There comes a fear whenever I get too excited or hyperbolic about a new restaurant that it might come to disappoint on a repeat visit. Perhaps my excitement was more so about the novelty rather than the food. Perhaps my initial impressions were clouded by naivety and now with the weight of expectations, the food will suffer. And finally perhaps I was simply wrong about my first visit and a restaurant's true warts come to fruition. Thankfully none of that has come to pass with Maque and it has anointed itself as my new favourite restaurant in Winnipeg, one I would recommend with the umpteenth enthusiasm and one I am thankful to have been able to enjoy. This post is the culmination of two separate meals, one of them when my a former medical school colleague visited.
I had previously blogged at Maque's menu previously. In summary the restaurant is the next brainchild of Chef Scott Bagshaw, owner and Chef of Deseo and Enoteca, two local Winnipeg favourites. The focus of Maque is on Asian fusion, combining traditional Chinese and Southeast Asian flavours with Western techniques and styles to create brand new dishes celebrating the culture of both. And while a number of restaurants have the moniker Asian fusion, Chef Bagshaw has the credentials to follow through with this type of cuisine having been head chef of a Vietnamese restaurant in Australia, Monsoon. The menu is eclectic and exciting ranging from steamed pork belly buns to duck confit noodles, it truly has an nondiscriminatory variety of Asian flavours and sauces and serves them with traditional Western cuts of meat and roasts. One word of warning, the food here is meant for sharing and there are no traditional "courses" to be found here. And while I would recommend anyone to dine here, the experience solo or as a small group could suffer due to the lack of variety.
Soft pillows surrounding delicious melt in your mouth pork belly forms the basis of the humbly named Steamed Bun. The outside is soft rice flour bun, slightly gelatinous and sticky while soft and buttery. Found inside are slices of fatty pork belly, melt in your mouth tender with the perfect amount of smooth fat and tasty meat. Accompanying the pork are pickles, arugula and a ssam, a tangy chili sauce that brings the entire dish together into a flavour that can only be described as umami.
I was shocked we completely missed these Squid Ink Noodles on our first perusal at Maque. Best described as a new take on dandan noodle but with squid ink, the dish combines the flavour of minced prawns, a spicy peanut sauce with cucumber and toasted peanuts. There is of course visual punch of the tarry black squid ink noodles but they actually impart a slight bitterness to the dish as well which works perfectly with the spicy peanut sauce. Pieces of minced prawns are delightful bursts of sweet seafood flavour while raw cucumber and peanuts give a textural contrast to the entire dish. Finally, mint oil gives more colour and a slight earthy kick to each bite.
Asparagus is a Western ingredient but is given the all star treatment here. The dark black sesame "painted" sauce gives the morsels of tender asparagus an creamy and nutty flavour that is contrasted by the addition of ponzu. On top is a soft poached egg that gives a creaminess as visual delight from the yolk running down the spears of asparagus. A crisp skin of bean curd is the "chip" on the background of the dish giving a slight crispness to the dish. Finished with a lemon aioli.
I cannot describe how delicious this
Duck Confit is. Exemplifying everything that Maque is trying to create, the Duck Confit is an egg noodle based dish tossed in a fermented bean and chili sauce topped with a mixture of the tender tendrils of duck, soft and fatty Chinese sausage and finished with mustard greens. Fusion indeed ... and boy does it work well! First off, the egg noodles are perfectly cooked becoming slightly chewy yet soft enough to soak in the salty bean curd and chili sauce. And chili is an understatement as an intense hit of heat is the first flavour, but then quiets down to reveal the saltiness of the bean curd, the sweetness and fattiness of the sausage and duck. Marvelous, marvelous, marvelous!
The marvelous
Roasted Nagano Pork Belly takes a slab of thick pork belly, cooks it perfectly tender and pairs it with kimchi infused brussels sprouts, hazelnuts and a soy gastrique. Pork belly is a common ingredient used in Chinese and Asian cuisine and is popular because of its combination of tender and succulent meat with a layer of fat that turns gelatinous and almost creamy. The pork belly here is given the perfect treatment by Chef Bagshaw and really is a great dichotomy of creamy fat and tender fall off the bone (or fat) meat. Topping it is a spicy slaw of brussel sprouts mixed with kimchi and hazelnuts. I loved the crunch from the hazelnuts giving the dish a nice crunchy finish that complimented the pork belly well. Delicious.
Maque has re-affirmed itself as one of the top restaurants in Winnipeg and one of the rare restaurants that does Asian fusion well. Immense respect is given to the Asian flavours and ingredients as they are mixed with Western influences to create one of the most creative, unique and delicious places to eat in Winnipeg. A real gem and one not to be missed.
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