529 Wellington - Extravagant Excellence

Food is meant to be experienced. Rarely do I dine out nowadays solely for the role of nourishment, rather I dine out to be wowed and inspired by great food and great company. The success for any restaurant is their ability to weave a story in the food they present and become a springboard for diners to create an experience. One of the top restaurants in Winnipeg is 529 Wellington, a steakhouse known for its high quality food and expert service. Thus you can imagine my excitement when a fellow pediatrics colleague of mine decided to host their birthday celebration here.

Key to the experience of 529 Wellington is the grounds for the restaurant. The building is a mansion harkening from the early 1900s that was meticulously retrofitted to become the current restaurant. Details are key here with the designers maintaining an aged feel to the restaurant, like the large magnificent foyer greets diners or the grand staircase leading up to the second floor.

The private room we were situated in was gorgeous. Magnificently realized paintings adorn the walls of the room and overlook a massive oak table and plush comfortable chairs. A lovely chandelier paints the table with warm light to give diners the ultimate romantic dining experience. Finishing the experience are a troupe of expert wait staff who were a wonderful combination of respectful, meticulous and thoughtful to our group.

As a larger group, 529 Wellington has a trimmed down group set menu. Taken all from the regular menu, the preset option is perfect for groups to try a variety of options. At the end of the day, 529 Wellington is known for as a steakhouse and prides themselves on their Canada Prime beef. A helpful tour of beef is given for first time diners here where the service staff help explain the different cuts, give a visual clue to the size of servings and ultimately help whet the appetite for the upcoming meal. If steak is not in the cards, there are number of fish and seafood options available as well, both on the set and on the main menu. While I found the waiters attentive they did have some difficulty with payment and splitting of the bills with multiple people having errors in what was charged; and while contentious and quickly willing to resolve, I feel an error like this is amateur and should not be present at such a prestigious restaurant. Nevertheless off to the food!

The Smoked Salmon appetizer was phenomenal, with large portions of succulent tender fish that paired well on the accompanied toast. The classic combination of capers, onion and lemon make their entrance here and work as effectively as ever to balance out the fatty fish. The addition of an garlic aioli was thoughtful as well and gave the dish a creaminess that was lacking.

I found the Cheese Bread to be utterly disappointing, both in taste and presentation. A couple slabs of crusty bread is topped with a bunch of nondescript cheese and finished plainly in the oven. No balance of flavours was found here with diners just getting a taste of salt from the cheese and nothing else to contrast it. The tin foil serviette was laughably amateur and an eyesore for such a classy restaurant. Completely forgettable.

The size of the Jumbo Shrimp was impressive. The massive crustaceans were served cold and paired with lemon and a tomato based cocktail sauce. The shrimps, nice and succulent, had a wonderful hint of sweetness on top of the meaty bites. Adding in the cocktail sauce gives diners a tart and tangy flavour to contrast the undertones of the meat. Well done!

These Dry Ribs were also a disappointment, despite the cute presentation. The slabs of ribs, supposedly dusted with a dry rub, were so devoid of flavour that I wondered if the chefs even bothered to season the meat at all. Finishing the ribs off in the oven unfortunately rendered the meat dry, overcooked and robbed of any hint of juiciness. Utterly mediocre.

One of the specials of the day was a divine Lobster Mac & Cheese. Al dente macaroni is served here with large chunks of fresh lobster meat and tossed in a extraordinary creamy and rich cheese sauce, delightful! Bits of broccoli permeate through the dish and give tender morsels of freshness while adding a sense of colour to the dish. Ultimately though, it is the interplay between the creamy cheese, pasta and lobster that is key here. Delicious.

The starter Spinach Salad was completely ordinary with a bevy of spinach tossed in a tart vinaigrette. Crunchiness is added through the addition of walnuts while creaminess is found through the large chunks of blue cheese. While I appreciated the large portion given, the flavours themselves seemed very ordinary and nothing stood out as unique or exciting about the salad.

My main, the Beef Wellington, was expertly crafted and beautiful presented. The base Filet steak served here was extraordinarily tender and cooked to a perfect medium rare. Each bite of the exquisitely tender meat was smooth, succulent and melted in your mouth. Paired with the beef wellington was a foie gras pate that had a nice beefy and rich consistency that melted along with the beef. Unfortunately the exterior puff pastry crust, while tasty, did not adhere to the pate and ended up flaking off into small separate pieces, robbing the entire dish of the contrast between the meat, the pate and the crust. Topping the beef is a strong red wine demi-glace that added a nice salty and savoury flavour to the meat.

Accompanying sides to the beef were Snap Peas tossed in a host of butter and finished with garlic. Nice, tender and succulent, these snap peas were a bright contrast to the heartiness of the main courses.

I thoroughly enjoyed these Button Mushrooms. The aroma of garlic and butter permeated the air when these mushrooms arrived and was a perfect compliment to the beef.

These Au Gratin Potatoes were average. Here scalloped potatoes are tossed in a cream cheese sauce and baked to perfection with a bread crumb topping. The dish had a nice contrast between the nice and creamy potatoes with the crispy topping.

By now I was about to exploded but managed a few bites of the Warm Blueberry Bread Pudding. The luxurious chunks of bread pudding, with the occasional blueberry baked into it, was a nice contrast of warm bread, sweet caramel and airy whipped cream. Tasty but nothing extraordinary.

529 Welllington overall packaged great food with exquisite service in a gorgeous setting to fit the bill of fine dining and was exactly what our group was looking for in a birthday celebration. The costs, while high, are on par with what excellent steakhouses should charge; and truly 529 Wellington does their beef well, with incredibly tender and well seasoned steaks that is a cut above anything I have had in Winnipeg. However it is the accompanying dishes, especially the appetizers, that at times fell flat and not on par with the quality of their steaks. And so while I would recommend 529 Wellington for anyone looking for the best steak in Winnipeg, I would caution larger groups with the quality of the set menu and rather point them towards ordering a la carte.