Review - Brunch at the Castle (Delta Bessborourgh)

The Castle - Saskatoon's best know landmark and probably one of the prettiest settings for a fairytale hotel in Canada. While the "the Bess" is known for it's character, weddings and receptions and great location, it's also a great place to eat. We often think of the Samaurai and it's great Japanese, but I've always wanted to try the sunday brunch at the Garden Court Cafe I hear so much about at. Well today was the day... MMM MMM Good!

I trucked down and found a good parking spot close to the hotel, it was a beautiful day out, so driving along Spadina and taking in the review views was a nice start to the day.

The cafe is a great venue, bright, open, quiet (a nice break compared to some Sunday breakfast places). Service was good etc etc..

The Buffet is great.. lot of fresh fruit and salads, omlete bar, sausage, eggs, pancakes etc etc. The juices are great and not your usual cheap and non-tasty fair! The Egg Benedict was fantastic.

One dish that stood out to all of us was the Banana rum topping - sliced bananas, brown sugar, butter and Rum all heated for a delicious looking topping for your pancakes, omlette or whatever! I didn't indulge, but one of my dining companions Trish did and loved it.

All in all a great place to have a relaxing morning breakfast with friends and chat. You'll leave full and happy I'm sure!

Avocado - Restaurant Review - Saskatoon

New non-Greek restaurants in Saskatoon are pretty rare, so a new a Mexican restaurant opening up ranks in the should get reviewed. So here it is...

We went for lunch the other day (last week) to Avocado on 8th St in Saskatoon. It's a Mexican restaurant located in the old Poverinos/Pizza Hut building - near circle drive beside the SuperStore. The have a website, but it's not showing up on Google yet, so no link at this time (UPDATE - a reader sent this in: www.avocadosgrill.com). Impressions:

- Nice decor - looks renow'ed - has a earls/moxies feel
- Signage just says Avocado - should say - fine Mexican grill or something too - but what do I know about marketing
- The parking is weird and the main entrance is on the side with poor signage too - looks like the service entrance (I now know how to spell this) or something
- Menu is kinda small - burritos and the like..
- We tried a few dishes and all were good
- The sweet potato fries were awesome
- Service was OK, little slow and needed to ask for refills and wait - they could use some more training and manager support during the meal - the place isn't that big
- The restaurant is split into 2 areas - one part has a bit of a lounge feel with a couple TVs
- It can get a little noisy - why don't restaurants put at least a little noise control in??
- Pricing was OK, but at $14 for a plate it's not a cheap lunch after drinks etc

So it's a good place, writing this I would go back.. the need to do a little more work on the menu, service and building and they would have a great place