Sophie's Restaurant & Deli and Pahalwan Dhaba ਪਹਿਲਵਾਨ ਢਾਬਾ। ਪੰਜਾਬੀ ਭੋਜਨ — Restaurant in Rural Municipality of Reynolds

I need to review my recent trip to Sophies Restaurant and Deli. My wife and I found this place several years back. I’m not sure if it was under the original ownership at the time but it was a solid Ukrainian meal. The meal was alive. It took me back to being a young boy and having my Baba cook for me. Of course I would always leave her place stuffed and our first & subsequent trips were the same.

We decided to come back here today to try it out as we haven’t been here in over a year and I needed to get some highway miles on my new car during it’s break-in period.

Upon entering the establishment during the lunch lull it was clear that this place was under new ownership and had a different menu with a different region of food as it’s main cuisine. This is despite that signs on Hwy 1 that still boast the Ukrainian menu. The “Taste of Ukraine” section was at the back of the menu. In hindsight this was the first red flag. Upon sitting down we were immediately greeted by the waiter/chef/cashier who was all the same person. We were the only people there though. When we mentioned that we weren’t sure what we wanted to drink yet we received a deer in the headlights look. However we found what we wanted in the menu and ordered. Two platters that included pirogies, potato pancakes, and kubasa. As well as borsht on the side and some ginger ale.

Here is where things went downhill then stabilized. However like a one winged goose it could only do so much before hitting the ground in spectacular fashion.

We received our glasses for our drinks. One had a piece of paper towel stuck to the side and looked like it was washed with dirty water. I thought to myself…”ok.. that’s fine. It happens.”. I was a fool. We then got our borsht which was the highlight of our meal. Served with sour cream and dill on top it woke my senses and stirred emotion. Tasted fine as well. It wasn’t fresh dill but I had lowered my expectations enough that I was pleased. Once we were nearing the end of the soup our platers came. Upon seeing my wife’s food I pointed out that there was a hair on one of the pirogies.

Now, if there is a hair on the food, what do you as a waiter do?: A) Take the plate back and bring it back corrected. Or… B) Pick up the one pierogi with your bare hand and carry it off.. Hate to tell you this but he chose……B). After some time he returned and brought a single pierogi back to the table for my wife. Sitting across from her I suddenly hear her drop a pierogi to the plate and say, “nope!”. Upon inquiring I find out that the replacement pierogi that was brought back was still frozen in the middle. This of course affirmed my suspicion that these were pirogies from the frozen section of Costco and no longer the lovingly handmade pierogis we remembered from our first visit.

At this point we were done eating any more of this meal as there were many other short comings to the food. Let me explain.

The “potato pancakes” were made of potatoes and were pancake shaped but were indeed not potato pancakes. I would describe them as a mashed potato patty that was fried on a grill with what I suspect was not butter but some other oil or grease I am not aquatinted with. Maybe ghee? It also lacked flavour in general. Additionally and this is the worst part, there were clothing fibres baked in the pancakes and a black clothing fibre on top of one of the pancakes. We waited for the waiter to come see how the food was and to check back up on us. We waited over 20 min till we finally decide to get up and pay out bill.

The person running the place asked me how it was and I was brutally honest with him. He accepted the criticism and to their credit didn’t charge us for the meal even though I did ask to pay for part. I felt kind of bad.

I would highly recommend they ether study how to cook Ukrainian food, hire someone who does or just drop it from the menu and the signs. I unfortunately will not...

I will only give you an honest review!

You get what you pay for, that is the type of restaurant this is. That is not to say you just drive by, the experience is well worth it! You’ll walk into a really quaint, really local and really peaceful restaurant. The decor is really casual but quite comfortable, it’s like a dinning room from the early 50s, very cool feels, you travel back in time! The server is super nice and polite, we were greeted right away. She gave us ample amount of time to look at the menus and gave us space to enjoy ourselves and our meals. The food was ok, the fact we walked out with full belly’s and a smile was enough for us.

At the end the bill was under-charged and we went back inside to pay the difference. So the ladies (sorry we didn’t ask for names) offered to give us cookies for the road. Super sweet. The time we spent here helped us wind down from a long trip, it was a very enjoyable experience.

You should go and support your locals! Even if it’s just to have a cup of coffee. Only 3 minutes drive from the Trans Canada highway. We would definitely stop back in if we ever passed the area.

Unfortunately we couldn’t give 5 stars as the menu lacks a ‘guide’ sort of speak for vegetarians. There isn’t a huge selection either.

Thank you so much for...

I recently visited Sofie’s and had a mixed experience. The customer service was outstanding — the staff was friendly, attentive, and made sure we had everything we needed throughout our meal. The servers were genuinely helpful, which made the dining experience more enjoyable.

However, I was disappointed with the cleanliness of the restaurant. There were some noticeable hygiene issues, including hair and a blue fiber found on my fries, brown water staining on sugar packets and balled up garbage under table decor. It was definitely unsettling, especially with us being the only customers with multiple staff working. I hope the management takes action to improve cleanliness moving forward.

Overall, while the service was top-notch, the lack of cleanliness was a significant letdown. I hope Sofie’s addresses these issues, as the potential for a great experience is...