Executive chef Jan Hansen and lead cook David Jones show off Selkirk’s delicious food

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Selkirk Grille

When Selkirk Grille executive chef Jan Hansen was a lad, Sunday dinners meant family get-togethers over roast beef. In this spirit, the restaurant, which sits just outside Heritage Park’s main gate, is serving Sunday night prime rib ($31.95), which comes with salad and dessert.

Befitting its historical park location, Selkirk’s menu features Canadian favourites. “What we’re trying to do is keep it traditional with a bit of an edge to it,” says Hansen. “We’re trying to do really good local ingredients.”

A few days prior to talking with the chef, I sat down to the abovementioned meal. And what a dinner it was. While we admired the room’s stylish central bar, wood-frame construction, high ceiling and tall, arched windows, we received a tasty basket of fresh crusty buns with whipped cracked peppercorn and apricot butter.

I enjoyed a satisfying wintry bowl of frisée, endive, radicchio and other mixed greens topped with thin-shaved Sylvan Star gouda wedges, a seasoned oven-dried tomato slice and sweet, roasted walnuts.

Speaking of old favourites, my wife started with a bowl of five onion and cider soup ($6) — a fresh take on French onion soup. It was not served as it has been for centuries, in a tiny pot oozing with cheap, plastic-like cheese. Rather, it was served in a large, white bowl. The five varieties of onion and the cider broth gave it a deep richness, tangier than typical French onion broth. Two nicely modest house-made crostini topped with Sylvan Star gouda floated freely. Suiting the menu’s theme, though surely unintentional, it looked like The Enchanted Owl, that famous Canadiana emblem by Nunavut artist Kenojuak Ashevak. Fitting; it was an enchanting dish.

The prime rib was a real looker even sans au jus, however, once I poured the small pitcher of sauce over the dish, it blossomed, becoming a true classic beauty. A hearty slab of medium beef was draped on a fist-sized dollop of creamy mashed potato. Peeking out from behind the meat, three asparagus spears (one white) and a sprig of soft, fragrant rosemary were like feathers on a wide-brimmed hat. Hidden under the meat were a small yellow squash and a carrot. I’m a hot horseradish man, but Selkirk’s house-made sweet-slaw version swam well in the au jus, marrying with its meaty flavour. The prime rib’s moist, wholesome richness hit the Sunday-night, comfort-food nail squarely on the head.

My wife’s pork belly with fireweed honey glaze and barbecued prawn on wilted arugula ($15) was not as fatty as it sounds, though it was what I’d more deliciously term “rich.” Melt-in-your-mouth meat slices were accented with drizzled glaze that held onto that sweet fat — I mean richness — for dear life. The surf and turf seems like an unnecessary pairing, given the belly’s awesomeness, but the lean seafood made an agreeable mouthful when sharing the fork with the pork.

My apple crisp desert, again, a perennial Canuck fave, was simply made, using Gala and McIntosh apples. It was topped with a half-scoop of Selkirk’s own vanilla gelato. The sugar was dialed back to let the apples and ice cream do the talking. The rum cake ($7) comes with fig, raspberry and red wine “soup,” that’s more like a coulis. A half-scoop of maple walnut ice cream topped a dense, bunt-like tan cake. Both desserts were real lip smackers, though the cake portions were a bit dry.

Though not a white-tablecloth restaurant, Selkirk serves higher-end food at very reasonable prices. The restaurant’s stylish, Canadiana décor and gregarious staff made our visit a pleasure. Being a historical park eatery, Selkirk’s use of local and Canadian ingredients (Alberta beef, Valbella bacon, Driview Farms lamb, Yukon Arctic char) not only give it plenty of street cred, but adds a whole extra flavour dimension.