Where to get a piece of Saskatoon for lunch
For the past few years, travel and food guides have proclaimed Saskatoon as an up and coming culinary destination. Well, the truth is that the city still lacks a distinct culinary identity (I guess the same can be said about all Canadian cities outside Quebec). There are less than 20 noteworthy restaurants. There are no signature dishes that the city can lay claim on.
For sure, Saskatoon is a culinary oasis in the vast prairie. It’s not destination-worthy yet, but it’s certainly a pleasant surprise on a cross- Canadian trip.
Stopping for lunch? Then the pickings are even slimmer because most of the distinctive restaurants only have dinner service, like Ayden Kitchen, Hearth, Odla, Primal, and The Granary.
As a food tourist, I’ve tried to find lunch places for a uniquely Saskatoonian flavour. So, no Italian, Korean, and Jamaican restaurants. No generic pub food. There’s a strong Ukrainian presence in the prairies but I’m not including those restaurants either because the cuisine isn’t limited to Saskatoon. Here’s what I came up with.
Odd Couple
Asian Fusion cuisine isn’t new but with so much room for innovation, one can always find surprising combinations anywhere around the globe. Odd Couple does East and Southeast Asian fusion. While the menu doesn’t scream Saskatchewan, there are some concepts I haven’t come across before.
The kung pao chicken and waffles caught my eye. The waffle was a Hong Kong-style egg waffle (雞蛋仔; literally small eggs). It came with Sichuan peppercorn honey and was garnished with coriander and ground peanut.
Kung pao chicken (宮保雞丁) comes from Sichuan, China. The chicken is stir-fried with chillies and aromatic vegetables to create a semi-saucy dish. Odd Couple’s approach of starting with deep-fried chicken nuggets and drizzling the sauce as a finishing touch is genius. Sadly, the execution didn’t live up to the concept. The meat was dry. The sauce wasn’t as spicy or savoury as I expected for kung pao chicken. In fact, it had a weird, indistinct taste. It needed more soy sauce or dry chillies.
The peanuts and coriander didn’t gel with the chicken. Perhaps adding some peanut crumbs in the batter would make them more cohesive. And a whole stalk of coriander, like the Vietnamese do. It would have given much needed freshness to the hearty dish.
The egg waffle fared much better. It stuck to tradition. The outside was pressed golden-brown and the inside was eggy. The Sichuan peppercorn honey was an odd one. It wasn’t potent enough to be tongue-numbing and the honey was rather runny. A bit more spice or sweetness would make it pair well with the chicken and waffle.
With more fine-tuning, this could be a signature dish. Points for creativity. 7.5/10.
Interior of Odd Couple 
Window dining at Odd Couple
Bannock Express
Indigenous cuisine remains hard to find in the urban centres of Canada. Bannock Express is a welcome addition, opening a permanent location in June 2020, just after the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Their specialty is the namesake: bannocks. Bannock is a fried flatbread that has been co-opted by indigenous people all over Canada and USA. Here, it’s available in a dizzying variety of burgers. It also comes in a taco (really an open-faced sandwich) or as a side for other platters.
My visit didn’t come at a good time. The staff was busy fulfilling a large catering request. But the owner was nice enough to let me squeeze in an order. I went with the most basic option: a plain bannock burger. Just lettuce, tomato, and cheese. The bread was, of course, bannock sliced in half.
Perhaps because the order was rushed, the bannock wasn’t at its best. It had absorbed oil, which meant it wasn’t fried at hot enough temperatures or wasn’t drained properly. The burger ingredients were decent cafeteria quality. It was OK. The burger needed some flavourful sauce to give it some identity. Maybe I should have gone with the fancier burgers. 6/10.
Every article about Bannock Express inevitably mentions their charitable work. This article is no exception, for it is worth advertising. They have a nifty system where customers can buy a meal for the needy. That item will then be placed on the donation wall. Anyone can walk in and claim that donation. When I visited, there were a few people asking for meals, so there certainly is demand. The world needs more business owners like this.
Donation wall and counter of Bannock Express 
Merchandise at Bannock Express
Other places to check out
Some lunch places that I didn’t get to try are:
- Shift. Modern Saskatchewan cuisine. That means local produce in global dishes.
- Calories. Long-standing diner in the Broadway district. Local produce and has the odd bison dish.
- Berry Barn. Touristy but where else can you find Saskatoon berry in everything? Berry-picking available in summer.
Similar places in Toronto
For casual Chinese fusion like Odd Couple, there’s no shortage of choices in Toronto. Try Inspire Restaurant, Azyun, DaiLo, or R&D.
Toronto doesn’t have a large range of bannock burgers like Bannock Express. For a simple burger, go to Tea N Bannock.
Verdict
Saskatoon isn’t a foodie destination but it has some decent options if you are dropping in for lunch.
Practical information
Odd Couple
- Rating
- 7.5/10
- Prices
- Kung pao chicken and Hong Kong waffle: $18.32 ($16.50 excluding tax)
- Address
- 228 20th Street West
- Hours
- Monday to Saturday 1130h – 1400h, 1630h – 2200h
- Date of visit
- August 2021
Bannock Express
- Rating
- 6/10
- Prices
- Bannock burger combo: $11.65 ($10.50 excluding tax)
- Address
- 312 Avenue B South
- Hours
- Monday 1100h – 1900h
Tuesday to Friday 1000h – 2100h
Saturday 1100h – 2100h
Sunday 1100h – 1900h - Date of visit
- August 2021