It was that time of the year, the time when we got to go out for a nice dinner on the company's dime! My company party was out at the River Cree Casino's fine dining restaurant Sage. It is a beautiful restaurant, understated and with clean lines, as is the way of fine dining establishments these days. There were a number of Christmas parties being hosted that night, and the staff was extremely accommodating when we explained that the roads were going to result in our party of ten arriving up to an hour later than expected.
The two of us that arrived significantly earlier than the others perused the menu in advance. Another trend that I have seen cropping up these days is for restaurants to have a Table D'Hote menu with a fixed price for an appetizer, main, and dessert. Normally this would have appealed to me seeing as the appetizer choices were a meat dish and a salad, and the mains allowed for choice between fish and beef, but the dessert was rice pudding, which I am not a fan of. At $45 dollars, it did offer value for those that were interested.
For the main course, there were four entree choices, otherwise you could order a steak or seafood main, and then order side dishes a la carte. We ordered a number of sides for the entire table to share. Our table was split in ordering seafood and steaks. The seafood eaters raved. One of our party actually said she thought her fish was the best she had ever had in her life. The steak eaters were also pleased, but being from Alberta, there are a number of places where a person can get a very high quality steak for a better price. It is worth noting though that Kobe beef is available should you wish to try it, but it is pricey ($60). I had the scallops, and again, they were wonderful. Cooked perfectly to my taste, with a savory/sweet crust on top, and a slightly raw middle keeping it moist and tender. I would have liked them to have a crust on both sides, but not at the expense of the consistency, which was perfect just as it was. The entree choices were served with steamed veggies such as purple carrots and broccoli, and normal coloured asparagus.
After all of that, dessert might seem impossible to most,
Our servers were fantastic, very attentive, but not disruptive of our meal. All in all I would highly recommend Sage as a fine dining location.
Even if you wanted to have a fine dining experience without breaking the bank, you could go for an assortment of small plates and drinks, and then try your luck at the slots with the rest of the cash in your pockets.
Great review and pics!
ReplyDeleteThe holidays is when I miss working for a company....no holiday parties for me =(
ReplyDeleteHow much did the scallops cost?
ReplyDeleteThe scallops were $31 Canadian :-)
ReplyDelete