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.

 

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.

Rock Creek Tap and Grill - Saskatoon, SK

The Guacamole Brie-wich

I'm not a big beer fan... or alcohol in general. So I can't really comment on the beer selection.
Food wise... not impressed. We were seated promptly and I must say, when we walked into the dining area, I was impressed. It's very well decorated, modern and provided a very relaxing ambiance. Great atmosphere.

Nothing really crazy that stood out on the menu for me, pretty similar to Earls/Moxies I would say. They did have a feature menu, which I love when restaurants do that.

My friend ordered the "Guacamole Brie-wich" which sounded really tempting to me as well, but I opted for the "Organic Meatloaf".

The Guacamole Brie-wich was, I must say, a disappointment. Sounded great on the menu, but once you get it... it just wasn't what you expected. It was a more boring dish then expected. She also ordered a side of Salsa and we both found it to taste rather.. intense. And by that, I mean when you take a taste of it, its like you just sipped some rubbing alcohol.
One weird note was that there was less then a handful of fries.

Organic meatloaf sub mash potatoes

The "Organic Meatloaf" was alright, pretty generic. You can't really screw up a chunk of meat. It was under the "Comfort Food" Section, which is fitting. I love meatloaf, its a nice hearty dish. This dish was alright, smaller portion then I'm use to when ordering meatloaf at a restaurant... but I guess when I order Meatloaf it's usually at a dinner or a more casual family dining restaurant. It said on the menu that it has a sweet spicy chilli glaze... but I'm not sure if the glaze was that red ketchup heap on top of the meatloaf. The heap wasn't a glaze, it looked like ketchup and tasted like ketchup... so i'm going to say its ketchup. I'm use to more of a slightly ketchupy/brown sugar glaze on my meatloaf. I'm not the biggest fan of Ketchup, i mainly use it to mask the taste of items. There was a little too much of the sauce on the chunk of meat loaf for me. It also came with some pan fried zucchini and carrots... very greasy for my taste. You can see the oiliness of that side already spreading on the plate in the photo. I also subbed for Mash potato since I was craving a more comforting heavier starch. It was some weird cajun chive mashed potato. It was... okay. I prefer my mash to be creamy and garlicy. This was lumpy and a bit dry. I love spice, but it just didn't taste right in mash. I wish they offered a regular version.

Service was alright, average.

Overall, my first experience here wasn't anything really special. Great ambiance, very modern interior and well spaced. Boring/disappointing food. Personally, wouldn't be a place I'd be really voluntarily visiting nor recommending

The weird salsa

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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!

Duchess Bake Shop - Edmonton, AB

This is quite a popular spot in Edmonton, usually fairly busy and with a line. They offer a wide selection of pastries and do have a small selection of food.
One word: Overpriced. Lets add another word, ridiculously. Ridiculously overpriced.

They have delicious looking pastries and food. But the price they are asking for is too high. Granted there are a couple of items that are reasonably priced for a couple dollars. The taste of these pastries aren't outstanding. Subpar at best.

My friend had a Brioche Pepin, macaroons and meat quiche. While I had a Vegetarian Tartine with a side salad and pumpkin cream soup. I also purchased a Paris Brest.

First off, the Vegetarian Tartine has Roasted Pears with Brie. I found there were too many pears on there, and it offered too much of a sweet tartness to this dish. The pumpkin soup was delicious but cost an extra six dollars, which in my opinion is pretty ridiculous.

The Brioche Pepin was ... eh. It didn't really taste like anything, it was a very heavy pastry.

The Paris Brest, it was alright. Has a light praline mousse filling, was very light tasting. It was just nothing special. Just an average tasteless pastry.

The macaroons, this is a funny part. My friend bought the packaged one up because usually it's cheaper then buying them individually. While we were sitting there, she calculated the prices separately, if she had bought the same amount separately it would have been cheaper.

I like the interior and the looks of the dishes. They look classic and delicious. I dislike the price and the lack of flavor that accompany the prices. I would not recommend Duchess Bake Shop and would not be back.

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.

Famoso - Red Deer, AB

Oh Famoso, everyone in town was super excited when you were opening a year ago. A year later and I'm still not a fan.  I've had a few bad experiences, chalked up to the first month or so they were open and no business will run smoothly without any mistakes when they first open.

In the beginning, I found that they were overstaffed and there was a lack of communication between the staff. I have many examples of what i find demonstrates this but that was then.. this is now. And the most important aspect of a business is of course, the food.
Everytime I go here, I always find my pizza a little burnt... I understand that its flat bread and its pretty hard to cook/keep it consistent. But because of the couple burnt pizza's I've had, I'm not really a big fan. Overall, the apps, the pizzas and the dessert's I've had aren't anything special to me...
The desserts, most of them are overwhelming sweet. Definitely can only handle a couple bites, but they are pretty good to look at and good to share... especially with other women when its a certain time of the month ;)

Overall, I'm not a big fan of Famoso, on a recent trip there was hair in the pizza. Working in the restaurant industry, I know these things happen but personally just from when they first opened and the mishaps I've had with them... it's not a place I frequent when I'm dining out. Side note, other then the first month or so of opening, the service is consistently friendly and the owner is usually always there and is very genuine in knowing how your meal went.

La Casa Pergola - Red Deer, AB

Oh La Casa Pergola... the great things I've heard about you. In High school my friend and I stopped by this little place and honestly I wasn't a big fan of their lunch menu...
But I've heard from many locals that this is the place for great authentic italian food. When i mention my "Meh" previous experience, they tell me the dinner menu will be worth it.


So a couple of us stopped by to check out this hidden away restaurant in downtown red deer and my reservations about this place prior were correct.

