The Round-up:
- Food - 4 out of 5
- Service - 4 out of 5
- Decor - 3.5 out of 5
- Total - 11.5 out of 15
3847 Albert Street, Regina, SK
306-584-8044
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Until about a month ago I'd never ventured into the warm and cozy world of Skara restaurant.
I don't exactly know why this is.
Maybe it was Skara's former life as a middle-of-the-road family restaurant that kept me away -- it's hard for a restaurant to reinvent, after all.
Or maybe it was the fact that until quite recently I lived and worked downtown. A jaunt to South Albert Street wasn't as routine a thing as it is these days.
Maybe I just didn't like Skara's red-and-black colour scheme. Or its aura. OK, kidding about that last part.
Whatever my reasons, I've come to realize they were wrong. All wrong. I've now been to Skara twice with plans to go back for more.
The first thing that struck me about Skara was the size of the place -- a lot bigger than I'd imagined. The restaurant houses a moderately sized dining room with plenty of comfortable booths; a lounge with more booths, several tables and TVs for watching sports; and a private dining room large enough to seat 30 or 40 guests. Even the bathrooms are roomy at Skara (truth be told, I can only speak for the men on that point). The best part of Skara's decor? There's plenty of deep, dark wood and dim lighting. It's like an old-school steakhouse without all the velvet. And it's very relaxing.
Now, as for the food? On both of my visits it has been delicious. The appetizers and a number of the entrees have a Greek/Mediterranean flair to them -- the restaurant is under Greek ownership, so it figures. And of the ones I've sampled, everything has been pretty much perfect. The Calamari is crispy without being too chewy; the Shrimp Ouzeri (tiger prawns and cherry tomatoes sauteed in ouzo) was absolutely delicious, striking just the right blend of sweet and savoury.
The other night I opted to try something from the entree menu. It was a tough choice between the Skara Stuffed Chicken (recommended by our waiter), the Greek Chicken, or the Tomato Feta Garlic Prawns. In the end, the prawns won out. Mr. K, my pal and tablemate, went for the Stuffed Rainbow Trout.
Neither of us were disappointed. The food was brought to the table in good time by our excellent waiter. My prawns were artfully presented in a mound, next to pan-friend veggies and a stuffed potato. Yes, there are many stuffed things at Skara. This isn't a bad thing, in my books.
I guess my only complaint about my dish was that there wasn't quite enough of it to eat. It wasn't exactly small, but then it wasn't huge either. And I have a bit of a reputation for being a "big eater". Or so I'm told.
On the other hand, I definitely didn't go home hungry.
As I hinted above, the service at Skara has been good-to-excellent on both of my visits, particularly the last one on a Friday night. Staff seem to genuinely want to make sure that diners are happy and enjoying their meals -- not always the case in other eateries.
All in all, Skara, you have a new friend. A hungry one. See you again soon.