Era Bistro

I expected more for my money. The pasta was definitely undercooked. I’ve been there a couple of times and every time it has been the same. Many items on the menu are not available all the time. Great venue, though. Hosting an event can be tricky as the restaurant won’t close their doors, so they’ll take guests, plus your party. A difficult situation when you have servers going around with food, offering to everyone, not realizing they are not part of your event. I’ve had better food elsewhere, but would go at least once since it is in the museum.

Delicious food in a great museum. I enjoyed a good glass of wine with delicious pasta after perusing the human rights museum. The waitress and staff were very friendly, courteous, and quick!

ERA Bistro is located in the Canadian Museum for Human Rights — enter through the main entrance into the museum and once inside, turn right. This is a controversial building but during the long walk in, as you look up at the museum, one can’t help but be in awe of this architectural site.
The head chef here is the former Current Inn at the Fork executive chef so there’s similarities as the food here draws on local and sustainable food. The restaurant has an open kitchen and several communal tables with a few two tops around the perimeter. I’m not a huge fan of communal tables but the ones here are spaced a bit better but still that’s something to keep in mind if you’re larger than a party of two.
The service was slow to start as they were quite busy on the weekend but once we had a server, she was very friendly and knowledgeable. I loved my mixed drink — «The Tall 79» ($ 12) FAIR. Quinoa Vodka, Prosecco, Fever Tree Soda, Lemon Grass Simple Syrup, Lemon Twist. A light and fizzy cocktail that had a nice punch of alcohol.
Wonton Tortiere ($ 9) — Manitoba lamb, onion, garlic, rosemary, sweet potato, pickled walnuts was a terrible starter. It resembled a mini taco salad, you know the ones inside a tortilla bowl. The wonton was fried in a mini bowl shape and ground lamb was sprinkled inside. There was no flavour and the meat was cool and the wonton was hard. Glad they offered to take this off our bill as it was not good at all.
Carrot Fries ($ 8) beer battered, soft herb + jalapeño buttermilk dip — this was a delicious starter or it could be a shareable side. The carrot fries reminds me of sweet potato fries but better. The dip was also delicious.
Manitoba Lamb Loin ($ 27) — mushroom, rosemary gastrique, garlic chips. This was an extremely tough piece of meat so that was unfortunate. Venison Loin ($ 33) sweet potato, sour cherry, wild arugula was a delicious dish. Meat was tender and the sour cherry paired really nicely with the venison.
Overall, it’s a nice bistro to have inside the museum. I would return but maybe give this place some time and maybe after some changes to the menu.