Stupendous View, Uninspired Food
I have eaten at the Royal Crown several times, mostly at their lunch buffets, but also at a wedding reception. The consensus among my friends is that the food does not live up to the view, the Royal Crown being a 30th storey revolving restaurant with a spectacular view of the city of Winnipeg.

The dishes I tried (mostly chicken) seemed very institutional, about the same level of quality you'd expect in a high school cafeteria, an old age home, or even a hospital, except that I've had some cafeteria meals I remember fondly, whereas no Royal Crown meal has ever evoked tasty memories for me.

The last dish I had there, a barbequed "half chicken" was bland and uninspired, the accompanying rice and vegetables cooked to the point of near tastelessness. The so-called "half" chicken I got was little more than a drumstick with a thigh attached. It was not in the same league with the chicken available at Winnipeg's many fine chicken restaurants (such as Chave d-Oro, Swiss Chalet), or even up to the level of a good buffet restaurant. Heck, I enjoy fast food chicken far more than anything I've had at the Royal Crown.

Considering the Royal Crown has some of the highest prices in Winnipeg you definitely expect better. My companion had a steak and lobster combo and found the lobster overcooked and not very fresh (though in fairness to Royal Crown, most Winnipeg restaurants I've tried, except for Chinese ones and Red Lobster, tend to overcook their lobster). The meal was preceded by a salad and soup that were quite tasty, and the fresh baked bread that went with it was delicious.

Service was affable, but some little lapses (no crackers with the soup -- we had to go hunting for our own), and the waiter didn't bother to ask our choice of dressings for the salad, even though options were available. There were some lengthy delays, but I believe this may be due to the configuration of the restaurant, which requires food to ride an elevator up from the kitchen, rather than the waiter.
If the food matched the view, Royal Crown would indeed be the king of dining experiences. As it stands, however, it's only a royal pretender, whose cuisine does not live up to the expectations its location, price, and high-class ambiance give rise to.    [06 Aug 2003 19:28:29]

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     ­Laurence Gillespie   LGillespie at colliers dot mb dot ca

Imitation Fancy
Major flaws in the service. Atmosphere was trying really hard to look fancy but lacked elegance.

Food was average. Violinist plays juvenile music that sounds repetitive.    [02 Jun 2004 04:09:22]

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     ­Anonymous