My Blog = My Life: lunch

The Round-up:

• Food - 3.5 out of 5
• Service - 3.5 out of 5
• Atmosphere - 3 out of 5
• Overall - 10 out of 15

It's slightly gutsy to open a restaurant on a semi-abandoned block in downtown Regina that has seen its share of restaurants come and go over the years.

But entrepreneur Astrid Baecker did exactly that two years ago when renovations at 1822 Broad Street got underway. After sitting empty for a few years, the building was looking in pretty rough shape when things got started. Within a few months Baecker and her team added plenty of shine.

What's now known as Bitten used to be home to Gingerz. Before that it was a satellite location of India House for a matter of months. And wayyy before that it was New Orleans. And that's all the history I know of the place.

The room itself, long and narrow with a balcony looking over the main floor, is an awkward shape for a restaurant. That being said, Bitten has made things work by modernizing the colour scheme and placing high-top tables with bar stools on the main floor that can be easily moved around to accommodate groups of all sizes.

The second floor balcony is cozy and closer to the bar. If drinking is your main reason for visiting Bitten, sit upstairs.

The menu has grown over the last two years. It's now several pages long and covers a surprisingly wide range of cuisines. If you want Asian, Bitten does that. If you want Italian, Bitten does that. If you want Cajun, they do that too. While the variety is nice, the menu lacks focus overall. Some of the appetizers, like the stuffed mushroom caps, seem like a throwback to the '80s.

On the other hand, appetizers come in very generous portions. Some might even find them large enough to be a meal. They definitely make for good sharing in a group.

As for the rest of the food, it's generally good. Some entrees, like a Surf and Turf I had around Valentine's Day in 2009, lacked flavour. However, the pizzas and salads are filling, tasty, and priced just right.

I've been to Bitten five or six times in the last two years and the service has always been good, no matter the server. Service isn't always lighting fast, but it's attentive. And Bitten isn't really the type of place you go for a speedy meal.

I can't finish this review without talking about dessert. Bitten's motto, after all, is "Life is Short... Have Dessert First."

The menu features a whole page of desserts to choose from, all of them made in-house. Bitten does a good job of classics like the Creme Brulee and Creme Caramel. The Mascarpone Toffee Parcels were delish when I tried them a few months back. I haven't had Bitten's version of Sticky Toffee Pudding just yet, but that's next on my list.

My advice: check Bitten out if you haven't been, or if it's been awhile. It's worth supporting a local eatery that's breathing life into our downtown core.

The Round-up:

• Food - 3 out of 5
• Decor - 3.5 out of 5
• Service - 3 out of 5
• Overall - 9.5 out of 15

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Several months ago a food-loving group was created on Facebook. Its name was the "Cathedral Village Needs a Cheap Breakfast Place", or something like that. It seems that the Village just hadn't been the same since the Quality Tea Room shut down several years back.

I quickly joined the group, as did several hundred other Regina folks (What did we ever do before Facebook groups became the new face of activism, by the way?).
The Facebook fan page continued to grow, many of its members calling for a cheap plate of hash browns and bacon... like now.

Well, some wishes do come true.

The Mercury Cafe and Grill opened its doors in April. The place seemed to spring up overnight on the corner of 13th and Robinson streets in a spot that has housed numerous other restaurants.

The Mercury is a diner, no doubt about that. From the bright red vinyl booths to the formica and chrome tables, stepping into The Mercury is like stepping back 50 or 60 years in time. The Mercury is also under the same ownership as Regina's well-loved Novia Cafe, another all-out diner. This is a good thing -- who better to start a new diner than the folks who run one of the city's oldest and best?

I've been to The Mercury twice now, once for breakfast and once for supper. It's hard to find the right word to describe both experiences. It wasn't fantastic, but it wasn't horrible either. Perhaps satisfactory is the right word.

Weekend breakfast bustles and hustles in The Mercury. If you're not there by 11 on a Sunday, you're going to wait in line for awhile. Granted, The Mercury could easily jam a few more tables into the dining room in order to shave some time off the waiting game.