Ordered the Calamari, personally I found it unappetizing and soggy. The sauce, I was told, base is sour cream and it was weak and tasteless... Never had tasteless sour cream. Wasn't a very special dish. I love calamari and find most restaurants make it a little too oily, it wasn't oily here... when i say soggy, i mean it was un crispy from maybe not being properly cooked or sitting there too long before it was brought out...

I had the Fettuccini Con Pollo , small portion for $17. And boy.. was it small. I could probably grab the whole portion in my small hands and cover it all.
I understand fine dining and their small portions, but this place is not exactly the real fine dining experience.
I also found this dish flavorless. The Chicken was cooked perfectly and seasoned well. But that was the only appetizing aspect of this dish.
The pasta sauce is described to be made with all these cheeses yet I honestly didn't taste anything. It just tasted like watered down white sauce with a faint faint hint of cheese.
I think those cheap side kick packages at the grocery store have more flavor then this dish.
And the price... not worth it.
(They ran out of broccoli that night and subbed mushrooms.)

Overall, my experience wasn't memorable at this joint. I love the ambiance of the place. Its quaint and sadly it would be a great restaurant if the food was more flavorable, or at least the price should not be that high for the quality of the food.
Don't see the great food that everyone else is saying so personally, I will not be returning to this restaurant.

One Eleven Grill - Red Deer

I remember the days when it was the Med and I didn't mind it. Looked to me they kept the same contemporary deco from the Med. Checked this place out for a friend's birthday on a friday night and it was pretty packed. Overall great atmosphere and they do offer live jazz music on Friday and Saturday nights.

But on to the more important part, the food....

I've heard many good things about their blueberry ribs but I knew i would never be able to finish a main dish of them. Luckily they do offer an app of mini ribs that have blueberry sauce on them. Honestly I'm one of those people that prefer traditional dishes and usually dislike any meat mixed with fruit sauces/purees or even the classic combo of chocolate and fruit...
But I'm glad i tried these mini ribs. Huge serving, I ordered it with the soup and salad and thought i might have to be wheeled out of there.
The pork ribs were succulent, very tender and the blueberry sauce was not over powering at all. You'd get the hint of fruity sweetness, not over powering at all! I loved it!

We ordered the red velvet cake for desert since they were all out of the cheesecakes. Wasn't a huge fan of the cake, it was a bit too dry for me and .. the desert wasn't really anything special nor really that tasty, just tasted like a dry flour cake with cream cheese icing.

Everyone else at our party enjoyed their mains. No complaints. Great atmosphere, an interesting menu - always something to try, tasty food and decent service. A place worth trying.

Joey Chinook Calgary

Stopped by Joey's since we were at the mall and ready for food but didn't feel like going to the food court.

First off, rant: i'm probably the only person to complain about this but I must! I'm a petite person. And i find the seat/table height ratio at Joey's bothering. The booth/chair thingys are comfy and my feet do firmly touch the ground but when i first went to sit down, I underestimated how low it was and basically just flopped into my seat. The tables are rather high compared to the seats,  halfway past my chest high.
I'm use to tables being halfway up my stomach and barely any inches between my thighs and the table top. But there was a good 9 inches from my thigh to the table. I thought it was an awkward position. Why must you put those chairs so low and the tables so high up?

Putting aside that, the food at Joey's is pretty good. Worth its price. The service on the other hand... could be a little better. 
They were adequately staffed, by that I mean i saw plenty of hosts/servers wandering around especially regrouping at the host stand. I don't mind if they're chatting and all but they could have actually been more attentive towards the guests. We were seated right away, but our drink orders took a good while. At first we thought our server was going to stop by asking for our drinks but then after a while a different hostess came by to take our drink orders (three waters). A while longer, our server came by with our drinks. And i noticed the same thing happened to other tables. It wasn't too busy in there...
Other then the table/chair heights annoyance (First time this has happened) , I get annoyed when my water/drink is constantly empty. I drink a couple cups of water during a meal and if I have to ask multiple times for more water, especially if they have looked at the table a couple of times, i'm not overly impressed. Nor am i impressed when hostesses are wandering around that are capable of filling drinks/collecting plates, or when we asked a different server for a refill but she never did return with water...

... maybe i'm a little anal about my water. :P But seriously, our glasses were empty during the entire time of our mains before we could finally get our server to refill them.

FINALLY, the food part! 

We had the Lettuce Boats with Chicken to start. They will give you extra lettuce boats if you want them too. They were pretty good, nothing that made it different for me then any other restaurant with lettuce wraps. Slightly spicy sauce, nice crunchy noodles.

I had the Steak frites as my main. Loved the seasoning and the parsley butter on top. It was very tender. Only thing is that I asked for a medium rare steak and i found it to be ... pretty rare for a medium rare. Not complaining, as long as it is not blue or well done, I will eat it! Because it was pretty rare, it was pretty juicy as well. Love the fries that come with the meals, it reminds me of the fries at earls... thin and crunchy. Mcdonalds fries except 10x better.

(after some googling on Joey's Tomatoes I found out it is part of the earl's family, which explains those fries!)

Steak Frites

Medium Rare Steak

Panang Prawn Curry Bowl

 Had a bite of my friend's Panang Prawn Curry Bowl, I didn't find it too spicy but then again I do love spicy.. or maybe my bite just didn't have any since the others did say it was spicy. Nice creamy curry. I find the plating to be a little odd with that tower of rice...

My other friend had the Chicken Souvaki and said it was decent.. the chicken was well seasoned. Personally, I didn't see it to be worth the try...

Chicken Souvaki

To conclude, pretty good dishes, the chairs and table heights bothered me, it seemed the hostesses don't do much from my point of view, my server or rather the whole team could be a more attentive. Worth the go.


Joey's AB Menu