the Hollows - Saskatoon

Heard great things about this place.  I think most notably is the fact that the decor hasn't much changed since it was a Chinese restaurant.  The exterior still has the old signage, including "Chop Suey, Steak etc" listed on the facade. And the "Golden Dragon" sign hanging above the door. The interior retained the Chinese lanterns and I believe some of the old chairs and booths. It's eclectic.
http://thehollows.ca/

Rating: 1-Poor 5-Great

Atmosphere...................4
Music.............................n/a
Food..............................4
Service...........................2.5
Menu selection.............3
Wine selection...............3
Price...............................3.5*
*Price based on quality of food

We arrived on time for our reservation, but I'm not sure they had it, or the server just couldn't read. She seemed a bit...ditzy for the most part.  We sat in the Lantern Room.  It was neat.

The menu is small, but I understand the chef likes to use local fair, which in March in Saskatchewan, doesn't equal a lot.  The wine list is decent, you'll find something. And the mixed drinks seem pretty standard.  The server brought the wrong wine for my dining partner (see above), but once we had it straightened out, both were equally good.

We started off with a simple appetizer of poutine and a hempseed sourdough served with honey butter.  The latter was delicious. I'm not much of a poutine girl, so the poutine was, well poutine.

For our main I chose a tomato and feta papperdelle, which was tasty, but nothing exciting. I could easily recreate this at home - which I will.  My partner chose a trout on risotto.  It was very good with a nice crusted exterior.  The risotto was quite runny, which is not my preference.

Finally for dessert we selected a lemon and lavender custard. This was fantastic. I believe my comment was "we should have ordered 6 of these for dinner" :-)   Creamy and tart with a generous dollop of whipped cream on top.  Very good.

It was a nice night out, and I think we'd return, but certainly not eager to get there.  Just little things like leaving the menus on the table and forgetting to bring the bill, they don't sit well.  But this isn't the restaurant's error, it's the server.

Overall I'd rate this place a 3.