Your choices for breakfast are classic standbys: bacon and eggs; hash browns; pancakes; an omelette. You get the picture. Now, is it cheap? That depends on your definition of cheap. Most items run around the $8-9 mark, plus the cost of coffee and/or juice. I've had cheaper, but I've also had more expensive.

Service can be a little disorganized, but hopefully the servers work that out amongst themselves as the restaurant irons out the operating wrinkles. We had to wait 30 minutes for any food to hit the table at breakfast, almost enough to push us to the breaking point, but not quite. Fortunately, our waitress took good care of us in the meantime.

Now let's talk about supper for a moment. Once again, there are few surprises on the evening menu. Nachos; chicken wings; chicken fingers; burgers; clubhouse sandwiches; and grilled cheese are a few of the choices.

We ordered up a plate of nachos to get things started. With a $10 price tag, we pictured a nice platter of cheesy chips and veggies. We couldn't have been more wrong. A dinner plate with a puny pile of nachos on it was what we got. Even worse: the scarce bits of cheese on the chips were overcooked and rubbery. Epic fail, my friends. Epic fail.

Next up: the burgers. Now this is where the action is at. Tender homemade beef patties are smooshed between fresh buns with all the fixins. I went for the Mushroom Swiss. Big Willie had The Mercury Burger (two patties with fried onions, mushrooms, shaved ham, Swiss and cheddar cheese). All burgers come with a side. We went for the french fries and they were done to perfection.

Big Poppa (my dad) went for the open-faced Hot Turkey Sandwich... which came with hot chicken, oddly enough. But he got past that.

All in all, The Mercury offers up decent food in a comfortable room. The motto seems to be: come as you are, eat what you will. Now if they'd only fine-tune the nachos and up the portion size for most of the breakfast menu, we might have a sure-fire winner on our hands.

(no website)

I was really happy to hear that a new restaurant is coming to the downtown 'hood.
Tangerine by chef Aimee Schulhauser of Evolution Catering will be a welcome addition to the strip of shops on 14th Avenue next to Lorne Street (2234 14th Avenue, to be exact).
The restaurant will be open mainly during the daytime and into the early evening hours, with later hours a possibility once the restaurant has its feet under it (the same goes for a liquor licence). Schulhauser tells me that fresh garden vegetables from her grandma's garden will be front and centre this summer. She calls Tangerine's menu a "chef's playground" featuring a handful of semi-permanent sandwiches and salads, along with whatever else she creates on any given day.
Tangerine's website will be up and running in June. In the meantime, check out Schulhauser's other website: http://www.ecff.ca/

Fans of cheap breakfast have a new reason to celebrate.

The Mercury Cafe and Grill opened on 13th Avenue the other day. This is diner-food, through and through. And so far, business looks brisk.

Address: 2936 13th Avenue.
Phone: 522-4423

Review coming soon....

THE ROUND-UP:

Food - 3.5 out of 5
Service - 4.0 out of 5
Decor - 3.0 out of 5
Total - 10.5 out of 15

1970 Hamilton Street
Regina, SK
306-205-8345
fliprestaurant.ca
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Flip Eatery opened its doors in November 2011 on a slushy mid-fall day just before Remembrance Day. The timing isn't likely the most common for a restaurant opening, but from Day 1 folks flocked to Flip in droves.

