before even entering the restaurant. Driving the city’s largest park’s winding lanes and passing by Ultimate players and a duck pond puts anyone in a vacay state of mind. A look up reveals the building’s “green roof”, a living mass of indigenous prairie grasses representative of the region’s vegetation.
Inside, a sloping ceiling and natural tones draw the eye to the main design feature of the space, the floor-to-ceiling windows that create a sunny space enclosed by views of greenery. Seats on the treed patio hidden behind the dining room surround diners in nature with a fireplace view.
This al fresco feeling purveys with the menu’s fresh takes on café classics—benedicts, burgers, sandwiches—upgraded with inspired twists. Breakfast and lunch offerings present a selection of bright dishes that range from indulgent comfort food to feel good fare. Those on the clean eating bandwagon are rewarded with spinach greens topped with strawberries, creamy house made cottage cheese and candied pecans baked to sweet crispness.
A riff on the veggie burger delivers another good-for-you punch, every bit as filling as its meaty counterparts. A sweet potato and black bean patty, bound with quinoa, is the basis for flavourful toppings including a pile of parsnip crisps, tangy apple chutney, and pickled onion for zip. Like all burgers on the menu, the masterpiece is arranged artfully on an onion bun.
There’s room for indulgence here, too. Ocky Way poutine, dripping with gravy and molten cheese curds from Manitoba’s own Bothwell cheese is amped up with harissa spiced chicken and a generous drizzle of Middle Eastern style garlic sauce. Eggs benedict is presented in four ways, each decadent. Tuck into the house cured, smoked salmon, rich with buttery hollandaise and crisp fried potatoes and channel the superfood indulgence to fuel a jog around the park.
