Restaurants

Anyone remember restaurants?

They were places you'd go to with family or friends to order and consume food and drink.  They were great places for socializing, celebrations, meetings, and dates.

Haha!  Someday, hopefully, sooner rather than later, we can venture back out and check out the restaurant scene.  Until then, let me tell you about some of the restaurants we visited before the whole world got grounded.

For our 5th anniversary in February, Christopher and I went to Avenue, one of our favourite restaurants, in the most beautiful building downtown.

Their pork belly appetizer is a must-order each time we go, so we shared that to start:

We also ordered the perogies (large plate), and then three small plates (trout cake, beef tartare, and a vegetable dish that I can't remember) and shared all of them.

Way too much food, but worth it.

It was a nice evening out to celebrate five years of marriage.  The traditional anniversary gift for five years is something wood, and we are still on the lookout for what we will get.  We like to choose something together as a memento for each anniversary.  We don't own candlestick holders, so we are thinking of getting a pair of those.

Back in October, we got a gift card for our birthdays to Bar Willow (thank you again Mel and Steve).  We had been before when it was Willow but had not visited since they changed the concept and name.

We shared the gnocchi, scallops, coffee-roasted parsnips, and vegan ravioli.

 

 

 

 

The ravioli and gnocchi were both really good.  Unfortunately, the parsnips were undercooked, so that was our least favorite part of our meal.  I'd be interested to go back and try the breakfast at Bar Willow in the summer, as the morning view across Wascana Lake would be beautiful.

Before the pandemic hit, we took my dad out for supper to The Rotisserie, a buffet restaurant that we've been to before.  I don't know how they do it, but they manage to make really good food, perfectly cooked at this buffet, better than what we have experienced at the buffets in Vegas.  The fries and other foods that should be crispy are perfectly crisp, and their chicken, steaks, etc. are always juicy, and never overcooked.

They have a different theme each night of the week, and we went on Tropical Night.

Last time we were in Saskatoon, we went to a newer Indian restaurant near our hotel, called Angeethi Flame.

 

 

We ordered a lot because our hotel had a fridge and microwave, so we could get a couple meals out of this food.  Everything was excellent, and we will definitely go back.

Just days before quarantine started, we stopped in at a relatively new restaurant in town, Tipsy Samurai.

We started with the togarashi fries and chicken yakitori.

The yakitori was superb!  We loved the charcoal-grill taste, and the meat was tender and juicy.

I had ramen and Christopher ordered an udon noodle dish.  I loved my ramen!  It was spicy, flavourful, and it totally hit the spot.

Christopher thought his udon dish was average, but we'd go back for sure for the ramen and yakitori.

With social distancing, restaurant visits are no more, but many places in town have done an incredible job of adapting to a new way of doing things.  I am impressed with how quickly new menus popped up, as well as front-step delivery, and online ordering and payment. 

We want to help our favourite local restaurants stay afloat during this time, so we have decided to order pick-up or delivery from one local restaurant each week. (Before this we only ordered-in or got takeout about six times per year!)

So far we have had The M:eating Room twice.  Their food is so fresh, healthy, and flavourful.  The vegan pizza blew us away! 

One day we ordered from The German Club.  With this place, you call in the order and then drive up to the front doors, and they run the food out to your car.  They do different lunch specials each day, and the schnitzel is so good!  You get a massive plate of food for $13.

We also ordered from Juliana Pizza one day, but I forgot to snap a picture, as we could not wait to dive into it.  They have such a good crust and are definitely one of the top pizza places in town.  

Two of our favourite restaurants, Siam and Caraway Grill are not open during this, but we look forward to supporting them when they open back up.  For now, we'll have to decide where to order from for tomorrow evening!

Have you been ordering in or picking up food at all during the Covid-19 quarantine?