Winnipeg’s downtown has a new trendy restaurant. House of Ma has opened in the Exchange District at the end of July 2026, bringing an Asian fusion menu that covers quite a bit of ground — Filipino, Korean, Chinese, Thai, and more.
House of Ma is part of True Hospitality, a local boutique restaurant group. The group owns and/or operates four independent restaurants — Cibo Waterfront Cafe, Junction 59 Roadhouse, The James Avenue Pumphouse, and Bistro 330 in La Salle — and is also the franchisee of Shark Club Winnipeg.
Judging by the name, I initially thought it was a Chinese restaurant. But I later learned that the head chef is from the Philippines, which explains some of the Filipino dishes on the menu.
Making a reservation through OpenTable was quick and easy. What we didn’t expect was the restaurant is so open and spacious. Loved the contemporary design that gives it a modern feel. We were seated in the upper section, and the staff was friendly and attentive throughout our meal.
So, what did we eat?
A Nice Little Start
Before we got into the food, we were given complimentary chicken broth to whet the appetite. A simple touch, but a thoughtful one — and a nice way to start the meal.
Tita’s Lumpia Spring Roll
We started with the Tita’s Lumpia Spring Roll. We were told that these are made by the head chef’s mom — and Mom knows how to cook 👍
The lumpia was packed with meat and came out hot and delicious. Seven pieces are CAD$14, which we thought was a pretty good start to the meal.
Soy Ginger Fried Fish
The waitress brought the dish to the table and then poured the sauce around the fish. See my video below — it’s a nice little touch.
The crust was crispy and light, while the fish inside was hot and tender. The contrast between the crispy coating and the soft fish worked really well.
CAD $21
Buldak Noodles
The Buldak Noodles come with udon noodles, corn, furikake, kimchi, mozzarella, and gochujang cream sauce.
The menu shows three hot peppers beside the dish. It has a nice kick to it, but we didn’t find it overly spicy.
There is quite a bit of sauce — it’s not quite noodle soup, but it’s also not really like the Asian dry-mixed noodles you might be used to.
The noodles had good texture and the flavours were there. One tip: I would eat this as soon as it arrives. With that much sauce, the noodles can get soggy if they sit around for too long.
You can add shrimp, beef, or sautéed chicken for an additional charge.
Kare-Kare
It comes with braised beef shank, bok choy, pea shoots, eggplant, crushed peanuts, and peanut sauce. Kare-Kare is a Filipino dish known for its thick, savoury peanut sauce, and this version had a generous portion of beef shank. The dish was scrumptious, and there was plenty of sauce to go around.
The beef shank was generous and full of flavour, and the rich peanut sauce paired nicely with the rice.
We also ordered a bowl of rice for CAD$3 to go with the Kare-Kare. Surprisingly, the rice was on the cooler side and a little clumped together.
We had just one little practical issue 😂: the restaurant chose a ladle as the serving utensil for this dish. It looks appropriate for a saucy dish, but it’s surprisingly difficult to actually pick up the food with a ladle. The tongs that came with the Buldak Noodles worked much better for grabbing the beef and vegetables, while the ladle was better suited for scooping up the sauce.
And here’s the funny part: the utensils on the table were forks and knives, so we just used what we were given. My friend and I are both Chinese, and somehow neither of us thought to ask for chopsticks. We only realized it when we looked around and saw all the non-Asian people using them. 😂
Turon Crunch Pudding
We finished with the Turon Crunch Pudding, which was probably the most unexpected dish of the meal.
For those who aren’t familiar with it, turon is a Filipino banana roll. House of Ma takes the idea and turns it into a dessert with banana puree, biscuit crumble, jackfruit, vanilla custard, and crisp turon crunch.
My first bite was interesting. I wasn’t quite sure what to make of it, and I think I may have taken too much of the turon crunch from the top. But as I kept eating, I enjoyed it more and more.
Overall
Overall, we had a fun and enjoyable dining experience at House of Ma. The menu has a good variety of Asian-inspired dishes, and it was nice to see Filipino dishes alongside Korean, Chinese, and Thai influences.
There are definitely more dishes on the menu that we want to try, so we’ll be back. After all, one visit is hardly enough when the menu is this varied.
📍127 Bannatyne Ave #110, Winnipeg, MB
🌐 House of Ma currently does not have a website
📱House of Ma Instagram Page
My Youtube short video of our dining experience