Once a month, more or less, I have the pleasure of dining out with a wonderful group of women. Sometimes there are four of us, sometimes five, but regardless of the number, it’s always a superb evening. Last night was one such dinner out, and I’d been looking forward to it for several weeks. We’ve been getting together for these “dining adventures” for a couple of years now. We cooked up the idea of trying new restaurants with one of the focuses being that the places we picked would not be the type of place we’d take our husbands and children. Not too difficult to find such restaurants, all of us being married to “meat and potatoes” men and moms of pre-teens.
I thought it might be fun to do a bit of a restaurant “review” after each of these dinners and what better place to do it than my blog?
Saskatoon has an obscene number of restaurants to pick from, given its population. Local lore claims that Saskatoon has the largest number of restaurants, per capita, than any other city in Canada. I’m not sure if this is true or not, but we haven’t run out of interesting places to pick from yet.
As I made the rounds to pick everyone up last night, I laughed at how all of them were ready to go the second I pulled up: coats on, waiting at the door. It occurred to me that we’re always like that when it’s our night for dining out, but I think the reasoning behind it has changed over the years. We used to be so desperate to get out, away from our young, demanding families—any chance to feel like an adult, rather than a mom responsible for everyone’s happiness, nourishment, and cleanliness—that we’d be standing on the corner waiting, or in the front window with our noses pressed to the glass, a crazed and desperate look in our eyes. Now that our kids are a bit older and becoming less needy and more independent, we’re keen to get out the door for the sheer joy of the company of good friends. We’re all so busy with the rest of our lives that this is often the only time we see each other, and knowing we have a long evening of visiting and laughter ahead of us makes us excited for the evening to begin.
Last night we went to a relatively new, little restaurant on the east side of Saskatoon called “The Upstairs Fondue Restaurant”. I spied this place a few months ago, and, unfortunately, my first thought was “we should get there quickly before they go out of business.” Terrible attitude to have, but many, many restaurants come and go in Saskatoon. Anything a bit “different” will struggle to survive in a city like Saskatoon. People here like eating out, but they seem stuck on steaks and deep fried foods. The smaller restaurants often simply can’t survive.
The restaurant is in a bit of an unlikely location on the corner of 8th Street East and Broadway Avenue between the Co-Op gas station and a store that sells musical instruments. I thought parking could be difficult, but did find a spot on the street right out front. As we discovered when we entered the building off the alley, there are actually several parking spots designated for the Upstairs Fondue. It’s very quaint, and, as the name would suggest, is on the upper floor of this small building. The décor was modern and cool, in a “Broadway” sort of way. If you’re been to the Broadway area in Saskatoon, you’ll know what I mean by this. We were eating very early, at 5:00, as our only options for that evening were 5:00 or 8:30. We’d heard that eating at this restaurant was a lengthy experience, so we opted for the earlier time. We like our early bedtimes, you know! We were the first customers to arrive for the evening, so had a good chance to look around without making the other diners feel uncomfortable.
We were pleased to see that the menu included a whole page on “fondue etiquette”—helpful, if you’re not accustomed to this culinary experience. Gosh, but you’d hate to use the wrong fork. Our waiter was very patient and pleased to explain all of the different options laid out before us. We were having the four-course fondue experience, which meant an awful lot of decisions were necessary at the time of ordering. I was glad we’d arrived early and therefore didn’t feel we were taking him away from other customers with all of our queries and indecision. Not only did we need to select cheeses, meats, veggies, and chocolates, but also the cooking method we wanted to utilize for the evening. The cooking methods to pick from consisted of the traditional, oil fondue or the “hot rock” method. After much discussion, we opted for the hot rock method, if only to be adventurous and try something new.
Wine was served and was soon followed by our first course consisting of soup or salad. I did wonder how soup or salad could make up one of the four “fondue” courses and was half expecting to be dipping my salad into a pot of dressing. Alas, no, just a regular starter to the meal. It was, though, an outstanding broccoli, bacon, pea and almond salad (sans bacon for me), topped with a delicious, tangy dressing.
Course two, the cheese course, was brought out promptly after our salad dishes had been cleared away. We had two dipping pots to share; one was a Swiss garlic blend and the other a herbed tomato (not really a “cheese”, but still a dip). Fantastic pumpernickel bread cubes and an assortment of vegetables were served for our dipping pleasure. I’d highly recommend the Swiss garlic blend, but found the tomato herb was a bit too strong in the tomato flavouring for my liking. From the way the Swiss disappeared, I would say my dining companions agreed with me. The quantity of food served at this course had us all a bit concerned we’d be hungry when we left the restaurant. This has, in fact, happened to us before. I’m sure you know how it goes—the price of a meal is directly proportional to the amount of food you’re served, but in reverse. Higher price equals less food—though beautifully served.
