Hearth Restaurant — Restaurant in Saskatoon

I thought I would leave a review as this restaurant could be great but it just missed the mark, so maybe this could be helpful. We did the tasting menu and drink pairing. Somewhat expensive but as first timers we wanted to experience this restaurant and if they nailed it, I’d be happy to pay. The restaurant itself is cozy and has a good vibe day or night. I’ll say the pacing between courses was a bit quick to begin with but once we mentioned we would like to relax and enjoy the rest of our glass of wine they slowed the pace down and it was great from there. The opening drink was great as was the appetizer potato chip dish. Next up the salad. Amazing! As was the white wine paired with it. When we asked what the wine was we never got a straight answer even after the server went to look. Is it a Pino Gris? We don’t know. She was a great server, did her best and I just felt like she hadn’t been properly trained to cover questions like that when having a tasting menu paired with wine. Fair enough, she was still a good server otherwise. Next was the mushroom dish with sour dough. Also pretty good and the rose wine was good too but still we had no definite description on what wine we were drinking and this was served by a different server. So two servers did not seem to know exactly what wine was being poured. The next dish was a pasta dish that resembled perogies. I liked it but it maybe wasn’t up to snuff to be on a tasting menu. My wife thought it was undercooked but that probably doesn’t happen often. Then we had a red wine with the beef. Again, no definite description of the wine, just a couple notes from our server on the flavours and that’s it. As wine people dining out it’s nice to know what the wine is as we really enjoyed it and might want to buy some for another time. Not the end of the world but I will suggest they bring empty glasses to the table and pour it there so guests can see the bottle. I hate to say it but the beef was bad. I’m not sure if it is a poor quality cut or if the cow itself was raised and finished poorly. Either way it was bad beef. Cooked medium rare which is great, terrible flavour. This can easily be resolved and I hope they do as I would love to go there again for a meal. Also the short rib portion might have been cooked by sous vide which doesn’t cook the fat to where it should be. Toffee pudding to finish was excellent but the liquor with it wasn’t fantastic although I think some people would love it (think Black Forest cake). If you have never been to this restaurant don’t shy away based on this review, it’s worth checking out and I am sure many of the menu items would be fantastic, this is just our one...

Edited to add: came back for supper and fell in love, we totally get the hype now. I would like to survive on Gluten free mushrooms alone forever - with the extra toast of course.

The panna cotta is divine - the mulled wine gelee is phenomenal, and the presentation is stunning with the micro meringues and edible florals. Yum.

The polenta fries are also phenomenal - such a fun tasty snack, crunchy texture and the hot honey is perfect.

We will stick to the supper menu over brunch, but consider us converted

Previous review: we were disappointed to not love our first Hearth experience!

Having heard such rave reviews for years, we looked forward to try out brunch last weekend for my birthday. We ordered the mushroom hash and cassoulet to share. The mushroom hash tasted amazing, and the cassoulet was good (no issues but not special either, wouldn’t order again), but we really missed out on any texture - the hash browns were soft and saucy, when a crunchy hash brown would have made such a difference, this was probably missed even more so because the cassoulet (when gf modified) is also a very soft dish being so heavy on the baked beans.

London fog was great! Cocktails were good but we probably would skip next time - we both enjoy trying new drinks but they were much “busier” than we’re accustomed to so we’re probably not the target consumer for these.

Being gluten-free, reviewing the menu beforehand I felt good about the range of options. I enjoyed the sticky toffee pudding. It was a small thing - but I was very disappointed by the “$5 gluten free toast” which is on the high-end for what typical gluten free bread substitutes are in restaurants… but this was a sorry excuse for a single slice of toast. I’m accustomed to the smaller size of gluten free bread, but this more closely assembled a large saltine cracker… and it wasn’t a neat artisan bread either, it was a dry white bread. In hindsight I wish I had said something, but I didn’t want to be the ridiculous customer complaining about overpriced undersized bread. It felt odd when in other ways the menu is so accommodating for dietary restrictions but then you feel totally ripped off with...

One of the best restaurants in Canada? Definitely saskatoon

Order: Pasta, crispy Pork, special drink (orange soda vodka based and a long island), popcorn fries, fish fry, mushrooms

Location 4.5/5 - heart of downtown Saskatoon. Only issue is parking and need to find the restaurant. There isnt a huge sign but definitely premium location.

Atmosphere/ambiance: Riverview, can dine in and out. Casual and comfortable but has "fancy" food at the same time. Definitely representing the nice parts of town while keeping a modest laid back style like Saskatoon. Not pretentious. 5/5

Service: 5/5 our server was great. Luka was his name. I think he might be new but he did great. I admire hard working, genuine and friendly young people.

Value: 5/5 While this might be on the expensive side for restaurants? Honestly I thought the meal was cheap for what we got. This is high quality food for the price of any chain restaurant serving generic prepackaged reheated food. Portions were generous too.

Food/taste: 5/5 I hate mushrooms. They had a signature mushroom dish that was surprisingly delightful. The mornay (cheese) sauce skillfully masked...I mean complemented the mushrooms.

Popcorn fries are a very very creative play on spicy caramel corn. Could not stop eating.

Fish fry was both the best and worst dish. Fried fish was mediocre. Beer batter lacking. Not crispy. But, the fish cake is the best fish cake I ever had. I normally think fish cake is a way of getting rid of leftover fish...but this was remarkably clever and the smoked fish made the dish memorable. Exceptional.

Pasta was the worst dish for me. Too much of a herbaceous taste. Overpowered everything. I am also not a fan of strong pea flavors. Not my cup of tea but pasta was cooked al dente. Nothing against the skill of chef just not my favorite flavor.

Crispy pork....where has this been all my life? It is like a schnitzel or pork cutlet on steroids. Paired wonderfully with a nice sauce and dressing of zucchini, potato. Just incredible.

overall: Outstanding restaurant. Definitely deserves its merits. Worth a try if...