cafe dario

the dario treat. a rather dull and industrial-looking location hides an unexpected and interesting little gem of a restaurant, staked out in a former residence. cafe dario is an intriguing dining experience, because of its uncommon idea of a new menu, set weekly. dinner patrons pay a flat fee of $35.00 for a 5 course meal consisting of an appetizer, soup, salad, entree, and dessert. you can choose your ap and entree among options, but the chef makes one soup, salad and dessert for all.

dietary considerations are addressed if you call ahead. this vegetarian decided to spend the night vegan for the sake of simplicity, and enjoyed the adventure of being surprised, mostly pleasantly, by each course.

it was an exciting experience, having a room full of people all served at once. (you must reserve, as the room was at capacity.) the timing of such meal preparation is an art in itself. arrive hungry. you get a lot!

everything was presented so beautifully, and withgreatattention to detail. my appetizer had a dipping sauce with a tasty bite, but was not a meal favourite. soup was coconut carrot ginger, which could have been more flavourful. the salad was exceptional in its simplicity and taste, with fancy lettuce so fresh, that it could have just been clipped from the garden. greens were wrapped in a ribbon of cucumber, and complemented by a delicious dressing.

the vegan main course consisted of a filling fabulous epinada--excuse spelling ;-) packed with roasted vegetables, while the artfully garnished sides included sliced carrots, and a tasty beet puree.

my alternative vegan dessert was a refreshing watermellon sorbet served in a martini glass. the chef's dessert was a beautifully presented square of mouth-watering rich mint brownie, reminiscent of laura secord's delicious french mint chocolate bar. decorated with a dollop of whipped cream and a strawberry, it was heaven!

it appears from other reviews that the lunch menu is priced much lower. the set dinner cost is however more than reasonable considering that the number of courses you get would be much more expensive ordered separately elsewhere, and also the sheer amount of food you receive.

cafe dario in quaint and cozy. there is little separation between rooms and tables, so it can get a bit noisy, but it is a real dining experience that is definitely worth it.

birthday lunch !. took my dad for lunch the other day on his birthday and i was happy to see they have a new lunch waitress who despite being inexperienced was an absolute pleasure over the rude one they used to have here. i was also pleased to see they now had a hands on lunch menu instead of the menu board.
i had the cornmeal crusted salmon and my dad had the lamb chops with kahlua reduction. both meals came with the soup of the day which was creamy chipotle potato (excellent) ! my salmon was nicely cooked and topped with agreatsauce. my dad's lamb chops were also cooked to perfection med/ rare. veggies included the usual smashed garlicky potatoes, pureed beets & grilled zucchini. flavours and presentation were perfect and suchgreatprices too for the quality of food you receive.


-----05 dec, 2010-----

fun night !!. after my 1st lunch experience here with a rude waitress i was wondering whether or not to go back for dinner but i am glad we did !! the fixed menu was varied enough for everyone to find something they liked and the price wasgreat! our dinner service was fantastic thanks to lola and all the food was well prepared and tasty (though they could have been served warmer). will definitely be back .
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ps have returned and this time our meals were served hot. the elk osso bucco was divine, hearty and rich, so tender it fell off the bone. yum !

always agreatmeal here. a unique cost and romantic place with wonderful food. i always take out of town visitors here and we've never been disappointed.

this is a different place than the regular chain restaurant and is very reasonable for what you get. if your celebrating something this is agreatoption. food, service and ambiance are very good.

