fracas

Yoo hoo, Mark… I’m finally doing the restaurant meme. Poo. He fainted. Well get that man some smelling salts and let’s get down to business, I, like Uma Thurman, am in a hurry to get out of this box I’ve stupidly gotten myself into.

This one’s originally by Chronicles of Nicole, and comes to us all the way from Sydney, Australia.

1. Add a direct link to your post below the name of the person who tagged you. Include the city/state and country you’re in.

(For those using WordPress.com, if you just copy and paste this list into the visual editor, the links will come through and save you loads of time.)

Nicole (Sydney, Australia)
velverse (Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia)
LB (San Giovanni in Marignano, Italy)
Selba (Jakarta, Indonesia)
Olivia (London, England)
ML (Utah, USA)
Lotus (Toronto, Canada)
tanabata (Saitama, Japan)
Andi (Dallas [ish], Texas, United States)
Todd (Louisville, Kentucky, United States)
miss kendra (los angeles, california, u.s.a)
Jiggs Casey (Berkeley, CA, USA! USA! USA!)
Tits McGee (New England, USA)
Joe (NE Tennessee, USA)
10K Monkeys (Chattanooga, Tennessee, USA)
Big Stupid Tommy (Athens, Tennessee, USA)
Newscoma (Weakley County, Tennessee, USA)
Russ McBee (Knoxville, Tennessee, USA)
Atomictumor Mrs Eaves (Oak Ridge, Tennessee, USA)
Oh Really? LissaKay (Oak Ridge, TN, USA)
Mark Steel blogitude.com (Knoxville, TN, USA)
Fracas (Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada)
 

2. List out your top 5 favorite places to eat at your location.

My Place - Having worked in the industry for many years in my day… I’m really picky about where I think is worth going out to.  Most often, I prefer to eat at home. I’m a good cook (though the food part of the meal doesn’t thrill me to make, I make kick-ass desserts) and food is often better (and cheaper) at home.  However, I don’t want all of you while travelling, to show up at my home so I’m going to give you five places in Saskatoon where you can get a good meal.  

The Saskatoon Station Place  - (Description taken from their website) Dining at the Saskatoon Station Place is a historical step into the past where people from all over the world have come to enjoy our hospitality, as well as our fantastic cuisine created by our Master Chefs!  The doors were first opened in November of 1984 by the Arvanitis Brothers, who created the thematic railroad concept of this unique and stylish establishment.  The entire design of the building and dining cars dates back to the early 1800’s.  You will notice throughout the restaurant a number of priceless heirlooms that a renowned antique dealer from Toronto collected over a six year period.

You must view the website and enjoy the photo gallery that displays for you while relaxing Greek music plays in the background. While it is known as a Prime Rib and Steakhouse, if you go, you should try something from their Greek cuisine offerings. Beautiful atmosphere, good food.

The Keg - The Keg is a great steakhouse to visit if you want a steakhouse kind of meal. The Saskatoon location is currently in the location of a former “finer dining” type of establishment that didn’t survive, so the decor and atmosphere reflect that fact. If you go on a Saturday night, without reservations, be prepared to spend considerable time in the lounge drinking your appetizers while you wait for a table. While they sing the praises of their Prime Rib, I happened to enjoy a fine steak encrusted with peppercorns and pecans, topped with a goat cheese filling and drizzled with a red wine sauce. It was delicious. The Saskatoon.com page for The Keg Steakhouse is here.

The Berry Barn - A seasonal business, The Berry Barn offers U-Pick berries, craft shop, restaurant, greenhouse and an area for functions such as weddings and banquets. It’s simply beautiful. In fact, just behind the building is a lovely walk down to the riverbank, where fracas happened to take this lovely photo available on the images page right here at fracas. This is a location that everyone coming to Saskatoon usually stops at at least once, whether it’s for a meal, to have a slice of Saskatoon Berry pie, or to purchase something wonderful from the craft and gift shop that has everything from, well… crafts and gifts, to every kind of yummy product able to be created from a berry.

The Cave Restaurant - The Cave might as well be a landmark. Everyone has eaten there at some point or another. The restaurant is designed to look like the inside of a cave, the placemats bear the floor plans so you don’t get lost on your way to the loo. The food is an assortment of Greek and Canadian Cuisine, and if you’re going to have Baklava for dessert, there’s nowhere else to have it than there. The website is not complete yet, but you can check out more information on it by visiting the Saskatoon.com page  for the adjacent lounge, known as The Cavern Lounge.

Manos on 8th  - Manos is casual dining with great food. We were out with friends for something light in the evening after a show that caused us to miss dinner, and so ordered from the appetizers and salads. We may as well have been ordering a meal. The Bruschetta was huge, totally awesome and so loaded with really great filling that it was indeed, a meal. If you love a Greek salad but long for more stuff and less lettuce, order Mediterranean Salad  instead as it has no lettuce. Reminiscent of a Greek Village Salad I had at another restaurant long ago, it’s just the ticket if you want to experience a salad even a man can praise. The restaurant offers a display of natural honey products, produced locally. I can tell you, you haven’t had honey until you’ve tried theirs.  Their Saskatoon.com page  is here.

Addendum: For more restaurant listings in Saskatoon, visit the Tourism Saskatoon alphabetical listing, this food.ca page, or even the Saskatoon.com site!

Happy Eating!

3. Tag 5 Others

Ok, I wasn’t going to actually tag anyone, asking people to volunteer to participate but then, I visited the originator… Chronicles of Nicole, and changed my mind. She takes the time to update a page where she maintains the list of all the participants, tells a bit about them, and categorizes them by country, making it truly, a great list to aid those who might be travelling. Woohoo Nicole.  She also tracks how many of the tags from each participant, went on to particpate. What a gal! If for no reason other than she deserves support for her efforts, I’m tagging people. Before you decide not to do the meme, go to her site and see if that doesn’t change your mind about tagging 5 people too!

So, I am trying to tag people that live in differing locations so as to keep this interesting:

1.  Princesse Ecossaise from La Belle Saison
2.  Sid from Sid in the City
3.  JerseyChick from Daily Drudge
4.  Sulz from Bloggerdygook
5.  Judy from Sugar Queen’s Dream