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Lobby on York
Categories: Restaurants Seafood Restaurants Steakhouses Nightlife Bars Seafood, Steakhouses, Bars [Edit]
295 York AveWinnipeg, MB R3C 4N4
(204) 896-7275
- Hours:
Mon-Fri 11 am - 1 am
Sat 4:30 pm - 1 am
Sun 4:30 pm - 12 am
- Good for Groups:
- Yes
- Accepts Credit Cards:
- Yes
- Attire:
- Dressy
- Price Range:
-
$$$$
- Good for Kids:
- No
- Takes Reservations:
- Yes
- Waiter Service:
- Yes
- Outdoor Seating:
- No
- Good For:
- Dinner
- Alcohol:
- Full Bar
- Smoking:
- No
- Coat Check:
- Yes
- Noise Level:
- Very Loud
- Has TV:
- No
- Wheelchair Accessible:
- Yes
3 reviews for Lobby on York
3 reviews in English
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Review from DineoutGal A.
Winnipeg, MB
Updated - 5/22/2011 5 photos
The restaurant is no longer operated by the original owners of Tavern in the Park. Not sure what happened there but it's under new management. But at least I can say that the restaurant and the food menu hasn't changed too much since their departure.
The prices here are definitely on the higher end. Starters are $9-$16, steaks are pricey and don't include sides (9 ounce Filet Mignon $42, 16 ounce Bone In Rib Steak 16oz. $30) and other entrees with sides are closer to the $30 range. The liquor here is very pricey - 5 ounce wine pours are $8-$9 and 9 ounce wines are $14-$16 and gin martini $14.
One thing I find annoying is that if you're are a table of 2, the bread is offered to you from someone who walks around. But if you're a table of 4 you receive a basket of bread. Here's the thing, if you're going to only offer bread to me, walk around at least twice!
The east coast oysters half dozen ($15) came with a ponzu sauce and a red onion minuet. The oysters tasted very fresh and were very served super cold on a bed of ice (a must with fresh oysters). Both sauces were good and contrasted each other enough but I preferred the ponzu since it offered the classic Japanese citrus flavour that balanced the oysters perfectly. The chopped salad ($10) had romaine, corn, tomato, olive, cucumber, onion, radish, and feta oregano creme. There were also chopped quail's egg in mine even though it wasn't mentioned on the menu. It was a good salad but nothing amazing. The side of wild mushroom risotto ($10) is a fairly small portion of risotto that has great flavour though was cooked a little beyond al dente.
The oven roasted chipotle cedar salmon comes with corn creme brulee and bitter green slaw ($28). This was a very flavourful and delicious dish and I would totally order this again. Price is a little high for salmon but at least the dish was good. The salmon didn't taste spicy but had a great rainbow of flavours from smokey to slightly sweet to a little salty - all very balanced. And the salmon was cooked perfectly through but not the least bit dry. The bitter slaw were just mixed greens, nothing amazing. The corn creme brulee was not my fav as I don't particularly like sweet dessert items incorporated in my dinner. It's literally creme brulee with corn mixed in.
The Lobby Schnitzel is made with milk fed veal and come swith spaetle and a lingonberry compote ($27). This is quite the substantial meal as it comes with 2 large pieces of schnitzel that's perfectly pan fried but like most German dishes, it's a little on the heavy side. The spaetzel were delicious and the lingonberries balanced the heaviness of the overall dish.
The warm poppyseed cake was okay but I wouldn't order it again.
Service is not quite up to the price points and ambiance of this place. I mean the fact that our waters were not filled during the meal and I had to flag someone down for an extra piece of bread shows that the service details were overlooked. Food service lagged quite a bit between courses and it seemed like our server had too many tables to take care of. And even though I ordered a 5 ounce wine, I was served and charged a 9 ounce pour. A little annoying when orders aren't accurately taken! Knowledge of the food is good but not great. I think if they refined the service, this place would get five stars from me.
Noise level is extremely loud here especially when the place fills up. This is not a quiet romantic restaurant by any means.
And regarding the lounge, I've been there several times after my previous review. It seems like the DJ concept is gone so that's a shame and unfortunately, it's not super busy there the last few times I've been there. Not my favourite lounge anymore.
Oh and parking is found on the street or in the former Pizza Hut lot since they are currently building an underground parking in that major construction zone.Listed in: Favourite Dinner Spots, Lounges in the city
2 Previous Reviews: Show all »
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10/24/2010
This update is for their lounge! Cool vibe as there's a DJ spinning on the weekend in this relaxing… Read more »
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Review from John I.