food, pricing and presentation is exceptional.  the escargot is highly recommended.  my girl friend and i made a reservation to try their $28 ciao dine about 3 course meal and a few other menu items.  this was our second time here, and unfortunately our service was not at an exceptional level. i made a reservation a week in advance, but we had to wait over 30 minutes to get our seats.  i could tell the man who was taking care of us was stressed out. i think it was the owner.  the other servers seemed really great.  it was a rough start, we finally sat down, and the waiter was annoyed that we sat in the chairs that didn't have the plates and glass, and he made it clear that " he cannot reach the glass".  my girl friend told him that she was highly allergic to raw onions, so we thought he would advise us if any of the dishes we ordered had raw onions. i ordered the seafood ceviche which was filled with a lot of raw onion. i ended up asking another server to switch to the chicken tostada instead.  the owner came by our table with the bill and explained that he charged us for the seafood ceviche because we didn't tell him she was trying a piece of it.  at the end of the day, people will go where the customer service is supreme. i love the food here, its top quality and the presentation is beautiful. i hope they work on the customer service part. its easy to givegreatservice when its slower, its when you have a full house that shows how capable your business is at providing a supreme level of experience in regards to both product and service.

i have had dinner and lunch twice now at care dario's, and i have never been disappointed. this has become my favourite romantic dinner date restaurant in the city; the special on sunday, monday, tuesday isgreat(dinner for 2 with a bottle of house wine, $109). the food is exquisite here. last night my partner had the elk ossobuco and he said it was the best meal he ever ate. i had the spicy escargot with mushrooms as an appetizer and loved early bite of it, and had the beef tenderloin with chimmichurri, and it was cooked to perfection. i love the atmosphere here, it's a small restaurant decorated with masks all over the walls. the dinner courses are brought out slowly, so be prepared to dine and have lots of time to chat with whoever you are having dinner with. dario, the owner and head chef, came out during the meal to chat with all the patrons, he is hilarious and clearly cares about ensuring his guests have agreatexperience. he even took drinks orders for people and helped his waitress bus a table. all around, agreatexperience every time. seriously one of winnipeg's best restaurants.

highly recommend dining at cafe dario. fine dining quality food in a casual and relaxed atmosphere. 5 course meal for $44 isgreatvalue for money. good choices of appetizer and entree. i had the escargots with thai basil. saucy and spicy. it was fabulous. red pepper and tomato soup was good. caesar salad dressing was extra garlicky and spicy. grilled duck was fantastic too. desert was only average. only the soup and desert which were average. prevented a score of 5.

went in a group of 8.
were seated on time.
orders were accurately taken and served.
the lamb shank and pot pie were delicious. the beef steak isgreattoo. presentation wasgreattoo. our server was attentive and proficient.
had agreattime and will be back soon.

this place is magnificent. i don't think you could ever eat here and not be satisfied. the menu offers something for everyone and it tastes amazing. usually i come for supper but i recently went for lunch. for 13$ i had a big piece of salmon with potatoes, veggies and a soup. i couldn't believe what agreatdeal i was getting on such awesome food. this place is a must!

awesome place for lunch. very accommodating to dietary needs and the quality of food was amazing. i had the chicken breast which was very good. the cream sauce underneath the chicken was the best part, especially mixed in with the mashed potatoes. mmmm!! i'm not sure how they cook their beets, but everyone agreed they were very good. probably the best cooked beet i've ever had. the split pea soup served before my meal was comforting and delicious. gourmet food served perfectly and light on your wallet. oh, and the service wasgreattoo.  i'll be back, thank you chef dario!

i went here for my birthday last month and had agreatexperience. the food was wonderful, the portions were perfect, the service was wonderful.
i would highly recommend going to cafe dario for a delicious dinner,greatatmosphere and all around excellent dining experience.

the food really was exceptional. we shared the bison and the duck dishes. both were amazing. also some of the nicest calamari i've had. but they messed up our reservation, treated us poorly and rushed our service. on the other hand the chef came and spoke with every table as their meals were closing. back to the first hand, we did not get a visit from the chef, we got the lights turned on during our dessert and basically told to hurry up. over allgreatfood but maybe you need to know someone to get even standard treatment.

excellent place to get agreatdinner. i was at café dario last night and was seated in the back room. if you go, ask for that room. it is decorated with many tribal masks from all around the world (see photo of one of the masks). they have a special on sunday, monday, and tuesday where you get two, five course dinners plus a bottle of one of their house wines for $95.

