Fine Dining by Students in Brandon

The study hall just off the main entrance to the Manitoba Institute of Culinary Arts (MICA).

For a few years I've heard of Grey Owl Restaurant being discussed by various people.  At first, shortly after I moved to Brandon, it was a mystery to me, as I couldn't find it listed in commercial directories like the Yellow Pages.  I then learned a couple of things about Grey Owl Restaurant that explained why it seemed so elusive to me:

1. It was a restaurant operated by students of the Assiniboine Community College's (ACC) Manitoba Institute of Culinary Arts (MICA); and
2. It was a seasonal restaurant, open only for four (4) weeks in January and February of each year.

Dining Out in the House

Earlier this year I'd heard from a friend or two that Brandon had a decently authentic Chinese restaurant.  Curious, late in the winter I tried a couple of noodle dishes for take-out and found them acceptable.  I kept this place at the back of my hand, and it came handy when my parents arrived in town.  Unable to make them dinner after work, I suggested that we go to Wei Na's House for dinner.  Located in the downtown area, it was previously known as Wei Na Restaurant before it became under new ownership.

Eggplant in Yuxiang Sauce

I Shall Return

For those of you paying attention to news in Canada and specifically in Manitoba, a good portion of the province of Manitoba is dealing with a 1-in-300-year flood.  Winnipeg itself is apparently safe, but many communities west and north of Winnipeg, including my little city of Brandon, are in the flood's path.  I can say that I'm personally safe and not in harm's way, but with my working in city government I've been temporarily reassigned until further notice.  Obviously, my moments to share the joys of food must now take a back seat for a while.

I'll go back to blogging about food after the waters recede and things settle down.  Thanks for your understanding, and see you soon!

Impromptu Lunch Out

I'm usually not a spur-of-the-moment kind of person.  I like to have things figured out or planned in advance, even if only for a day, but this past weekend was pock-marked with a few spur-of-the-moment events.  One of them was having a couple of friends crashing at my place Friday night after they went for drinks at a bar near my apartment.  By the time we were all awake the following morning it was brunch/lunch time, and my fridge was not properly stocked for a homemade breakfast (chiefly, no eggs).  However, one of my friends and I learned that our other friend had never before been to Lady of the Lake, so we agreed to go there for lunch.

A Weekend of International Indulgence

So, to follow up on my last post... for Chinese New Year, with what little time I had that evening before running off for some extra-curricular activities, I made myself a dinner with two dishes, Salt and Pepper Shrimp and Braised Nappa Cabbage in Milk Sauce.  Well, my sister beat me to the post (pardon the pun) in posting about Salt and Pepper Shrimp, and since we both used the same recipe (minus the ginger juice on my part), I won't write the recipe here.

Chinese New Year and Lieutenant-Governor's Winter Festival 2011

Gung Hei Fat Choy/Gong Xi Fa Cai!  May you and yours have good health, good wealth and plenty of good fortune!

Today is the Lunar New Year and it's the beginning of another Year of the Rabbit.  My time to make dinner tonight will be limited, but I intend to make something decent to ring in the new year before I proceed to other activities tonight; expect a blog post on that.

Also, to all the Brandonites, Western Manitobans and all others able to visit Brandon this weekend, starting tonight is the 8th Annual Lieutenant-Governor's Winter Festival.  Though this year the ever popular German and Chinese pavilions may be missed, there are still thirteen pavilions across the city featuring cultures from around the world, celebrating them and sharing them with others through food, drink and entertainment.  New pavilions include the Brazilian and the Ethiopian ones, while other mainstays like the Métis, Ukrainian and Irish pavilions are back once again.  For once since I've moved here, the weather gods have heard our prayers, and the weather will be very comfortable; the only potential drawback is that many others will be more tolerant of the line-ups to enter the pavilions.  Don't let the line-ups scare you, though.  If you've never experienced this, you're missing out on something fun to do with friends and family on a mid-winter weekend.  This event runs tonight (Thursday), Friday night and Saturday from 1pm-11pm.  Yes, I'll try to take pics of my culinary adventures through these pavilions and post them here; from bison stew to perogies and beers and liquors from the featured cultures, there's plenty to tempt the tastebuds!

It's About Time!

A few of my friends already know that there are some aspects of the big city life that I've missed since moving to Brandon, one of which is fine dining. In a sense, this isn't a bad thing since I've encouraged myself to improve on my cooking, but even with dining at home my abilities to experiment are limited by what can be purchased in town or, in rarer instances, in nearby Winnipeg. Fortunately, since the opening of this one particular store in town in August, I can now enjoy some drinks from the comfort of my own home.

No Train Stations Left Downtown, but One Good Stop Exists

Until recently I haven't had the opportunity to write a review of a place to eat in Brandon, MB, now my hometown for over three years. Many of the restaurants here are either franchises or independents that cater more to the moderate price range. That said, there are nonetheless neat little independent restaurants that should earn some honourable mentions, and one of them is a recently opened sandwich shop.

Grand Central Sandwich Deli recently opened for business in the downtown core of Brandon, and as its name implies, its focus is on sandwiches. The sandwiches this place offers aren't your lunchbox-packed-by-mom types. There are various kinds avaialble combining different meats and dressings or sauces, and this place is very generous in adding on the various raw vegetables between the slices of bread. It is no doubt cheaper to make your own sandwiches, but if you especially work in the downtown area and for one reason or another you can't bring a homemade lunch with you, it is wonderful a new place like this, arguably offering generally much healthier fare than the existing restaurants downtown or other fast food joints in town. is now available as an option. Furthermore, the sandwiches here do taste homemad, unlike franchise sandwich places like Subway or Quizno's where you can taste a bit of the mass production factor in their sandwiches.

Name: Grand Central Sandwich Deli
Address: 904 Rosser Ave., Brandon, MB
Cuisine: Sandwiches
Price Range: $7-$11/sandwich
Accessible: Yes