Smith Restaurant

Very clean and quiet restaurant, great view looking out towards «The Forks». I started off with some in-​house Beef Barley soup, which was ok; other then being very salty. They did bring out some complimentary bread. Which was non-​stop. My entrée I had a full rack of Lamb, which was cooked perfect. It’s been hard finding a good place in Winnipeg that knows how to cook lamb perfect. I would give 10 out of 10 for the lamb. Sides do not come with your entrée which you have to pay for on top of your main course, but the portion size for the side is big enough for 2 people. For my side I had herb and garlic sautéed mushrooms. I had a rum and coke to start and ended with a sprite, which were both really good.

Went here last night with some friends. The décor is really nice. They have faux deer antler chandeliers and low lighting and lots of wood. Beautiful. The patio is spacious and has a mix of lounging areas and tables — also great.
The menu is a little trendy but very tasty. You can easily make meals of out their appetizers which have decent portion sizes. The half roasted chicken was outstanding. I wish I was the one out group that ordered it. The steak was mediocre at best and very expensive. The price points on this menu are a little odd. $ 30 for an a-​la-​carte streak might be ok if the steak was delicious but at that price point we felt it was asking too much.
The warm beet salad with orange, the mac and cheese app, the humous & the sweet potato au-​gratin apps were all delicious.
As for the service, I need to say that generally I have low expectations anywhere at the forks. I’ve had consistent poor service at absolutely every location at the forks for years now. I go for the location, not the service — and the service people must know this because they don’t seem to care however; the service here at this place was notably higher than the surrounding venues.
They were friendly and seemed knowledgable about the menu but I noticed that patio tended to have service gaps at several points throughout the evening.
I will be back, it was a great evening.

Great coffee and a good breakfast. The menu is a little extraordinary but in a good way.
The service was attentive and very friendly.

Food is okay but the place is seriously over priced and service is mediocre at best. I’ve been here three times now and guess what — three strikes and you’re out. Definitely will not be back.
I was staying in the hotel on several business trips and kept hoping it would improve — it never did. I would suggest if you are staying at The Forks in Winnipeg to walk a little bit and go to Earls. Consistently great for 15+ years…

Nice new option down at the forks. Renovations transformed the old Current into a contemporary restaurant that is welcomed in this area. Lighting needs to be improved as they do not dim at this point hurting the ambience.
Our server was knowledgable and engaging while young support staff need more training, this can be expected with an independent new restaurant.
Cocktails were great.
All four dinners we ordered were very good. We would all go back quickly.

Smith is the new restaurant at Inn at the Forks — taking over where the Current used to be. Wow… what a change this has been. Goodbye traditional Current and hello cool Smith. The décor is cool, modern and inviting. The lounge has these cool antler chadeliers with HBC blanket banquettes, big open dining room with some small rooms for smaller parties and a larger room in the back where there’s lots of light flowing in from the windows.
Chef Alex Svenne, formerly of Bistro 7 & ¼ serves up hearty seasonal food family style. The menu has a lot going on as there are snacks, apps to share, soups/​salads and then the mains. I wouldn’t recommend this place if you like to eat on the light side or if you are a vegetarian. This place leans on the comfort food /​carnivore side. You can mix and match a lot depending how hungry you are. Everything is a la carte so mains are just the protein with sides $ 6-​$ 9 each. The mains are meant to be shared family style so for two people two mains plus some sides means there’s definitely a doggy bag to take home. A table of 4 is probably the best number of people to share with at this place.
On to the food:
— pounded cheese, garlic chips, cider vinegar, chives, fried sour dough ($ 12) is great appy if you love cheesed and butter mashed together into a spread and then slathered onto bread. Pricey apppetizer considering the items on the dish but it was pretty good.
— veal sweetbreads, mushroom gravy, pickled beans ($ 16) — very good sweatbreads, very rich dish but worth ordering
— baked pork belly, pork shoulder, grits, tomato ($ 14) — pork belly was dry and the overall flavours were pretty sedate — skip this one.
— roast rack of lamb, herbs de provence, lamb jus ($ 36) — meat was more on the rare side and not very tender, the jus was flavourful but I wouldn’t order this one again.
— duck breast special ($ 22) — duck was also a bit tough despite being served medium rare
— 20 oz canada prime rib steak, bone marrow butter ($ 36) — this was a winner. Flavourful, well marbled, and very tender and was divine with the bone marrow butter. Get this one.
— rack of berkshire pork, apple, fennel, dates, cider ($ 25) — very juicy but eat this one while it’s hot as it dries out if you let it sit too long. great flavour with the apple and dates.
Side dishes are small and probably easier to share between 2 people as they come in a size slightly larger than a ramekin.
— baked cream corn ($ 8) was really creamy and sumptuous
— smith fries with truffle salt, pecorino, thyme ($ 8) were good but pricey for what you get
-.the baked beans, smoked pork hock, buttered crumbs ($ 9) is what you expect baked beans to be
— mac and cheese ($ 9) has a good mixture of cheese without being too salty or overly creamy. very good side dish.
This place has only been open for about a week; despite some issues with the pacing of food and service, overall my two visits have been positive.