The Samurai Restaurant, located in the Historic Bessborough Hotel in downtown Saskatoon, will provide you with an evening full of great food, entertainment, and conversation. Newly renovated with a new sushi bar, this restaurant has developed a great reputation in its 25 years of operation.
The interior is decorated in traditional Japanese style creating a very relaxing atmosphere. The hostess wears a kimono. The tables look like you will have to sit on the floor but there are actually chairs to sit on. Each table comfortably sits 8. Reservations are definitely recommended if you are a large party and require an entire table. If you are just 2, you will be seated at a table with others whom you will get to know over the course of the evening. And you will definitely need an entire evening - instead of going to a few different places you can spend hours at this great restaurant with your friends. My family took my host parents from Denmark to the Samurai because they had never had Japanese food before. They had a chance to try out chopsticks! My host mom mastered them in no time! We had a great evening and it was considered 'hyggelig' (the closest translation is cozy) - a very high compliment from Danes.
Start the evening off with a tasty appetizer. I recommend any of the tempura selections. Your chef will come out and prepare your appetizer at your table. The food is fresh and very tasty.
For the main course there are just too many things to choose from. We ended up ordering individual dishes but shared bits and pieces. Once again, the chef will come to your table and prepare your food. The best part is the fire show. Check out the photos below. Out chef willingly obliged to do the fire show twice for our Danish guests and so we could get pictures. Once again the food is absolutely fantastic. If you love seafood in Japanese style, you will love the dishes. One great thing about the Samurai is that they offer options for vegetarians - there are a number of tofu dishes with fresh vegetables.
For dessert, you can try Green Tea Ice Cream. Yes, it is made with green tea and is even green. It sounds strange, but is quite tasty. Have it with some Japanese tea and your dessert will be complete.
It is a bit expensive, but you could also spend the same amount of money doing 2-3 things in the same number of hours elsewhere. It is all in how you think about the experience. If you can manage it, I highly recommend an evening at Samurai. It will be a memorable evening!