Solera — Attraction in Winnipeg

Solera, caught my attention when I found out it's actually a hidden bar. The main restaurant is Tabula Rasa, but to get into Solera, you have to push a bookshelf that acts as the door.

It’s usually a good idea to book a table, but since we were already in the area, we decided to try our luck. Being a Saturday, it was of course fully booked. When we arrived, the hostess told us that Solera was fully reserved, but they had a table available where we could stay until 8 pm. Thankfully, we got there at 5:30 pm, so we had plenty of time, and it worked out perfectly since we didn’t plan on staying too long anyway.

We tried a couple of their non-alcoholic drinks—the "Baby Bird" and "Nana's Parrot." Both were really refreshing, and I loved how they were presented. The drinks were priced just right, so that was a nice surprise.

The food options were pretty limited since it’s more of a bar. We ended up trying one of their conservas, the Atlantic salmon. The food was good, but I did feel it was a bit on the pricey side for what we got. I get that Solera is more of a lounge, and Tabula Rasa is the main restaurant, but I wish they had more filling options. It was a fun experience. It’s always nice to try...

My review will be very mixed. But go for the food not the bar seating.

We went as a group of 4 and were asked if bar seating was ok. Ideally no but someone in our party really wanted to come here. We were told there were no tables. While we were sitting at the bar the booth behind us had a party come in for their reservation. They asked the server if there was a “table” they could sit at instead and the server said yes, the reservation isn’t for another 1.5 hours. There were tables and now there was a booth empty. Sitting at the bar as a group of 4 is terrible. Conversation is difficult and I honestly had a terrible experience. The bill was nearly $300 for 4 people and we got 6 dishes to share, 4 drinks. Bar seating should be reserved for groups of 2. I also noticed this place was set up more for couples. All the tables comfortably sat 2 and the booths were small, but we definitely could have sat in the booth as another group of 4 came in and sat in the booth. Should I have asked to be moved, perhaps, but the fact we were told there were no tables was flat out wrong and left me with a negative experience as I saw multiple groups of people sit at...

This little Gem is a sweet little experience in Winnipeg. The service staff were friendly and the atmosphere unique a quizzical. The oysters were fresh and served to perfection. The ceviche (shrimp) was rubbery, the white fish was tasty and fresh. The crab cakes were not memorable but by no means confrontational. The take on Caesar salad was creative and enjoyable. The scallop dish is where the evening went sideways, offencive is the best way to describe this mishmash of an effort. There was no direction with piles of flavour and ingredients jammed into a tiny portion. The scallops were the size of miniature escargot’s and tasted like they’d come from a salty tin of smoked oysters. Unfortunately the menu (or server) did not indicate that these were the DISTANT relatives of the sumptuous fresh Digby scallops. I guess the old adage of a seafood restaurant in the middle of the prairies holds true. BTW, the Tres Leches WAS an enjoyable finale, however not enough to...