ayden kitchen & bar

this is to the place to bring anyone you want to impress (your date, your out-of-towner friend, your in-laws). it's also a great place to have a casualmealif you're willing to shell out a bit more $$ than average ($30-40pp before alcohol).

what i love about this place is that it serves great quality innovative food without being pretentious. serving sizes for appetizers can be a little bit skimpy here and there, but always perfect for entrees. they change their menu every season (i think), but the structure of the menu stays the same (chicken item, pork item, beef item, pasta item, burger item). every time i see the menu change online, or i see a new menu item on instagram, i get excited to go back. 

servers are great and down to earth, and the atmosphere is great -- modern and industrial, but not too hipster.

i highly recommend the popcorn prawns.

didn't even get to order a drink... went in for what we expected was going to be a lovely late night dinner.. shortly before the server came to our table we saw a mouse run through the dining room, right by our table. needless to say, we informed the staff and quickly proceeded out the front door.

i'm not about to pay that much money for amealand have to dine with mice.
solve this problem, maybe i'll be back.

i love ayden - great atmosphere, lovely group of staff and wonderful food. however, during my last visit i was a little upset over the lack of food for the price i paid. i had ordered the chicken (smoked pineview farms chicken breast, bacon creamed kale, white bean fritters, chicken jus) - i read the menu, i knew what i was ordering. i'm 6 months pregnant, so i was looking forward to eating a bigmealout (hello, eating for two here!!). when the food showed up, i looked down into the deep bowl in front of me to see 1 small chicken breast on a bed of peas (with some creamed kale and white bean fritters). "this can't be it" i said to myself - but indeed, it was true. no rice, no potato, no filler. sad face when the realization hit me i just paid $27 for chicken and peas. i will be back, but next time i'll order the burger.

i usually end up taking clients here multiple times throughout the year. it is a great environment for socializing and the menu is constantly changing. wait staff is really friendly and have never had a badmealor a complaint from anyone i have eaten with there. the burger is a really great choice  for lunch, wish they would recycle the pulled pork back into the menu. one of the best all around restaurants in saskatoon for sure.

i came here with an opened mined hoping for a decentmeal& was pleasantly surprised the food was amazing & the service was equally as good. i ordered the southern fried duck confit for $16 & the burger special, which was a burger made from the rib eye trimmings topped with bone marrow $16, the duck confit was amazing it was battered with oats to give it a nice crunchy & chewy mix & was served on an apple slaw with a spiced maple glaze & was very worth the money. the burger was also amazing burger was cooked a perfect medium & top it of with the marrow was fantastic with so much flavor  & so juicy. i had an amazingmeal& cannot wait to return to saskatoon so i can come here again.

this restaurant needs to take a serious look at itself and either lower its prices or raise the quality of its food.
i ordered the beef and was pretty disappointed. it was an incredibly fatty piece of meat and crazy salty and over seasoned. i could be happy with that had it been a $20 steak, but i expect a $40 steak to be near perfection. the twice baked potato that came with the beef was inoffensive, and the chocolate torte i ordered for dessert was forgettable.
thismealwas by no means inedible. it was fine. but when my bill comes to $70 without even ordering cocktails, i shouldn't be left longing for the food at the pub the next street over.

we had been to ayden before and had a great meal. tonight themealwas very underwhelming, not horrible just tolerable. i had the 10 oz rib eye. it was cooked the way i ordered it but the seasoning was not even across the cut of meat, resulting in a different taste with each bite.

when you are paying a premium price you expect a premiummealevery time.

ok, so i wanted to impress an out of town "foodie" and it kinda backfired here on me!
first off the service was very good!
we started off with the chicken wings appetizer which gave us 8 wings for $13.00, they were tasty if not a tad over salty but cooked perfectly i must say.
for the main course my out of town guest was hungry so he ordered the sirloin steak plate for $40.00 and i ordered the evening special ($28.00) which was braised short ribs in a somewhat creamy sauce.
my friend is a bbq master so this place wasn't going to "pull the wool over his eyes" so to speak and sure enough he ordered the steak "med rare".
well it came to our table, very well presented but the outer portion of the steak was actually "med well", and the middle portion cooked as ordered..kinda a rookie mistake in his books and he let our server know just so the chef that cooked the steak will correct his method of grilling for the evening.
the chef was informed by our server what was told to her and he came over to attentively find out the problem. he was shown the mistake and agreed that it could have been better cooked. i tried the pieces that were trimmed off by my friend and have to agree it was almost like "beef jerky" in texture.
because of this my friend received a free dessert, which was a nice gesture on their part.
mymealwas apperantly the last available special of the night as after i had ordered it, the server returned to say that it had been sold out. but as i was re-browsing the menu another server came over to say they had enough for one more go.
the plate came with about six medallions of beef short rib minus the bone, a small salad of greens and a serving of really good french fries.
the short rib meat was a little on the dry side and chewy even though it was cooked to a "med" finish.
the sauce that was on a portion of the serving was sorta bland too.
all in all for the price, i have to say again i could have been just as satisfied if we had gone to the keg.
i feel i need to be critical of this experience because i felt themealdidn't live up to the hype and my friend was not impressed at all!

definitely the best restaurant i've ever eaten at in saskatoon. ayden kitchen and bar lives up to the hype the locals gave me.

a great spot for locally sourced meats prepared in very unique ways. the charcuterie board was all meat - a nice combination of pates and sliced meats accompanied with flavourful pickled vegetables and strong mustards.

