George's Inn & Submarine Serves Iranian???

George's Inn & Submarine would not have been a place I would have wanted to go to, at least by name. Its name suggests a generic submarine, sandwich and maybe pizza place. You can imagine my surprise when fellow reviews point to it as serving Iranian cuisine. Being the only restaurant in Winnipeg to do so, it piqued my interest enough to warrant a visit to George's Inn & Submarine.

Overlooking Pembina Highway in a small strip of businesses, George's is not one that would initially catch your eye. A generic billboard only has the smallest of hints that this restaurant is not one you would seen with the Persian lettering on its bottom. Similarly the interiors itself are nothing to write home about. It reminds me of a converted fast food joint and has an interesting dichotomy of a billboard showing submarines, sandwiches on one side while having the Iranian menu on the other. The owner was friendly but offered little English. Thankfully the place was full and a friendly patron helped us in our ordering. The menu is limited to a few grilled BBQ items in different combinations served with a platter of rice on the side. A simple menu, perfect for my first dive into Iranian cuisine.

The restaurant offers three varieties of meat skewers. The Koobideh (far left and right) is a ground beef kebab mixed with parsley and onion and grilled to perfection on the grill. The meat is nicely mashed together to form a solid roll of meat and while it was grilled well, there was a noticeably lack of flavour or aroma from the dish. The Chicken skewer was far nicer with large juicy pieces of chicken breast that had a lemon flavour. There were nice bits of char on the outside which provided a crunch as we munched on the tender meat. Finally the Barg was the best skewer of them all. Large pieces of marinated steak are slathered on the grill and finished with parsley and onion. While similar in flavour to the Koobideh, this skewer uses quality meat that was perfectly tender and lent a luxurious smooth richness to the dish. The parsley and onion gave a nice aroma to the dish as it came. Each dish is adorned with a grilled tomato.

Sides for the dishes include a few pieces of raw onion and a number of marinated green olives. Although I am usually not a fan of raw onions in my dishes, it does work nicely here to counteract the richness of all the meats. The olives give a nice salty bite to each skewer. Not pictured is a large plate of rice given with every meal as well.

George's Inn & Submarine offers a unique slice of Iranian cuisine to Winnipeg. Clearly the large number of (what I presume to be) ethnically Iranian diners shows it popularity in town. And while the decor and presentation of the restaurant needs to be worked upon, ultimately the food is solid.