The Granary - Saskatoon, SK

The Granary Saskatoon, I always hear their radio ads when driving. Finally went about and tried it with a friend one night. 

Dined in the lounge, good ambiance. 

I might have made the mistake of ordering prime rib at 8 pm which ruined my meal. Ordering so late, I guess I was subjected to the last of the prime rib that has been under the heating lamp all day. It was dry, flavorless... sadly disappointing considering I was craving a nice melt-in-mouth piece of succulent meat.

Started with two appetizers since they had a wonderful deal of 2 for 1 appys.
Had the Neptune mushroom which was mushrooms baked with cream cheese that is mixed with crab. Not a bad dish for its price

Bacon Wrapped Scallops

Neptune Mushroom

Neptune Mushroom

Service was average, nothing special.

Overall, I would go for appetizers with friends but wouldn't order a main.

 

Berry Barn - Saskatoon, SK

When I first moved to Saskatoon, I asked around for any good recommendations for restaurants.The Berry Barn was thrown out several times. I've always been curious, it seems like a great place to go for brunch with the family.

Wasn't sure what I was expecting but it was interesting that they had a little gift store before entering the restaurant. They really marketed the crap out of this place (berry barn bbq sauce etc). Behind the restaurant, there's a little farm/pond you can walk around, which added a nice touch.

But of course, the most important part is the food. Everything is homemade on the menu,

Honestly, its just a Saskatoon tourist hot spot, regards to the menu/taste wise - its nothing special. Pretty bland perogies, I would not have noticed a difference if it they were just frozen ones from the supermarket and passed as hand made.
Spring rolls were soggy and greasy. They only had vermicelli noodles in them and some strands of lettuce - no veg. They essentially exploded in the deep fryer but was still served.

Cheesecake wasn't as bad. You could tell it was homemade; but wasn't the best, not much flavor.

Service wasn't great. He seemed like he didn't want to be there / didn't know how to be a friendly server.

Overall, food wasn't worth the drive nor money. Atmosphere was ... alright; it wasn't really special. Nothing stood out for me or makes me want to go back.

Keo's Kitchen - Saskatoon, SK

Went here not too long ago, thought it was time to share my experience. I love thai food, the spice, the flavors, the culture... ahh.

Tried Keo's Kitchen after alot of people recommended it to me, all saying this place knows how to spice things up. And yes, yes they do. I was almost sweating eating the green curry and I loved every moment of it. Speaking of the green curry, it's my go to dish. Keo's does a well done job, i had medium spice and it had a nice balance in the curry. I do wish it had a little more coconut flavor but I guess the spice level may change that as well; hard to control.

I'm a sucker for iced coffee and Keo's did not disappoint with theirs. I didn't find it as sweet as vietnamese coffee, but Ive heard various differences between the two. Some say they're the same except different coffee beans, some tell me one doesn't use condensed milk (The horror!!) but i personally have no idea and didn't think to ask the server.

Back to the food, it all was pretty tasty. I would pass on the spring rolls next time, just growing up on them and especially having home made ones... its hard for me to like restaurant ones and their recipe for the meat. Nothing beats the food your parents make. And I also think spring rolls are ridiculously expensive.

Great plating, very modern and relaxing ambiance. Good service, she took the time to answer any questions 

The only thing i wish was that the veg in the curry was cut a little smaller. Mainly the cauliflower.... but that is of course, just my preference for my small mouth. The dessert was light and refreshing, probably won't get it again just because I find the others more appealing. It's essentially just a biscuit and vanilla ice cream, thats my go to at costco so sorry Keo's I'll try your custard or sticky rice next time ;)

Overall, I have no complaints and will be back to try the other menu items. Living up to all the recommendations I've been getting.

 

Seoul Korean Restaurant - Saskatoon, SK

Beef Ribs and Japchae

Alright, let me be honest first... back in the day I was never a big fan or Korean Cuisine. Don't get me wrong, I LOVED Korean BBQ - who doesn't?! But I could not like Kimchi or spice ... and I was also ignorant back then as well. I traveled to Korea a year ago and along with discovering how much they loved spice, I got to experience alot of interesting dishes. The spice made sense considering it was so cold outside when I went, there was no snow like Canada but that wind just bites! 

Now, I'm a changed woman. I enjoy kimchi and love a kick in my food. I've been to this Seoul Korean Restaurant twice since I've moved here. Each time, I have walked out more then satisfied.

Having experienced these dishes first in Korea, Seoul Korean Restaurant is authentic and delicious. No offense to Saskatoon, but I'm surprised this Seoul Korean Restaurant has survived since 2011 (earliest evidence I can find about it).  Usually smaller cities don't appreciate authentic cuisine and crave more of a fusion... so when I thought about the size and the demographics I was... happy(? not sure if that's the right word) that Seoul Korean Restaurant looked like it was being recognized for it's authentic dishes.

I've had a couple of dishes here:

Bulgogi Jeongol - It had lots of veg but still a good amount of beef included. Good flavor. It's a great comfort food to warm up with in the winter!


Pork& Beef Ribs - Please show me a korean restaurant that does not serve good Korean BBQ? They also offer to cook it for you in the kitchen if it suits your needs. Delicious!

Japchae

Japchae - One of my all time favorite dishes in life. And they do a pretty good job here, can't go wrong with sesame oil.They actually give you a fairly large portion as well.

Bulgogi Jeongol

Patbingsu - The dessert. Honestly, I'd pass. Nothing special - just ice cream and shaved ice with fruit + fruit loops. I think they did add sort of a red bean paste with it but it didn't really add any flavor, hence why I'm unsure if it was red bean.... But yes, this dessert isn't really as good or special as the photos make it look. Better off just going to menchies or marble slab.