Tucked into a new addition to the Avord Tower just behind Atlantis coffee shop on Hamilton Street, Flip is all windows, wood, clean lines, and simple modernism. It's one part Ikea, one part EQ3, and a pinch of boho chic as far as style goes.
While it might not have the glam factor some people look for in a downtown restaurant, Flip has plenty of good going for it. The huge, unobstructed windows onto Hamilton Street are a big contrast from almost any other restaurant downtown, most notably Golf's, the Diplomat, Crave, and Memories (all within a couple of blocks of Flip). It's as though we're finally celebrating downtown Regina and not covering it up with drapes and heavy velvet in order to pretend we're somewhere else.
Flip's menu is classic comfort food for the very large part - several sandwiches, a couple of burgers, a risotto, a bit of seafood, wings, salads, and, of course, soups make up the majority. And there's a deadly poutine that comes with the option to add in shortribs or pulled chicken as a bonus. (Try either or both, you won't regret it, and the portion sizes are heart-friendly, for poutine that is).
Prices fall in the mid-range. You're looking at roughly $15 for lunch (with a drink) and $25 for supper (with an appetizer and a drink). It's not cheap, exactly, but Flip definitely won't break the bank.
An informal survey of my friends regarding the restaurant resulted in everything from, "Love it!" to "It's good but not quite great." Some were less excited about the decor, and others feel the menu could use some pizzazz. From my perspective, Flip could add some variety to the lunch versus supper menus (right now they're the same). While I understand the benefits of having one menu for a chef and owner as far as minimizing food wastage and cutting down on prep time and ordering, the supper menu still feels a bit too "lunchey". I'm more likely to stay home if a sandwich is what I'm craving for supper.
That being said, Flip deserves huge credit for turning a non-descript piece of land into a happening downtown hangout. As Regina grows, more people are seeing downtown as a place to live, not just to work. Places like Flip make our downtown core even more attractive, and that's always a good thing.

Zest Restaurant in the Saskatchewan Powerhouse in Wascana Park is offering a special three-course menu on Thursday nights.

Menu items will probably be different from week to week so calling ahead is a good plan.

The best part? The price. I believe it's in the $25 range but again, a quick call to the restaurant is recommended before showing up.

306-522-5250
www.zestrestaurant.ca

The Round-up:

• Food - 3 out of 5
• Service - 4 out of 5
• Decor - 3 out of 5
• Total - 10 out of 15

120-1914 Hamilton Street, Regina, SK
306-949-4005

Today, we're heading back to bustling Hamilton Street, site of many changes and new businesses in downtown Regina these days.

One such business, The Great Panini, opened a few months back. Although I work at my "real" (i.e. non-blogging) job in an office tower just a couple of blocks away, I hadn't visited the shop until last week when frigid temperatures made me skip my usual walk home during the lunch hour.

The Great Panini, located a couple of doors south of the TD Bank, is a clean and cozy cafeteria style eatery that opens in the early hours of the morning and stays open through lunch until the end of the work day.

It just so happens that I timed my visit for the unveiling of a new sandwich: The Fozz. And let me tell you, The Fozz was moving fast -- I got the last one. Shaved chicken breast and a mild cheddar combined with roasted sweet red peppers and hot banana peppers were layered on a nine-grain Ciabatta bun then toasted to perfection. I have to say it was pretty tasty.

The Great Panini offers sandwiches on their own, or as a meal. I opted for the meal and had my choice of soup, salad, or a pickle. A sucker for all things canned and vinegary, I went for the Van Holten's Kosher Pickle, which comes individually wrapped in a pouch. It was a giant pickle, but I always find Koshers lack the crunch and garlic of homemade dills. Blame it on my Ukrainian roots.

As for drinks, The Great one offers much more than fountain pop, including a number of unique teas and juices, and a good range of Boylan's sodas.

So far things were going smoothly, until my grand total was rung up on the till. I admit I wasn't paying attention to prices until this point, figuring that a sandwich combo would run at about $7 or $8. Boy, was I wrong. By the time taxes were included I was almost at 11 bucks.

A bit pricey for a takeout lunch, if you ask me. Especially when you consider the all-you-can-eat Thai buffet at Siam restaurant three doors down is less than $9. But as I said, the sandwich was appetizing, the service was fast and friendly, and the selection is top-notch. Whether it's worth it again in the future will depend on how close I am to payday, I guess.

Perhaps I ought to stop in during breakfast some day when specials are priced much lower, including the 16-ounce coffee for just 99 cents. Now that's a deal.

www.thegreatpanini.ca

The Round-up:

• Food - 4 out of 5
• Service - 3 out of 5
• Decor - 4 out of 5
• Total - 11 out of 15

3000 Wascana Drive, Regina, SK.
306-585-3663

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January has been full of calm nights and above-average temperatures. 2010, I like you already.