Course three was the entrée, for which we’d each chosen two “meats” and one vegetable. All came with a lovely herb roasted potato. The “hot rock” was presented before us, accompanied by a pot of garlic butter and several dipping sauces. The rock was actually two thick slabs of granite, heated to some ridiculously high temperature. We melted the garlic butter onto the rocks to prevent sticking, and commenced to cook our food, with the rock sizzling and smoking in an exciting, if not slightly frightening manner. This actually reminded me of cooking on a Raclette cooker (as I’ve described in a previous, stinky cheese blog). Everyone works away at cooking her own food and eating is spread out over the cooking time. I was a bit concerned the rocks would cool too quickly to thoroughly cook the chicken I put on perhaps a bit too late into the meal, but I just needed to be patient while it cooked. While it didn’t spit and sizzle it was still very hot, and certainly hot enough to slow cook the meat and vegetables. We really enjoyed this hot rock method and were pleased we had chosen it over the traditional oil method. We could hear diners at other tables deep frying their food and felt quite smug with our healthier cooking method.
Course four was the much-anticipated dessert course. Much anticipated by the others at my table, that is. Honestly, I can take or leave chocolate. I debated skipping that course, and the salad course, altogether, but it just seemed easier to stick with the same plan as everyone else. I’m glad I did. We had selected the traditional dark chocolate and the turtles chocolate for our dipping enjoyment and were each given an assortment of fruit, pretzels, and baked squares to submerge in the liquid chocolate. While not a chocolate fan, I must say I did, in fact enjoy this course. I also could not resist phoning my young son, who’d been left home alone, to check up on him and to also let him know we were all eating lots and lots of chocolate—his favourite. I’m sure the poor child wonders what he did to deserve such a mean mother. Certainly he’ll thank me for it one day, or, perhaps, he’ll torture his own children in the same manner. And so the cycle continues.
While we sipped our coffee and tea and enjoyed each other’s company, we all agreed we did feel fully satisfied after all, despite our initial concerns about possibly leaving the restaurant still hungry. We departed happy and content, and, pleasantly, without that weighted down, slightly sick feeling one has after eating deep-fried food.
All in all, I enjoyed this restaurant and am glad we gave it a try. I did find it quite expensive, however, my final bill coming to $65 for one glass of wine, the meal, and a tip, but I don’t regret going. Would I recommend it? Absolutely. Would I go again? Probably not, but only because I’m cheap and there are so many other exciting restaurants to discover and experience. Great food, wonderful service, and an interesting, comfortable atmosphere. You should go for a dip yourself, sometime. www.theupstairsfondue.ca
I thought it might be fun to do a bit of a restaurant “review” after each of these dinners and what better place to do it than my blog?
Saskatoon has an obscene number of restaurants to pick from, given its population. Local lore claims that Saskatoon has the largest number of restaurants, per capita, than any other city in Canada. I’m not sure if this is true or not, but we haven’t run out of interesting places to pick from yet.
As I made the rounds to pick everyone up last night, I laughed at how all of them were ready to go the second I pulled up: coats on, waiting at the door. It occurred to me that we’re always like that when it’s our night for dining out, but I think the reasoning behind it has changed over the years. We used to be so desperate to get out, away from our young, demanding families—any chance to feel like an adult, rather than a mom responsible for everyone’s happiness, nourishment, and cleanliness—that we’d be standing on the corner waiting, or in the front window with our noses pressed to the glass, a crazed and desperate look in our eyes. Now that our kids are a bit older and becoming less needy and more independent, we’re keen to get out the door for the sheer joy of the company of good friends. We’re all so busy with the rest of our lives that this is often the only time we see each other, and knowing we have a long evening of visiting and laughter ahead of us makes us excited for the evening to begin.
Last night we went to a relatively new, little restaurant on the east side of Saskatoon called “The Upstairs Fondue Restaurant”. I spied this place a few months ago, and, unfortunately, my first thought was “we should get there quickly before they go out of business.” Terrible attitude to have, but many, many restaurants come and go in Saskatoon. Anything a bit “different” will struggle to survive in a city like Saskatoon. People here like eating out, but they seem stuck on steaks and deep fried foods. The smaller restaurants often simply can’t survive.
The restaurant is in a bit of an unlikely location on the corner of 8th Street East and Broadway Avenue between the Co-Op gas station and a store that sells musical instruments. I thought parking could be difficult, but did find a spot on the street right out front. As we discovered when we entered the building off the alley, there are actually several parking spots designated for the Upstairs Fondue. It’s very quaint, and, as the name would suggest, is on the upper floor of this small building. The décor was modern and cool, in a “Broadway” sort of way. If you’re been to the Broadway area in Saskatoon, you’ll know what I mean by this. We were eating very early, at 5:00, as our only options for that evening were 5:00 or 8:30. We’d heard that eating at this restaurant was a lengthy experience, so we opted for the earlier time. We like our early bedtimes, you know! We were the first customers to arrive for the evening, so had a good chance to look around without making the other diners feel uncomfortable.