They do offer a believe... three side dishes? A Sweet mash, bean sprouts and ... KIMCHI!

Prices are fairly reasonable, service is alright - pretty average. The restaurant itself is pretty spacey and only have a limited amount of tables. The second time I went during the supper rush on a weekday, people that came after us did have a short wait.

Good to see they embraced ipad menus, very up to date. I was surprised they didn't take our orders with iphones.

I would definitely be back when I'm craving some delicious korean food and will be recommending it to whomever.

Yip Hongs Dim Sum Restaurant - Saskatoon, SK

Ah, yum cha/dim sum. One of my favorite childhood memories and still one of my favorite things to do.
Yum Cha focuses more on the tea aspect - having high tea while eating dim sum. They never asked what tea I wanted - but I've heard from a large amount of people that I don't look chinese, and also lets not forget but we are in saskatoon. From the taste of it, I want to say the tea they offer to everyone is either Teet Goon Yum  or  Jasmine .
I've been to two dim sum restaurants in Saskatoon, the Mandarin and Yip Hongs! First note, I was super happy to find out that they have the push cart service. Last time I checked, only one restaurant in Calgary still uses the push cart system. Same with Hong Kong, very little restaurants use the push carts.

I really enjoyed the dim sum selection and quality offered by the Mandarin, but they lacked one very important dish: Feng Zhao - Chicken Feet. One of my favorite dishes and they didn't carry it. I found out Yip Hong's does and I had to make a trip there. They are smaller then the Mandarin and I find have a smaller selection of dim sum. Also the taste and quality, I feel, was not as high as the Mandarin. They really only had three people doing the push carts, and sometimes they would get chatting up with a regular and take forever to make their way to my hungry stomach. 

It's a more homey feel in this restaurant, hard to explain but there were alot of regulars... just the atmosphere there was very down to earth.

Overall, the quality and taste of the dim sum offered was subpar to my standards. I do like how they offer chicken feet, but it wasn't that outstanding. I'd come here mainly for that dish if I was craving it hardcore. If anyone knows any other restaurant that offers chicken feet, please let me know!

First Julep Maven "Modern Beauty" Box

This is just a quick post about the "Modern Beauty" box I got! This took a lot longer then I expected to receive, they did send me a promo code for a free nail polish to apologize for the delay because I guess they realized it got sent out late. I was not sent this box, purchased it with my own money.

Each box has $40 worth of product, it costs you $25 dollars. I always passed on these boxes since I have no interest in nail polish. But I recently saw that they do offer make up products, so i decided to try it out. The "Modern Beauty" box comes with two full sized products each month.

The first "Modern Beauty" box comes with one pencil gel eyeliner and a small neutral eyeshadow palette. I thought the palette looked larger online, but its pretty small in person. Nice neutral tones, surprisingly pigmented. The pencil gel eyeliner was really smooth, I've never used gel liners in pencil form before but so far am impressed. Ill have a more detailed review on both these products later.

On the way to check out, they of course entice you to other items for a good deal. And I am a sucker for those promos, so I picked up the "Konjac Cleansing Sponge" for $6.99 where as the reg price is $12.00. First thoughts: I've used a cleansing sponge before, only from Saje. I loved it and was hoping this would be the same deal. Except this came already wet/soaked in a cleanser? Where as the one at Saje is a dry sponge that poofs up when under water. I also picked up the "Blank Canvas Mattifying Make Up Primer" for $13.99, where reg price is $28.00. Also have more detailed reviews on these products in the upcoming future.

At the moment, I don't see this box being worth $25 dollars a month or $20 /month for a 3 month plan. I only went for one month just to see the products performance by this company. I ordered this on October 2nd and I got it October 31, they did notify me and apologize that my package would be 2-5 business days behind schedule, they also offer tracking for each package, which comes in handy.

I'll keep you updated on product performance and my thoughts!

Size comparison in my hand.. 

Light swatches of eyeshadows

 

Nagoya Japanese Restaurant - Saskatoon, SK

Sorry for the lack of photos... was hangry!

I was craving sushi for a while and nothing beats all you can eat. There are actually quite a few choices for all you can eat sushi in this city and I no doubt, before I move, will try them all. At Nagoya Japanese Restaurant, they provide a chinese buffet part of the included price, which I found interesting and loved the concept. Foodwise on the buffet wasn't the freshest, you can tell its been sitting there all day.. most of the food tasted very dry - don't blame them though since I went at around 8pm and they close at 9 or 9.30 (Bad memory).

Buffet was around $26 and it included sashimi. In the past when i've been to all you can eat (Calgary + Red Deer), the usually don't include sashimi so I was happy they did here... but wasn't happy with the quality of it.

Its known for restaurants to freeze salmon etc to keep it from going bad/getting parasites but here you could tell it was definitely not fresh, it tasted still frozen... it just tasted like eating a cold half frozen piece of rubber. I was very disappointed.

The all you can eat menu was an adequate amount, they had desserts (Deep fried bananas + ice cream), appetizers, rolls, udon, etc. Their special rolls were pretty taste, dragon roll... I only tried a few. No regrets there.
Service was below average, we went too close to closing so they were pretty obvious in letting us know we should leave.

Overall, I think you can tell if a sushi restaurant is good dependent on their sashimi served. Sashimi is so simple yet so delicate. They lacked in that department and since there are a abundance of japanese restaurants in the city, I highly doubt I'd come back to this place.