Dining in Winnipeg – blog #1

Hu’s on First
Last week I had the opportunity to dine around Winnipeg while visiting with my family. Each time I visit it seems that there are more and better restaurants to choose from. This time we visited ‘Hu’s on First’ an Asian bistro located above the Winnipeg Goldeyes Baseball Club in CanWest Global Park. We had a late lunch in-between the downtown lunch and after-work crowds so had our pick of a comfortable booth and attentive service. The restaurant has at least 200 seats with an open kitchen and an area for outdoor dining and game watching. Being early November the patio and the ball park were closed but there was still a crew member riding around on a John Deere cutting stripes into the playing field keeping the view from the restaurant well maintained.

Lots of Choice on the Large Menu
The menu included Chinese, Thai, Vietnamese and other Asian options and we chose the Appetizer Trio to start. The vegetarian egg rolls were delicious as were the pot stickers. I am not generally a fan of pot stickers but the combination of chicken, shiitake mushrooms, water chestnuts and black bean hoisin sauce gently fried , not deep-fried, was just right. The five spice dry ribs were a bit too salty but went down well with a Shanghai Lemonade. After the large portion of appys and too many main course items to choose from we stuck to the lunch size menu of salads and rice or noodle bowls. I had the Cashew Chicken Bowl with brown rice, mushrooms, red peppers and broccoli, hold the green onions. The portion was large and just a bit spicy (rated with one flame) from the delicious and thick chili bean sauce. My mom chose the Beef Chow Fun with wide rice noodles, snow peas, red peppers and black bean sauce, topped with bean sprouts while my sister chose the BBQ Chicken Salad topped with dried wontons. All of the meals were great and there were enough leftovers for the next day. The wine list was large but as expected in Winnipeg had very little Canadian content with only one BC and one Ontario bottle.

Final Thoughts
We will definitely go back again, likely on my next visit, as the menu is large enough with enough interesting options for both vegetarians and meat-lovers. It would be great to either sit outside and catch a ballgame or come with a group and sit at the large table in the kitchen surrounded by bamboo.

FOOD – Great, Service – GOOD, Atmosphere – GOOD

Check back tomorrow for Blog #2 – Dining in Winnipeg