As one follower of Saskatoon Slop told us, Lien Thanh Oriental Restaurant is worth trying. This little restaurant in downtown Saskatoon served great food at a great price with great service.

Lien Thanh is next to Garden Architecture, just across the street from Toys R’ Us. This was our first experience at Lien Thanh, but have heard good things from multiple people. I ordered my usual, the ginger beef. The biggest difference with this dish is the tenderness of the beef. Usually, ginger beef is made with  low grade beef, but that was not the case here. The taste was different as there was not as much ginger as in other places, but I was not disappointed.

The atmosphere is very typical. It was small with out dated table and chairs. Yet, the restaurant was clean, which is more than most of these types of restaurants. The price was surprisingly low. With 4 adults and 2 children, the total bill was less than $60, which included several order of rolls too.

The service was above par. Even though there was only 2 other families in the restaurant while we were in there, we never had to wait for anything. I am not sure if the owner was serving us, but she was more than accommodating to our busy kids.

TAPS -16

Taste – 4

Atmosphere – 4 (compared to other restaurants of this type)

Price – 4

Service – 4

311 Avenue A South

Phone: 933-4299

Closed on Sundays and Mondays

There are 2 sit down restaurants within walking distance of my house.  Both of which opened around the same time.  I have eaten at Boston Pizza around 50 times and Asian House 2.  

After trying the Asian House for the second time this last weekend I remembered why I have gone out of my way to avoid it.  I would have to say the whole experience was below average.  

The server spoke to me twice.  Once when she took my order and again when I paid my bill.  The satay beef was very mediocre.  The only vegetables mixed in were massive hunks of onion, green peppers, and tomatoes.  All in all, not a great experience.  The atmosphere was very average.  A small location with as many tables as possible.  

On a good note, the spring rolls were not bad.  

TAPS – 9

T – 2

A – 3

P – 2

S – 2

7 – 527 Nelson Rd

Saskatoon

Red Pepper has a reputation. I have been told many times that this is the best Asian place in town. Everyone claims to know the best Asian place in town, but my belief is that every place seems to have one amazing dish. Red Pepper is no exception. We decided to order several platters to sample and share, but one dish was the hands down winner this night.

Coconut Curry Beef and Vegetables. This dish alone will make me a repeat customer of the Red Pepper. Several other dishes were nothing out of the ordinary and the ginger beef was slightly disappointing, but did not take away from the Coconut Curry. It had amazing flavors and was almost too rich for some.

The atmosphere is exactly what I expected, almost unclean and completely outdated.

The price was fairly in-line with other Asian restaurants in the down town area and the service again was quite predictable.

I am sad that I did not have time to try the Vietnamese iced coffee, but next time I will order it first with a dish of coconut curry for myself.

TAPS – 13

T – 4

A – 3

P – 3

S – 3

145 3rd Ave S
Saskatoon, SK S7K
(306) 477-1977