Pineridge Hollow worth the drive

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 23/09/2014 (4228 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Pineridge Hollow may seem like an extravagant drive for a business lunch meeting, but I was the member of the party who suggested the location.  

You get to this restaurant by taking Garven Road en route to Oakbank or you can access it from Birds Hill Park. Since I already had a park pass, this was my choice.

I first visited the “Hollow” in 1992 at its former location, when it felt more like a prairie homestead than the current expanse of gardens and ponds. The dining room was chock full of families and seniors who either lived in the area, were visitors to the province or who had made the drive from various directions, as was the case with our group.

As we perused the menu, an appetizer of mushroom perogies caught our eye. Two orders of these were served up so we could all savour the earthy tastes of the mushrooms, onion ragout and dill sauce.  

Two members of our party selected the grilled chicken breast sandwich topped with maple bacon, smoked gouda and apple slices. A third party member had gone online and came to the restaurant knowing that she would order a chicken salad sandwich. This is one of the many advantages of living in the internet age.

I had a hankering for pickerel. I delight in the clean and delicate taste and the way when eaten fresh, the fish sparkles in your mouth.

The pickerel at Pineridge Hollow is, unusually, served on a skewer, which meant I could pick it up, dunk it into the delicious tartar sauce and eat it like a kabob. The fries, made from Kennebec potatoes and cooked in healthy canola oil, were the perfect marriage. Dubbed the “Polack Princess” by my husband and loving my carbs, I am especially fond of these potatoes.

They have a wonderful balance of sweetness, starchiness, earthiness and a slightly nutty flavour.

I wandered the beautifully appointed grounds and snooped through the gift shop before I made my way back to lake life.

Kathryne Grisim’s foodmusings.ca blog was named best local blog in Uptown Magazine’s Best of Winnipeg readers’ poll.