With exceedingly tender shreds of pulled pork and heaps of fries, the Korean BBQ Pulled Pork baguette at Moxie's makes a hefty meal.
Moxies - Polo Park Address: Polo Park Shopping Centre, 1485 Portage Avenue Phone: 204-783-1840 Website: www.moxies.ca Neighbourhood: St. James
Can you get a good bite at a chain of family restaurants?
Especially one that ends with an 's?
Turns out, you can.
Think of Moxie's as The Keg light.
With five locations spread throughout the city, it feels like there's always a location nearby.
Some items are strictly by the (recipe) book.
Others will surprise you, like a Korean BBQ pulled pork sandwich with a bit of kick to make it interesting. Pork is juicy, plentiful and stuffed inside a fresh baguette and combines with fries to make one big lunch.
Meanwhile, the exotic-sounding Mayan chicken chipotle and mango salad has enough iceberg lettuce to sink the Titanic. Even at that, this sweet and tangy meal-sized salad is loaded with shredded cheddar, black beans and corn and a freshly grilled chicken breast. Chipotle brings heat while two crispy asiago sticks tame tongue tingles.
The menu includes interesting salads such as roasted beet and arugula, sesame Thai chicken and top sirloin steak with Quebec goat cheese, making it hard to narrow down the field of contenders.
The kids menu offers lots of fast-foody options, including chicken fingers and grilled cheese. Healthy sides, like carrot sticks and dip or salad, are available in place of fries. The kids menu also features grilled chicken with penne and steamed vegetables, among other good-for-little-people meals.
Moxie's has an uptown vibe but is super family friendly. Kids are not only expected but they're welcomed with plenty of booster and high chairs, crayons and colouring sheets, and their own decent-sized menu.
For our end play, we devoured a rich, moist white chocolate brownie. Weight watchers don't be wary. You can order the "bite" size, which is still big enough to share with a friend, for half the price.
Moxie's has four other locations in Winnipeg, including Kenaston (1620 Kenaston Boulevard), St. Vital (St. Vital Shopping Centre), Regent (Regent Avenue & Lagimodiere Boulevard) and the MTS Centre (300 Portage Avenue).