Thursday, June 13, 2013

The Man on the Bicycle, the Winchester

Last Saturday, June 8, Mel and I were out and bout having a nice day to our selves. We went to the zoo to see the new bear exhibit, and we just like going to the zoo every now and then. While out we were thinking of a few places to go eat that were affordable. We decided to go to The Winchester on Wealthy street. It's one of those older looking buildings along the brick corridor on Wealthy between Madison and Eastern. It has two dining areas, one inside the main restaurant with a lot of wood on the walls and floor, and an outside area on a little patio. We ate on the patio since it was a nice day out. The service was good and the prices were great.


We started with their spicy Thai wraps. The filling of the wraps was ground chicken with carrots, water chestnuts, green onion in a spicy chili sauce. The dipping sauce was a sesame-hoisin sauce. The lettuce wrap was a romaine leaf. The ground chicken filling was very good. There was the perfect amount of heat in it. It was hot enough for me to feel a little tingle, but not too hot that Mel couldn't enjoy it. The carrot and water chestnuts added a nice textural crunch to contrast the chicken. The sauce had a nice sweetness to it. When combined with the filling there was a nice balance of sweet, salty, and heat. The only problem was the romaine leaf. It is too stiff for a wrap like this. It would crack and the filling sauce would spill out. In fact this happened to me and I got some sauce on my shirt.


Mel got the Cubano sandwich with pork belly, braised pork, mustard, Swiss Cheese, and home made pickles. The pork belly was very good. It was cooked well so it had a nice crispiness to it. The braised pork was tender and juicy. The mustard added a nice tangyness to cut the richness of the pork and cheese. The pickles also added a little bit of acidity to cut the richness. The pickles were interesting. They were like a mix between sweet and dill pickles. The bread was dense enough to hold up to the sandwich filling, yet soft enough that it was easy to bite through. On a the side was a pesto potato salad. It was basically a potato salad, but instead of mayo and mustard etc., it was pesto that bound the potatoes together. The pesto was a nice twist that brought a nice herbaciousness to a potato salad. Overall it was a great sandwich.

I got the duck poutine. It consisted of confit duck, french fries, gravy, cheese curds, and a fried egg. The egg was perfectly fried with a runny yolk that ran throughout the bowl. The fries were seasoned well and the fried perfectly. The duck was shredded and integrated with the gravy. The duck really made this special. Duck just has that unique flavor that is so different than chicken or turkey. The cheese curds added some gooey goodness but were mild in flavor. It was a super rich but oh, so good. The only problem I had was I thought it was a little on the salty side. But regardless, I would order this again if I was in the mood for a rich meal.

Over all it was a nice meal. It wasn't the fanciest restaurant I have been to. It doesn't pretend to be. It is just a good local place, with with good food at great prices that supports local growers, brewers and farms. I think it will be a place we will visit again when we want a good meal at a good price.