Nonsuch Brewing Co. — Restaurant in Winnipeg

Last evening, I had the pleasure of dining at the Nonsuch with my son and daughter-in-law to celebrate his MA graduation. The Nonsuch, with its unique ambiance and delectable cuisine, was the perfect setting for such a special occasion.

We found a good variety of both animal—and vegetable-based dishes that were fabulously presented and incredibly flavourful. Everything was cooked to perfection so that individual flavours could be identified, yet they blended elegantly. Each of us had something different, "le burger", "le squash", and "ricotta gnudi" and we were equally delighted with our selections.

For me, the highlight was the dessert -- cantaloupe sorbet. When it first came to our table with three spoons, I joked asking, Do you think I'm a nice person who is likely to share?" However, after my first mouthful, I had to let the others experience this wonderful desert. The cantaloupe was distinguishable and fresh. It was served on a mallow cushion that I think had a bit of cinnamon in it -- although it could have been something similar. It was the sort of dish that I would select after the theatre or a day at a museum or gallery for dessert and a drink.

Our server, Giselle (sp?), was wonderful. The restaurant's philosophy insists on respect by everyone for everyone in their building, and this was well represented by all the staff. Despite my bits of confusion because I was having a "bad head" day, I felt that our server was determined to satisfy me and was also very friendly, expressing hopes that I was enjoying Winnipeg and stating I was here for a good reason and there is much to enjoy in my remaining days.

Because of my "bad head" day I didn't want a strong drink, but I also particularly enjoy micro and craft breweries, so I tried the Radler, which will soon be discontinued for the winter months. It is only 3.5%, and that lower amount is well within my head injury tolerance range. It was wonderful.

Nonsuch is a place I would recommend to anyone, and I hope I get to...

Initial visit:

We ordered half the menu to report back on. The menu is small, but I've been told it does change frequently. The serving staff is very friendly. I told them about my interest in food and they offered to have the chef talked to me.

Pro tip: entrance is by what I'd call the side door, and not what you might think of as the front.

Do try: order the Hickory smoked olives My best friend has been here many times and insisted I order these. I'm normally very eh about olives, but these ones were excellent. I would recommend pairing it with the charcuterie board if you are like me and don't eat olives on their own. It balances very well.

I felt the pricing is in line with good quality food. I wouldn't mind if it was cheaper, but if they continue to keep up this standard, I'd pay it.

I really liked the strawberry jam from the cheese board. It went so well with the blue cheese that was on the plate. The deer tartare was better than I expected. I'm normally not a fan of chips with my tartare but this one worked for me. This duck cassoulet was also done better than most. I enjoyed it. I thought the skin could be crispier (it just looked like it was going to be like a Peking duck exterior) but that's a minor issue. All the flavors really appealed to me. I was not as much of a fan of the rouladen. It was fine, just not my favorite.

The interior is beautiful, sexy, reminiscent of a bygone era that held romance. I was expecting something different since everyone seemed to love shooting the ceiling when it came to the interior of the restaurant. Very happy that my best friend brought me.

I didn't get a great shot of the room either because I didn't want to get people's faces too clearly in the shot. I need to go back and get a better interior picture I will be happy to return to this spot. It's my new favorite lounging spot in Winnipeg.

If this review was...

Firstly I’ll say that I had the best mocktail maybe ever - the Rose Garden. Delicious! This was my first time today and for most of my companions. First impressions of the place were great, it’s a nice vibe. Everything felt very cosy! Sadly I don’t know if our server was maybe having a rough night (which it was a busy in there so I try to have grace, I know serving is hard) but I genuinely felt like our server just wanted us gone. There was a special menu tonight, only group shareables made by the guest chef, because it was the First Friday but that was never explained to us. We were confused on how everything worked since the only people in our group who had been before came during lunch which had a different menu and a different set up. We at first thought that we maybe weren’t given menus since it was a small paper. And then when we asked our server it felt like they thought we were stupid. I was starting to feel embarrassed just asking for clarification on how things worked. We ended up leaving after drinks because while we thought we would make the best of the night and get shareables, our server was hard to track down (which to an extent is forgiveable on a busy night) and every interaction we had with them just felt like they would rather be anywhere else. Not really the birthday vibe we were going for and didn’t make me want to spend more money. The experience just left me feeling out of place and unwelcomed. Just really...