Taste - It  Food Tours

My Mom had the great idea that for my birthday she would take me on one of the Taste It Food Tours which originated last summer in Moose Jaw and have since expanded to Regina, Saskatoon, and Cypress Hills.  So, last week we took the Queen City Downtown Tour and although I do not claim to be qualified to do a "review", as I am fairly content anytime anyone brings me food, I thought I would share our experience anyway.  Let me begin by saying that this was not the original date we had booked, but Mom got a stomach virus the day of the tour and we were graciously allowed to change our date.  It turns out that the original day also brought terrible weather, and monsoon conditions around the time of the tour, and we later found out they wisely rebooked all the guests.  For these reasons, I was impressed from the start with the customer service we received.  The Queen City Downtown tour meets every second Tuesday throughout the summer in Victoria Park, and the day we attended was a beautiful evening, although very hot!  We had four stops on the tour, which lasted approximately 3 hours in total.  Of the four stops, I had been to three of them before, but I don't get out very much so I don't frequent any of them.

Hotel Saskatchewan Radisson Plaza

The Hotel was our first stop on the tour, and one of my favourite places in the city, although it is currently under much needed renovations.  The lounge and tea room are now behind a wall which decreases the grandeur of the lobby, but all in all was not terribly imposing.  There was a lot of noise going on but that is just something we will have to put up with for a little while.  I know the Hotel will be better for it in the end!  We were seated at an elegant table in the dining room and received a glass of Ravenswood Zinfandel which was lovely.  We were served a plate which had a perfect portion size, great flavours, and the classy finesse that one would expect from the Hotel.  We were told the Chef would come out and explain the dish which I appreciated as he was the only Chef who did speak to us, however we were all shocked by the young man who emerged.  Unfortunately, I was at the far end of the table, and could not read his name, but I am pretty sure I have pyjamas older than him.  The dish was described as (something to the effect of): arugula with white balsamic vinaigrette, crostini with foie butter, sliced AAA beef, truffled mushrooms, and fried onions.  It was absolutely delicious and an elegant start to the evening.

Beer Bros.

From there we walked the couple of blocks to Beer Bros. where we were seated in a private room.  We were given a small, although adequate, glass of beer and it was described as a cross with a pear cider.  No one at the table claimed to be able to taste any pear notes, but I know I am NOT a beer connoisseur, so perhaps they were in there somewhere.  As many know, the Beer Bros. and Willow on Wascana restaurants share partners and the quality and class of the Willow definitely translates to the more "pub-like" atmosphere of Beer Bros.  This was upscale "bar food" and we were served a pair of house-made beerogies, cabbage roll sausage, garlic smashed potatoes, and a demi glace.  Again, these are my quick-jotted notes of what the wait staff explained, so I could be wrong on any of these details.  It was a generous portion and I started to think that perhaps I would get very full on this tour.  I love the idea of the beerogies to make use of whatever ingredients may be on hand and in season, and my understanding is they make various kinds.  They were really delicious with a nice thin dough, and make me consider rolling my perogie dough out more.  I believe my favourite element, out of the four restaurants, were the smashed potatoes.  I don't get overly excited over potatoes, but these were awesome!  The presentation of the dish was very nice and overall Beer Bros. was a very impressive stop and I am anxious to get back there!

Victoria's Tavern

It was another couple of blocks walk to Vic's.  I know we were all appreciating the walk breaks.  Of the four spots we visited, I think Victoria's Tavern had the best "theme" and I can't describe it, so just go and see it for yourself.  We were seated in the vault private room which is a very cool, but small, space.  This was great for a while and we got a terrific group picture, but it got very hot in there very quickly.  We were provided a very tall glass of their house lager.  When someone mentioned how much larger it was than the Beer Bros. glass, the waitress responded "Well, we're NOT Beer Bros!" which cracked us all up.  I appreciate the generosity of the glass, but really didn't need two beer in a row.  I would have much preferred a cocktail, and to their credit we were offered a soda or coffee to replace the beer, but no additional liquor.  Therefore I sucked it up and drank the beer.  I will always take the free booze.  Vic's is known for their grilled cheese and we were all served their sandwich of the day which was made with in-house fresh mozzarella, cherry tomatoes, basil and served on fresh focaccia.  It was excellent.  Honestly, it could have been half the size it was at this point of the tour, but I can appreciate them wanting to give everyone a generous portion.  However, the weird part was that all the sandwiches came out with different side dishes (lager chips, french fries, tossed salad, caesar salad), and we were asked to just call dibs the one we wanted.  This is okay with your family or very good friends, but for a group of people who have just met, it was a bit awkward determining who wanted to eat what.  By the time the meal came out, the vault was really hot and uncomfortable (and I don't complain about heat very often).  In general, I'm sure this is probably a prized private room and just didn't work out for a group of ten on such a hot day.  Everyone was happy to get out of there and by this time, the longer walk to the last stop was much appreciated.

Fireside Bistro

Although we definitely needed the exercise, it seemed kind of strange that Fireside was so far away when the other locations were so close together.  Thankfully, it was very cool, roomy, and a comfortable last stop.  We arrived to a glass of Kahlua, Bailey's and Milk.  Cue angels singing!  It was very refreshing and a welcome change after the beer.  We were served a S'mores Cheesecake.  The cake itself was really good and the plating was fine although I am still unsure about that grape.  It still kind of bothers me...like it should have been a berry, but they ran out of berries.  But all in all, I don't complain about cheesecake, so it was a great ending!

As usual, I have gone on too long so I will conclude here as quickly as I can.  At $89 per person, it is a hefty price point, however I believe it was worth it (or course, it was a gift so I didn't actually pay for it).  It was a substantial amount of food, included four alcoholic beverages, and when else do you get to go to four restaurants in one evening?  It would normally take me a full year to hit all of them.  The restaurants worked well around a guest food allergy (even though the rescheduling of the original date led to some confusion and therefore last minute accommodations).  I believe that at all four restaurants we received a representative meal to showcase that location and the tours are a great way to get to experience different locations, for tourists and locals alike.  I should note that the menu offerings change nightly so if you are on the Queen City Downtown Tour, you will not necessarily end up with the dishes and beverages described above.

My only "criticism" about the tour itself is that I think I would have liked a bit more information, but I am a nerd that way.  Our tour guide did give us some history about the city and restaurants, but there was a decent amount of time after we were seated, and before our food came, that there could have been more details from either our tour guide, or preferably a Chef or staff person of the restaurant.  Our group got along very well, and made great conversation, and perhaps our tour guide was watching for that and would have interjected more information if there was a lull.  And it's very possible that most people would rather just sit and drink their beer than be bombarded with history, so I'm not sure others would consider this a criticism.

I would love to do all three tours in Regina (Cathedral and Wascana are the others) so will plan to do another one next summer and I think the Taste It Tours would be a great way to experience the other cities as well.  Most tours run until the end of September so there is still time for you to book yourself on one this year!  Thanks so much to Mom for the treat and to the staff at Taste It Food Tours as well as the Hotel Saskatchewan Radisson Plaza, Beer Bros., Victoria's Tavern, and Fireside Bistro for a lovely night out in the Queen City!