We were pleased to see that the menu included a whole page on “fondue etiquette”—helpful, if you’re not accustomed to this culinary experience. Gosh, but you’d hate to use the wrong fork. Our waiter was very patient and pleased to explain all of the different options laid out before us. We were having the four-course fondue experience, which meant an awful lot of decisions were necessary at the time of ordering. I was glad we’d arrived early and therefore didn’t feel we were taking him away from other customers with all of our queries and indecision. Not only did we need to select cheeses, meats, veggies, and chocolates, but also the cooking method we wanted to utilize for the evening. The cooking methods to pick from consisted of the traditional, oil fondue or the “hot rock” method. After much discussion, we opted for the hot rock method, if only to be adventurous and try something new.
Wine was served and was soon followed by our first course consisting of soup or salad. I did wonder how soup or salad could make up one of the four “fondue” courses and was half expecting to be dipping my salad into a pot of dressing. Alas, no, just a regular starter to the meal. It was, though, an outstanding broccoli, bacon, pea and almond salad (sans bacon for me), topped with a delicious, tangy dressing.
Course two, the cheese course, was brought out promptly after our salad dishes had been cleared away. We had two dipping pots to share; one was a Swiss garlic blend and the other a herbed tomato (not really a “cheese”, but still a dip). Fantastic pumpernickel bread cubes and an assortment of vegetables were served for our dipping pleasure. I’d highly recommend the Swiss garlic blend, but found the tomato herb was a bit too strong in the tomato flavouring for my liking. From the way the Swiss disappeared, I would say my dining companions agreed with me. The quantity of food served at this course had us all a bit concerned we’d be hungry when we left the restaurant. This has, in fact, happened to us before. I’m sure you know how it goes—the price of a meal is directly proportional to the amount of food you’re served, but in reverse. Higher price equals less food—though beautifully served.
Course three was the entrée, for which we’d each chosen two “meats” and one vegetable. All came with a lovely herb roasted potato. The “hot rock” was presented before us, accompanied by a pot of garlic butter and several dipping sauces. The rock was actually two thick slabs of granite, heated to some ridiculously high temperature. We melted the garlic butter onto the rocks to prevent sticking, and commenced to cook our food, with the rock sizzling and smoking in an exciting, if not slightly frightening manner. This actually reminded me of cooking on a Raclette cooker (as I’ve described in a previous, stinky cheese blog). Everyone works away at cooking her own food and eating is spread out over the cooking time. I was a bit concerned the rocks would cool too quickly to thoroughly cook the chicken I put on perhaps a bit too late into the meal, but I just needed to be patient while it cooked. While it didn’t spit and sizzle it was still very hot, and certainly hot enough to slow cook the meat and vegetables. We really enjoyed this hot rock method and were pleased we had chosen it over the traditional oil method. We could hear diners at other tables deep frying their food and felt quite smug with our healthier cooking method.
Course four was the much-anticipated dessert course. Much anticipated by the others at my table, that is. Honestly, I can take or leave chocolate. I debated skipping that course, and the salad course, altogether, but it just seemed easier to stick with the same plan as everyone else. I’m glad I did. We had selected the traditional dark chocolate and the turtles chocolate for our dipping enjoyment and were each given an assortment of fruit, pretzels, and baked squares to submerge in the liquid chocolate. While not a chocolate fan, I must say I did, in fact enjoy this course. I also could not resist phoning my young son, who’d been left home alone, to check up on him and to also let him know we were all eating lots and lots of chocolate—his favourite. I’m sure the poor child wonders what he did to deserve such a mean mother. Certainly he’ll thank me for it one day, or, perhaps, he’ll torture his own children in the same manner. And so the cycle continues.
While we sipped our coffee and tea and enjoyed each other’s company, we all agreed we did feel fully satisfied after all, despite our initial concerns about possibly leaving the restaurant still hungry. We departed happy and content, and, pleasantly, without that weighted down, slightly sick feeling one has after eating deep-fried food.
All in all, I enjoyed this restaurant and am glad we gave it a try. I did find it quite expensive, however, my final bill coming to $65 for one glass of wine, the meal, and a tip, but I don’t regret going. Would I recommend it? Absolutely. Would I go again? Probably not, but only because I’m cheap and there are so many other exciting restaurants to discover and experience. Great food, wonderful service, and an interesting, comfortable atmosphere. You should go for a dip yourself, sometime. www.theupstairsfondue.ca
1 comment:
I'll have to remember to clean the noseprint off my window. Thanks for yet another wonderful evening!
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