the recommendation for the evening was the pork, prepared in a unique tonkotsu japanese style. it was a thick and tender piece of meat sliced and cooked to perfection. good pieces of fat lining the soft meat. but the most interesting part of themealwas the hand-made ramen noodles prepared in a carbonara fashion. great texture to the noodles, but with the sauce and slices of bacon it was an amazing accompanying side to the meal.

ayden kitchen and bar is the new standard for fine dining i'll hold in saskatoon.

i have been to ayden three times now and every time i go is worse then the last. the appetizers like the tuna tartar and chicken wings were great, unfortunately those are the simplest menu items. last time i went i had the much overpriced steak and trout. i was at first impressed with the size of both but ended up sending them both back for being completely unseasoned and for being way overcooked. from a blue steak which i asked for getting it dry and well done. the fish was the same almost like whoever cooked them forgot about them the second they hit the grill. they replaced ourmealwith a few overpriced old-fashions, scallops and the duck. ohh the duck, being a nice gesture turned out to be a complete replay of our other entrees. i wont eat here again nor will i recommend it to people because unfortunately every time i do i hear the same results. i love supporting local but skip this travesty and try something worth while.

we've had lunch at ayden once before. we left a little disappointed in our charcuterie board and entrees, but after receiving a gift card we decided to give it another shot. i ordered the "hotdog sammie", which came with caesar salad and fries. the "hotdog" was a shiny looking sausage that was completely raw on the inside. like mushy, fell apart when i cut it, totally red, raw. the avocado slices were brown and mushy, and the entire thing was drenched in sriacha. so disappointing. i've had better hotdogs from 7/11. the caesar salad was so drenched in lemon juice and crappy dressing that it was barely edible. the croutons were stale (who knew that was even possible), and the lettuce was so wilted that it had no crisp whatsoever. the fries were fine, but they could've been from a&w and i wouldn't have noticed the difference. my boyfriend ordered the burger, and the server suggested getting it cooked medium. the burger itself was fine, but it was nowhere near medium. it was completely raw on the inside, with obvious blood all over the place. the chamomile, lavendar, pineapple soda i ordered was delicious! best part of themealhands down! frankly i think they should shut down the restaurant entirely and open a soda business. if i had went in for just a drink, i would've left satisfied. but the food was so below sub par that we will never be returning. incredibly disappointing.

probably the worst restaurant i've been in a while ordered scallop and chicken. scallops well there was 4 small quarter size ones on a plate that was about $17 like really wth. chicken was good but for $27 one drum and half a thigh very unimpressed. i had to eat something else to fill me up when i got home. everything is over priced. father in law got the wrong order brought to him and by the time he got what he acually ordered everyone was done theirmealand no apologies or reducing price of a small 40$ steak. and to pay 18% on top everything was rediculous. it was not an impressivemealor a fillingmealto leave with a $198 bill. rediculous never recommend this place

we dined at ayden's tonight for a birthday party. when confirming the reservation today we were informed of an 18% gratuity will be added since we are a party of 9. most restaurants don't do this.... tipping is a personal preference and it shouldn't be automatically added. what if themealor service was not adequate??it was very smoky and hot in the upstairs private room! not enjoyablefood is extremely expensive for what you get. my pasta was lukewarm and little to none squash filling and in a broth. my husbandsmealwas totally wrong and he had to wait and eat after everyone was finished. no apologies or adjustment to the bill...was a disappointment. won't return.

potential to be great, it is just not there, just yet. we went for valentine's day and they had a two options, the 4 or 5 course that sounded delicious. the 4 course $75/per person is fine if portions/taste warrant the price, but themealwas disappointing. the 5 course was $95 and only difference was one extra pasta dish. i can't fault it too much because most of the restaurants in this city are overpriced.

i have to agree with the previous post, you need to travel more to see how disappointing this is. if this is the best the city has to offer, then this city needs a wakeup call. this restaurant has so much potential to be wonderful.

as per the meal, the lobster bisque tasted terrible, even the table beside us returned it to the kitchen. my fiancée had different food options, except the seafood platter and both of us barely made it back home to spend the evening in the bathroom. food never bothers my fiancée, no matter what it is, so something had to be off for that to happen.

i have spent $200 on meals that were worth it and also have had meals that blew this out of the water for a fraction of the price. this was not only disappointing for themealsize but the taste. before our stomachs started to rumble, my fiancée asked if we could go to mcdonalds as she was still starved.

we are both willing to give this place one more chance as it was valentine's day and the staff were very busy, which was evident especially once our table was cleared and the bill was delivered. we waited 25 minutes for them to bring the machine and the hostess did only did because we put our jackets on and stood up.

as i said, this place has potential to be great, it is just not there, just yet.

not sure it's worth the price tag, but an experience worth having.. the dishes are unique and very good. no complaints from anyone at our table, and barely a crumb was left.

while the portions seem small, they're probably more in line with what people "should" be eating, just not what i'm used to in a north american setting. i was fully satisfied regardless.

the garnishes and salads were incredible. just the right amount of dressing. the presentations were all fantastic.

i would have liked to see some non-fried chicken however, just to provide a healthier option for those of us who aren't big on fish.

the drinks are where my jaw really hit the floor. cocktails were $12, and i wouldn't say they were worth it. $8, maybe $10 tops. but you pay for the atmosphere and to have a real mixologist, so it is what it is. the prices are clearly stated at least, so there were no surprises.

what i really like is the simplicity of the menu. i hate going out and not being able to choose what to eat because there are so many choices. a simple menu makes that decision so much easier, and keeps the prices from soaring more than they have to.

definitely an experience i recommend, but not somewhere i would go for an everydaymealunless you're so rich you need excuses to spend outrageous sums of money. i also recommend going in a large group so you can share and experience the different options without returning for a second visit.