It makes a person want to get out a bit more often. So, The Mom and I decided to take our appetites to The Willow on Wascana the other day.
OK, it wasn't just the warm weather that lured us to the shores of Wascana Lake. It was the $20 off lunch or dinner promo that The Willow ran for just two days this month.
The Willow opened in August 2004 and has carved out a niche for itself ever since. It's almost definitely the only menu in town that sources all of its meat, fish and poultry from Saskatchewan sources.
It wasn't too busy for a Wednesday night so we chose a corner table in the warm and cozy dining room. As far as atmosphere goes, The Willow has it made. In winter, the wood ceiling and earthy tones make you forget the sub-zero chill outside. On the other hand, summer is all about the great outdoors as you dine on The Willow's gigantic patio overlooking Wascana Lake.
Now what about the food? It's safe to say that The Willow doesn't shy away from taking risks. The new winter menu features Free-Range Elk Tartare, Coffee-Infused Short Ribs, and a Wild Boar Ragout.
The Mom was feeling adventurous so she went with the wild boar.
Boar sounded a little too Lord of the Flies for me, on the other hand, and I can rarely say no to a good homemade sausage. So, I chose the Chorizo Chicken Roulade.
Our plates arrived in no time and I was in love with the chicken dish at first sight. The juicy morsels of chicken wrapped around a chicken chorizo sausage disappeared from my plate quickly, as did the southwest-style corn salsa served on the side.
Now you're probably wondering what on earth wild boar tastes like? So were we. Our waiter told us it was like pork with a bit more fat. He didn't lie about that last part, for sure.
The tender slab of boar was served on top of homemade pappardelle noodles with a tiny Saskatchewan-grown tomato on top. The noodles were great. The boar was... well, it was kind of like eating sushi for the first time. You're a little bit curious and a little bit scared, especially when a few bites of the meat were more fat than flesh.
As for the service, it was good but not great. Our friendly waiter took the time to joke with us a little, but had trouble recommending dishes and explaining some of the ingredients. For a fine-dining restaurant that charges top dollar that just doesn't cut it. Servers should know each menu item inside and out.
That being said, The Willow scores big points for showing Regina that the food we grow and harvest right in our own backyards is as good or better than anything we truck in from a thousand miles away.
www.willowonwascana.ca

The Round-up:

• Food - 3 out of 5
• Service - 3 out of 5
• Decor - 3.5 out of 5
• Total - 9.5 out of 15

4180 Albert Street, Regina, SK.
306-757-BREW (2739)

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You know you're always and forever a Prairie Boy when the thought of digging into a bowl of crispy coleslaw makes your mouth water.

The other night me and The Mom decided to go out for a weeknight supper -- we just didn't know where. As we drove south down Albert Street we stumbled upon Brewsters Brewpub and Restaurant. "Hey, I haven't been to Brewsters in ages," I said. Neither had The Mom.

So Brewsters it was.

Started in 1989 by Regina's Lanigan family, Brewsters has blossomed into a chain of thirteen restaurants in Regina, Edmonton, and Calgary -- with a fourteenth coming soon.

Now, the purpose of this blog is not normally to explore chain restaurants far and wide. That being said, I don't know of any other Regina-based restaurant that has done as good of a job at expanding its presence as Brewsters has. So, a little credit is due.

One of the interesting things about the chain is that each of the Regina locations is slightly different. The north-end location, next to the Galaxy movie theatre, is mainly a big pub with a compact dining room. Down in the south end, Brewsters truly feels like a dining room with dim lighting, plenty of seating, and several cozy sections. Then the east-end location feels like a slightly rundown blast from the past, although I haven't been in awhile and that might have changed.

Brewsters also has nightly food and drink specials. Some of them, like Thursday night's Riblicious special, are just too good to pass up.

Riblicious comes with a sizeable plate of ribs prepared three different ways and a side bowl of coleslaw. Ahh, coleslaw, you had me the moment I read your sweet name on the menu.

Now brace yourself, the best part is yet to come. The afore-mentioned Riblicious special comes to a grand tally of... just... $11. Sweet jeebus, why haven't I been dining at Brewsters more often?

I can't sign off without mentioning Brewsters extensive list of handcrafted ales and lagers. From the medium-bodied light golden Original Lager to the more adventurous Farmer's Tan White Ale, there's plenty to choose from. And it seems to me that the list has grown a lot in the last couple of years. Next time I visit I'm going to take a stab at a glass of Blue Monk Barley Wine. At 9.9 per cent alcohol, this heavy hitter might just serve as a meal.

