That being said, it is a cafeteria, which means that we can’t expect much décor; cafeterias are all business, so it would seem. We ordered at the non-descript counter and fetched our own coffees as is the custom for the North End.
The coffee underwent what is now known as “The Campsie Test,” where you hold the pot up to the light to see how opaque it is. The Campsie’s coffee, of course, was a deep, rich Michael Jackson black. That’s right, it’s the Michael Jackson of coffees. The coffee at this cafeteria failed the test, given that we couldn’t read a newspaper through it. Good.
When ordering, we were given large numbers to help keep our orders… ordered. Too bad it didn’t prevent them from messing up. A couple of people out of our party of seven had order mix-ups, but they were easily rectified with some swift plate switching. Poor Leif however was left waiting for his over-hard eggs while the rest of us tucked in. In addition, the person who ordered last got served first, and vice-versa. Untraditional. It wasn’t bad fare, once all of our orders were sorted out.
Everything was completely average, which is better than being sub-par I guess. The three strips of bacon were greasy but tasty; soft but well done just how I like. The three pieces of processed ham, however, looked as if it were sliced by a laser and came from a lunch pail. (Some 8-year-old’s white-bread-and-mayo sandwich is missing its thin thin pinkish hue.)
Nobody ordered the sausage, but I imagined that they would serve the generic breakfast links. The eggs were fine, though Leif thought his were still not quite over hard, but was a good sport about it. The adequate rye toast was accompanied by a large basket of peanut butter and jam, but only one type of each, Kraft. This is better than the “spread” made by Sunspun offered elsewhere.
The main entrance to the building has ridiculously high ceilings that are gorgeous just like a proper train station should have. Are you listening Edmonton?
Contrast that with the stinky bathroom urinals and then picture this as somebody’s first image of Winnipeg, just off the train from the home country. I hope they kept the bathrooms cleaner back then, but this contrast is a somehow fitting preparation for this city.
The view outside of the cafeteria window was modern and dreadful. An industrial landscape with the train tracks still in use, the parking lot was a veritable landfill which backed onto some large business lot. I was glad for their thin blinds, letting in the light and not the sights.
All in all, this is a good breakfast for the price. Great if you work in the building, but is not yet something to go out of your way for. I highly look forward to their menu revamp and will gladly revisit the ACW restaurant then.
April 10 2008
THE ABORIGINAL CENTRE RESTAURANT
181 Higgins Ave
Hours of operation:
Mon - Fri 8 AM - 3 PM
Set inside the old train station on Higgins, the Aboriginal Centre of Winnipeg has a cafeteria-like restaurant that serves decidedly un-Aboriginal food. I was expecting some bannock at least, but they said “not today.” The fact is, their menu is changing towards more traditional foods sometime in the summer, but for now you we had to be content with the straight-up Canadian breakfast special. Shucks.
Look! I finally got my breakfast!
Super awesome architecture from 1904.
This is one of the nicest buildings to go to for Brek.
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