Toronto, ON
10/4/2009
I dress in a Hugo Boss sports jacket, Italian wool pants and a black shirt. My shoes are made by Boss and I am also wearing a light coat. Typically, this is the level of style required for a restaurant who markets themselves as "higher end". Unfortunately, the crowd at the newly opened Lobby on York strays drastically from the wardrobe respect deservant of a restaurant trying to cater to higher end tastes. I was shocked to see people in jeans, work shirts and to my surprise fleece jacket overlays.
Nevertheless, I parked my car in the restaurant's reasonably spacious parking lot and felt safe and secure. I enter the restaurant through a relatively long entrance with a medium sized bar (with entertainment) to my right and the hostess area straight ahead. One thing I did appreciate was the decor and lighting in the entrance. The lighting was positioned correctly and the dark tones made the place feel sophisticated and modern, yet not elegant. I was pleased to see the owners of the restaurant stationed at the hostess table. They greeted us warmly and welcomed us to their new concept (they originally owned Tavern in the Park and Victors during the 1980s).
We progressed to our seating area and I was generally impressed with the layout. The lighting, decor and table set up were impressive. The cutlery was shiny, clean and positioned correctly on the table. Water was served immediately and had a hint of lemon. Their water service was excellent and I never felt thirsty.
Menus soon arrived and we began to review options. Unfortunately, it wasn't quickly clear on the theme of the restaurant and more specifically their house specialties. Is this a steak house? A fish place? There were some extremely unusual options like a 2 ounce tuna coupled with a 4 ounce fillet mignon that really sounded underwhelming.
I decided to go with a meat dish, although I typically do not eat meat at higher end restaurants. I guess the menu was a bit restraining and nothing jumped out at me in terms of a WOW factor. At this level of pricing, I wanted to be WOWed with something over the top gourmet (within the context of the tastes of a small- to mid sized city).
We selected a medley of dishes to properly gauge the potential of the restaurant:
Starter:
Crab Cakes - The crab cakes were the best of a bunch of traditional starter dishes. Given the restaurant fish/seafood positioning, we thought it might be an idea to start with something from the sea. Just to add, I continue to be suspicious about the quality of ordering, in general, sushi starters, from a non specialized sushi restaurant. The crab cakes were presented in a 3-part orchestra, with each cake possessing unique flavor characteristics. One was sweet, spicy and finally somewhere in between. The cake was dense, yet properly prepared. We enjoyed it very much and appreciated the Chef's creativity. The portion was excellent to share with two people.
Main Course:
8 Ounce Fillet Mignon - The Fillet was nicely presented and served in a berry sauce. The sauce was light a enabled an even more robust flavoring for the meat. The meat was perfectly done and required no extra seasoning. There were options to order other sauces for the meat, so that could be good for people wanting the traditional wine reduction. I was not disappointed with the meat dish and rivals that of Winnipeg's other known steakhouses.
Sides:
Wild Mushroom Risotto - The Risotto was plentiful and reasonably well prepared. There was no wow factor and was not as delicate as other risottos I have enjoyed across North America. It is still worth a try if you are a risotto fan.
Blue Cheese Potato Gratin - Nothing spectacular. There wasn't a pungent enough hint of the blue cheeses and the potatoes were too finely minced. Probably would select another option next time.
Drink - We selected the Malbec. It was an excellent selection for the courses we ordered and was stored at the optimal temperature. The wine glasses were clean and appropriate for red wine (a common mistake many restaurants make). I was very disappointed by their wine list, especially their wines by the glass. A high end restaurant should have at least ten glasses, but perhaps they don't have enough volume to accommodate this.
Service - The service was good. As noted earlier, the water professional was excellent and the bread server came often enough not to spoil the meal with bread (the bread was quite nice and the butter was served at the right temperature). I thought our lead server was nice, but perhaps a little light on knowledge. He didn't fully understand the food preparation techniques that we asked about and didn't present as sophisticated as required for this type of restaurant.
A few final comments.....
The noise was incredible. Although, they have designed the restaurant nicely, they need greater sound baffling. It makes it very difficult to have a conversation and to hear the waiter.
Overall, a solid choice for Winnipeg. -
Review from Sean M.
Winnipeg, MB
6/9/2010
great chef. flavourful combinations. a decor that can either please you or annoy you -- it's modern that way. perhaps the waiter was having an off night but i found him slow and uninformative.
not a romantic place, but when food is this good you get turned on despite the ambiance.
very noisy!
Specialties
We Specialize in Modern Seafood & Steak