My only suggestion to Brewsters on the beer front is to come up with one that truly honours its hometown. How about some Pile O' Bones Pilsner? Or maybe a cold frothy mug of Queen City Wheat Ale? Such a tribute would only be fitting, after all.

www.brewsters.ca

The Round-up:

• Food - 1 out of 5
• Decor - 1 out of 5
• Service - 2.5 out of 5
• Total - 4.5 out of 15

2201 11th Avenue, Regina, SK
306-757-2288

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To me, there's something comforting about tucking into a restaurant below street level.

Those few stairs that lead down to the dining room make the noise of traffic outside seem even further away behind the glass windows. It's like discovering a secret getaway in the middle of the city.

Big Willie and I popped into J & A Restaurant across from The Bay on 11th Avenue last weekend. The place was fairly full for a Saturday so I figured we were in for a good time.

Friends told us that J & A, which specializes in Chinese cooking, does a mean dim sum. Being dim sum fans, we just had to check it out.

We settled into a table fairly quickly -- our waitress just had to wipe it clean before we could sit down. She wiped it, though I wouldn't say it was clean. But we got past that. We were hungry, after all.

We waited a few minutes for tea and then a few more minutes to order. With only two waitresses working the floor, the service wasn't exactly speedy.

Unlike most dim sum restaurants, J & A does not bring carts of hot food by your table. Instead, you are provided with a slip of paper on which to tick off your choices from the menu.

We went with a range of standbys, like dumplings and spring rolls, along with a few more unique items (like cassava cake).

As we waited for the food we started to take note of J & A's decor, which includes a strange mixture of fake flowers, pink chairs, and Walt Disney characters on the walls.

First to hit the table were the Salt and Pepper Chicken Wings. These weren't exactly proper Chinese food, but they sounded good. And they tasted good. At first.

I was on my third wing when our whole experience started to go downhill. I bit into the wing and noticed that underneath the crispy skin was a whole lot of blood. How a chicken wing can be deep fried and crispy on the outside, but bloody on the inside, I'm still not sure. I stopped eating the wings and waited for the next item to arrive.

The Vietnamese Spring Rolls were up. Three puny spring rolls came on a small white plate. That's it. No sauce, and an odd number of rolls (there were two of us, as I said).

The rolls tasted about as good as they looked. In fact, they really reminded me of frozen appetizers from Costco. I'm just saying....

We asked the waitress if she had any type of sauce for the rolls. She brought us some plum sauce. In a package.

Next we got the Cassava Cake. This dense, yellow cake was hearty and very filling. Cassava, a root vegetable common in the tropics, is mixed into a sweet cake and then cut into squares. It tasted OK but I'm no cassava expert so I'll refrain from judgement here. Big Willie grew up eating the stuff and he thought J & A's version was on the sweet side.

Next up, another item and another disappointment: the Shrimp and Vegetable Dumplings.

Unlike any other dim sum restaurant I've ever visited, J & A serves dumplings in metal steam baskets instead of traditional bamboo steamers. That's a bit of a shame because the metal seems to dry the dumplings out while bamboo seems to retain more moisture. Plus the bamboo adds a touch of authenticity.

These dumplings were overcooked and the pastry pockets weren't even staying closed. And they had almost no flavour. Good Lord, it was time to take action.

We still had at least three more items to come, but me and Big Willie had more than enough by this point. We called the waitress over, pointed out the bloody chicken and asked her not to send any more items. Oh, and Big Willie mentioned that his teacup was dirty when it came to the table.

You might be thinking that we should have pointed out the chicken incident sooner. And we probably should have. But I like to be an easygoing diner and I was willing to let it slide at first, until everything else turned out to be a disappointment too.

We asked the waitress for our bill and she brought it quickly. Thankfully, she took the chicken and the items that never made it to our table off the bill.

We settled up, threw on our jackets and made a beeline for a real dim sum restaurant: The Four Seas on Rose Street.