my cousin ordered the "surprise" appetizer which consisted of rabbit, bison, and garlic. all were wonderful. i had the bean and shredded chicken chili which was excellent but very filling for an appetizer. we then had the clam chowder soup. i have never had clam chowder because i thought i would not like it, but boy was i wrong. it is now one of my favourite soups (at least at café dario).

for the main course i selected the 6oz beef tenderloin steak cooked to your liking and drizzled with caper chimichurri sauce. i highly recommend this as a main course. it was bursting with flavor and had some very unique flavours thanks to the chimichuri sauce which i loved. my cousin had the elk and he said he would definitely order it again.

presentation was so interesting and the service was top notch. all in all we thoroughly enjoyed the experience and would highly recommend this restaurant. it does not look like much from the outside, but never judge a book by its cover, the same goes for restaurants. you will not regret going here.

love it!. amazing food as always.greatlittle spot for a romantic dinner andgreatvalue for a 4 course meal for $39. my favourite is the grilled 6 oz beef tenderloin steak served with argentinean caper chimichurria. will be back!


-----10 mar, 2015-----

must visit. love the food it is always amazing andgreatvalue.greatlittle spot for a romantic dinner. my favourite is the grilled 6 oz beef tenderloin steak served with argentinean caper chimichurria. delicious! i will definitely be back.

good, but underwhelming. i was here on new years eve. the dishes varied from okay to pretty fantastic, but the overall verdict from my group was that they were pretty underwhelmed by the experience.the service was good, especially considering it was pretty busy; the server was quite attentive.
appetizer:
truffled mushroom and cheese souffle--this was pretty delicious. there was a decided lack of "light" appetizers, and knowing i had another 4 courses ahead of me i had been hoping for something a bit less filling. after eating it i was starting to feel full already, but i have no complaints with the taste. other people at my table had the avocado stuffed with shrimp (which they said was alright but not amazing), the tamale (which was rated as "underwhelming") and the lamb pop (which was rated "good"
soup:
cream of almond--i've had nut soups before but never almond, and i was intrigued. i was a bit disappointed with the result: it tasted like a pretty average cream-of-soup base with almond extract--or perhaps amaretto--for flavouring. admittedly, i wasn't sure what to expect, but this tasted less nutty and more alcoholic than i was hoping for. while it was interesting, i would not order it again.
salad:
mixed greens, blackberries, with a tamarind dressing. this was good but nothing special; the tamarind dressing didn't have as much character as i had expected.
main:
wild boar stuffed with plaintains and apricots. this was to die for. juicy, flavourful, and interesting, i would certainly have this again. unfortunately the rest of my party was significantly underwhelmed by their mains. two had the steak and lobster, which they said was good but nothing special; and one had the rack of lamb, which came out much rarer than she had expected--she'd asked for medium-rare, and it came out bloody. the server was very apologetic about this, took it back and had it cooked for longer, but the bloody beginning to the dish made her lose her appetite and she couldn't finish it. i had a taste of the lamb and it was okay, but nothing special.
dessert:
chocolate and guava duo--this was delicious: a combination of rich brownie and light, flavourful mousse. we had it with spanish coffees. it was the only time during the meal that the server was gone for more than a few minutes--it turns out they'd run out of brandy :). the hostess came out to warn us and even so, the server wasn't gone too long and came back with delicious coffees and our heavenly dessert.
overall:
i'm giving this a thumbs-up considering thegreatservice and the fantastic wild boar, but overall, i was expecting this place to knock my socks off and it didn't. the server had encouraged us to order meals we had never tried before, which was excellent advice; i was happier with the more adventurous choice of wild boar than any of my colleagues seemed to be with their more recognizeable dishes. having said that i'm not sure i'd go back; it's a pretty steep price for a meal that more than half my party wasn't thrilled with.