PRAIRIE INK RESTAURANT & BAKERY
Neighbourhood: River Heights
Address: 1120 Grant Ave
Phone: 204-975-2659
Entrees: $16 – $32
Much like a captivating story, Prairie Ink offers a plot twist to the usual café fare. Located inside McNally Robinson booksellers, the restaurant serves contemporary dishes executed with flair. Light floods from floor to ceiling windows into the spacious dining area, inviting lingering meals. A large fig tree in the corner gives the space an inviting natural outdoorsy summer feeling all year.
A glass case, visible upon entrance, is lined with cookies, fruit filled tarts and cakes –works of art procured by the house kitchen. Word to the wise: save room for dessert.
Weekends invite the brunch crowd with eggs benny and fabulous French toast, but weekdays cater to light noshing over soups, sandwiches, salads. West African peanut soup – a blend of mildly spiced sweet potato and puréed peanuts – holds a twenty-year title of house favourite, along with a stellar grilled salmon on focaccia and greens tossed with beet and goat cheese.
A penchant for healthy, local delicacies is clear on the menu, which reveals an impressive range of bistro fare. Fettuccine laced in pistachio pesto is a kicky dish brimming with a rainbow of produce; butternut squash, red onions, Brussels sprouts and cherry tomatoes – perked up with peppery arugula. Opt for the hot honey rendition and the same noodles are tossed in a hot honey cream sauce fortified with chicken, chorizo, and cashews on another pleasing plate.
Heartier appetites are cured with a selection of fresh pizzas, pastas and beautiful entrées featuring pickerel, salmon, tourtiere and Manitoba beef that shouldn’t be missed. Classics shine, like pan seared tender salmon covered in creamy Dijon sauce, which soaks into each bite.
Go with the flow and order the ginger rich carrot cake, and you’re sure to join the raving fan base with a mere few bites.