To read my review of Four Seas, follow this link: http://www.reginafooddude.com/2009/10/four-seas-restaurant.html

As for J & A, your quaint basement location in a convenient spot downtown almost had me at hello. Unfortunately, you blew it. Big time. We won't be back. And please lose the Mickey Mouse decorations.

The Round-up:

• Food - 4 out of 5
• Service - 3.5 out of 5
• Decor - 4 out of 5
• Total - 11.5 out of 15

2124 Albert Street, Regina, SK
306-545-8811

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Dear Abbey:

It's about this time of year when the intended joy of Christmas starts to compete with the utter madness of Christmas.

The lineups at the grocery store are longer; the parking spots at the Cornwall Centre are fewer -- heck, the lineup just to get out of the parkade is enough to make you cringe. What's a guy to do?
Signed,
Crazy for Christmas

- - - - - - - -
Dear CC:

There are plenty of ways to deal with Christmas Craze. Some of them involve muttering swears underneath your breath. Others involve a simple retreat to a welcoming watering hole.

I suggest the latter.
Yours,
Abbey

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Today me and Big Willie opted for an easy Sunday morning and headed over to The Abbey on Albert Street. It was a brutally cold morning to brave the outdoors but the lure of breakfast without having to cook it was enough to get us out there.

I'd been to The Abbey a couple of times since it opened in December '08. My first visit, less than a week after the doors opened, was good but a little rough around the edges. And that's to be fully expected so early in the game.

My second visit, about two months later, left me with a bad taste in my mouth -- literally. A friend and I went for a Sunday-night supper before heading out to a show at the Brandt Centre. I had high hopes that the kitchen would have ironed out the wrinkles by that point but I left feeling happy with the atmosphere yet disappointed with the food, especially a very greasy pizza that was overcooked.

Since that time, I learned that The Abbey hired a new head chef. I was a bit reluctant to go back until a few friends and coworkers reported positive experiences recently.

Today, my third visit proved to be the lucky charm. Big Willie and I were seated quickly on the second-floor balcony overlooking the dining room. We took a few minutes to study the brunch menu and then placed our order.

I decided to keep things simple and ordered The Usual -- two eggs any style (I went with Sunny Side Up), bacon or sausage, hash browns, toast, and a few pieces of fruit. I figure if a kitchen can't get the most basic breakfast items right then there's little hope they'll succeed with anything else.

Big Willie chose The Eden Eggs Benedict (served with tomato and spinach on a homemade biscuit). We also opted to share The Abbey Salad, which came recommended by a friend.

All things said, our only complaint with the food was that it took too long to hit the table (close to half an hour). On the one hand, this wasn't an outrageous amount of time. On the other hand, you start to wonder what's going on after about 15 minutes at breakfast time. Both our waitress and the floor manager gave sincere apologies for the delay, so at least they were aware of the problem.

Otherwise, the food was delicious. I'm not normally a fan of Eggs Benedict but The Eden won me over. I think it was the fresh, crumbly homemade biscuit that did it. Big Willie was pretty pleased with his choice, too.

My eggs were cooked perfectly, not always the case when you order Sunny Side Up. And the best part of The Usual? The crispy sausage, just like we used to eat at home when I was a kid. I'm happy to report that The Abbey serves real sausage -- not the greasy breakfast kind that some people seem to love.

The Abbey Salad, strangely the most expensive item we ordered, was also pretty delish. A Roast Shallot Dressing came drizzled over mixed greens, grilled chicken, bacon, crumbled blue cheese, and a few slices of pear. This salad was a meal in itself and is also on the restaurant's lunch menu. I think it's safe to say I'll be back for it someday.

To make a nice meal even nicer, The Abbey plays host to live jazz music on Sundays from 11-2. Today's warm groove, combined with the awesome Viennese Dark Roast coffee, pretty much made us forget it was 30 degrees below zero, at least for awhile.

All in all, The Abbey is finally coming into its own as a restaurant. Despite the odd glitch here and there, it seems that things are almost nearing perfection.

If they keep this up they might just start to lure me away from La Bodega a bit more often.

Kudos to you, The Abbey.

http://www.theabbeyregina.com/