Aroma Mediterranean Resto Bar - Saskatoon, SK

Aroma! During my move to Saskatoon, I stayed twice at the Radisson and dined at their Aroma Restaurant conveniently located downstairs. I normally don't dine in the hotel and prefer to dine at local restaurants in the city but the first time I dined here, it was purely for the convenience and I am very happy I did. The second time I stayed at the Radisson, dining at Aroma was one thing I was looking very forward too! The food here is fantastic!

Since I've moved here, i have dined at a few restaurants in the city and spoken to a few people about local eats, I believe this is a highly underrated restaurant in this city. The service and food is exceptional.

 I had the same male server for both times I've been here (Can't remember his name :( ) but he was pleasant and observant, random side note: not a big fan of their uniforms, the long apron throws me off. I've had a couple of dishes here,

The first time, I had this unbelieveable pasta dish... looking at their current menu online, I don't believe its on there now :(. I'm usually avoid ordering pasta dishes from restaurants that don't specialize in it because I find myself with a very watery bland dish. This dish was amazing, all i remember is that it had truffle oil in it and I could not get enough of it in case you couldn't tell by my ravings. In the elevator, I was speaking to a gentleman and they were a little tipsy but was telling me how he just had fantastic pizza at Aroma... so of course when I was here, we ordered two as well. One being off the vegan/gluten free menu and the other being the Pig & Fig. The Pig & Fig had a great balance of sweetness from the onions and figs with the heaviness of the meat. They make the pizzas fresh by hand in the back of the restaurant.. pretty neat to watch. Most "wood stone fired" pizza's I find are easily burnt but these two pizzas were perfectly cooked. Both were pretty good, wasn't as great as the elevator guy made it to be... but then again he was a little under the influence and we all know how great food is at that stage.

One thing I was impressed with, is that one member of our party is vegan and they offered a separate menu for her which made it super easy to pinpoint the delicious dishes available for her. The second time I went, I ended up with a dish that was a chuck part of the meat (Also not in the current menu it seems), it was pretty good, very tender.
We also had a few appys as well which were of course, very appetizing.

Everyone that I ate with here, enjoyed their experience as much as I did.

I love the fact they offer little Hors D'oeuvrs before the entree. One is a antipesto (we got this both times), the second time we were offered an extra one but I couldn't remember what it was, what I do remember was that it was equally amazing.

I apologize, but I didn't seem to take photos of my first experience... must have been too hungry.

Overall, I have quite enjoyed both my experiences at Aroma and it is currently my favorite restaurant in Saskatoon. One thing this city does not lack is restaurants, shopping on the other hand... well thats another story. I love trying new restaurants but when I want a good experience and know I will be served delicious food, I will of course make my way to Aroma Mediterranean Resto Bar in the Radisson. 

Poached Breakfast Bistro, Saskatoon SK

I went here on a whim on a Sunday morning. It was the only breakfast place we could really find that was open on a Sunday morning in the downtown area. We were told a 40 minute wait... I was starting to assume it might just be one of those "current" restaurants that don't actually have food worth waiting for. We were all pretty hungry and didn't feel like waiting forty minutes.. especially since there was no where to wait except a open Starbucks a couple blocks down. I do wish they were able to put a bench out or something, but I guess that's up to the city.

We decided to go to drive around Saskatoon in search of another open restaurant but actually ended up getting lost and ended up close to downtown. By that time, the forty minutes would have been up by the time we parked and walked back to Poached so we decided on that. One thing is, I do appreciate they call the wait list customers when their table is ready. I've been to a couple popular breakfast joints in Calgary where they just take your name and they expect you to wait around in the crowd outside the door for your name to be called... many asian restaurants follow that concept as well. 

They have good food set at a pretty reasonably price. We had the Blueberry Bagel French Toast which was served with whipped yogurt, I believe. Rhubarb crepe with whipped yogurt and poached eggs on crab cakes with a side of Potato Croquettes. Don't quote me on these dishes, I couldn't find their latest menu online.. I do believe it changes per season!

Overall each dish was pretty good, all very well balance! The potato Croquette's were delicious, it had a nice crunchy outside with a creamy potato center.
The Blueberry Bagel french toast was an alright dish... nothing special personally. The whipped yogurt was a good touch, with some fresh blackberries on top. Good balanced plate, nice tartness with the fresh blackberries and sweetness with the whipped yogurt.
If you like crab, the poached eggs on top of the crab cakes with a side salad, I'm sure you will enjoy. Like the potato corquette's it has a nice crunchy outside and the side salad provides a good balance to the seafood. 

I am glad we ended up getting lost and got a chance to try this bistro. Expect a long wait time especially the later you arrive (While we were dining around 10:30 there was around an hour wait time), it is a small restaurant with really only three front of house staff. One host, one server for the front of the restaurant and one of the back. The service itself is alright, not really sociable or attentive but not unpleasant either. 

I would highly recommend this as a breakfast choice for anyone in the area to give it a try. I wouldn't mind eating here again and try many of there other appetizing items on their menu. Just got to be ready for the wait time and not mad hungry.