13 replies to this topic

[Kerry Beal]

After a severe buffeting by the elements this morning I managed to make it safely to Saskatoon - where I will be as an examiner for the college of Family Physicians for the next couple of days.

Thanks to the help of eG'ers I have a few places I need to try to eat while I'm here. (I had hoped to add a link to the original discussion in eG however Tapatalk has no mechanism to copy a url for some reason).

In the taxi to my hotel I happened to notice one of the suggested restaurants - The Taj Mahal - and after getting the milk I needed for my tea I stopped by with the intent of getting takeaway. Unfortunately I was in between their lunch and dinner hours so they weren't open. With a two hour time difference between home and here - and plans to spend some time in the spa I decided to find something else rather than wait to eat much later in the evening.

I was heading towards Truffles Bistro - another recommended spot - when I saw a place called 'Red Pepper' - Vietnamese, Thai and Chinese. It had a bunch of "Best of..." awards in it's window - so I figured it would be a good spot to grab some pho for my dinner. The perfect comfort food after a flight.




Small miscalculation on my part - forgot to ask for chopsticks. A plastic fork just doesn't do it for pho and I'd forgotten I have a real fork in my kit. There were no fresh herbs and no rooster sauce or hoisin in the bag unfortunately so it was a bit anemic - but it was warm and it was wet - so it was dinner!

I think I'll take a quick walk out and see if I can find some cheese and stuff to have for snacks in my room - I will try to avoid any potato chips!

[Marlene]

No no. You're in the West. You need to find some real Old Dutch chips. The ones in a box. The ones in Ontario are not the same. Especially the BBQ

[prasantrin]

I agree! Old Dutch in a box, but the original Bar-B-Q flavour, not that new fangled crappy BBQ flavour they now have in the bag!

Although the Old Dutch Sour Cream & Green Onion Rip-L chips in the bag are awfully good (but it has to be the Rip-L ones, not the regular S&O chips). They're a lot like my long lost all-time favourite S&O chips, O'Ryans! Oh my poor O'Ryans, how I miss you so!

[Kerry Beal]

No no. You're in the West. You need to find some real Old Dutch chips. The ones in a box. The ones in Ontario are not the same. Especially the BBQ

I agree! Old Dutch in a box, but the original Bar-B-Q flavour, not that new fangled crappy BBQ flavour they now have in the bag!

Although the Old Dutch Sour Cream & Green Onion Rip-L chips in the bag are awfully good (but it has to be the Rip-L ones, not the regular S&O chips). They're a lot like my long lost all-time favourite S&O chips, O'Ryans! Oh my poor O'Ryans, how I miss you so!

But if I take them home for hubby - I'll eat them!

I must not buy them!

[Kerry Beal]

Found myself a bit peckish after my spa time - so headed out to find some cheese and peanuts. I stumbled across Truffles Bistro and happened to notice a charcuterie app on their special board outside.

Apparently it was no problem to make it 'to go'.




Some sort of pate with a lovely horseradish sauce tucked under, chicken rolled around cucumber and these little shrimp gems with a wonderfully fresh tasting pea puree.

[Kerry Beal]

After the exam training I managed to make a quick visit to Souleio - a place I was told had cheese and charcuterie. They had a variety of interesting products.

I left with three cheeses - ossau iraty, Beaufort, and something called Alfred from Quebec.



The owner was showing me a bottle of camellia oil - anyone familiar with that? It is pressed from camelina sativa - an oilseed grown in Saskatchewan.

[Kerry Beal]

Dinner tonight was at Bliss Fine Food. There were eight of us - we split three appetizers - poutine with short rib, a mushroom turnover and gravlax.











Someone opted for the tenderloin with potatoes Dauphenois.



Salmon.



Lamb chops.



Chicken with quinoa.

[Kerry Beal]

Tonight's dinner was at Truffle's Bistro. Three of us went - two who needed to catch a plane at 8 pm. That meant a fairly early dinner.

We enjoyed a wonderful mushroom soup with some bitter greens. Stout was added to the soup.



The duck breast for me - served with beluga lentils.



Steak frites.



Salmon.



No time or room for dessert - think I will wander out a little later and have dessert at Weczeria. Dan said that I could sit at the bar where the regulars hang out even though the restaurant is fully booked.

[Kerry Beal]

I took the opportunity to wander across the bridge over the south Saskatchewan River tonight to visit eG's Junior (Dan Walker) at his restaurant Weczeria.

My timing was off - Dan had left a short while before - but I had a lovely visit with the chef de cuisine Lindsay Closson and the father of Kylie, the bartender, who was sitting at the bar.

I started with a nice glass of Henry of Pelham Cabernet Sauvignon ice wine. Dan's wine list had a nice variety of Canadian wines and a number were familiar to me from the niagara region.



I decided on the coconut lemon tart - which was a delicious combination of tart lemon and crispy coconut in a shortcrust pastry.



Lindsay and I got chatting and she pulled out a rum bottle containing a liqueur she had made from cherry pits. Smelled delightfully of almond, she poured a glass for both Kylie's father and I - it was quite fabulous!



I'm a bit of a lightweight when it comes to alcohol - so after these two drinks and a cup of excellent coffee - I carefully walked my way back across the bridge to my historic hotel on the river.

[haresfur]

Thanks for the tour. It's been a long time since I was in Saskatoon and it looks like the food only gets better.

[Kerry Beal]

Headed out this am with the intention of hitting Truffles bistro again for breakfast - but discovered that it wasn't open until a little later than practical for ensuring I made it to the airport on time - and besides I was hungry!

Got a couple of pictures of buildings that interested me. I didn't get one of the Saskatoon Club - not particularly interesting architecture. Got me thinking of those times in the past when these private clubs were the thing. I know my father had been a member of the Hamilton club when he was in business - became horrified when he discovered the club was 'restricted' so lots of his buddies weren't welcome. He was instrumental in changing that. Wonder how long it took in Saskatoon for all but WASP males to gain entrance?




You can always count on the nearest greek restaurant to be open early and serving the big breakfast.



Off to the airport shortly - don't think my cheese and cracker lunch on the plane will warrant pictures.

I've enjoyed my chance to sample the food Saskatoon has to offer and am struck by the way that most reasonably sized cities these days seem to have restaurants featuring quality local products and are doing great things with them.

[Kerry Beal]

Well apparently when the sabre program puts something into your calendar it chooses the time from home - so I arrived at the airport to discover that my flight left 2 hours earlier than I had thought!

Thanks to a delightful air canada employee it's not going to cost me anything but time and a visit to Winnipeg to get home much later tonight than planned. Now to see if I can find prasantrin at home.

[Kerry Beal]

Fortunately Prasantrin (Rona) was home and got my e-mails. She was waiting for me outside the door of the Winterpeg airport - in the snow (and me in my sandals).

So we headed off to a nice little pub called The Grove for a bite before my next flight went off to Toronto.

After having read the thread about what to serve while watching the royal wedding - the coronation chicken caught my eye. I didn't really make the connection that it was just a curried chicken salad sandwich until it arrived - but it was very nice. I had the cream of celery with candied walnut soup.



Rona opted for the burger.



And we shared a sticky toffee pud for dessert.

[phoenikia]

Has anyone had any impressive meals in Saskatoon lately? I'm hoping to visit Weczeria, Truffles, Carver's (for a group dinner) and Genesis for dim sum. What other restaurants would you recommend?

Edited by phoenikia, 09 February 2012 - 05:45 PM.