Prairie Bistro

Maybe we had a different waitress, or maybe simply a good day for the restaurant, but our service was friendly and timely. From start to finish, we were in there roughly an hour, food was hot, and featured the expected «healthy eating» angle. We had the chive soup and the lamb meatball sandwich, and they were both nice. And like Quoc says in his review, the place has a wonderful view. It was one of my favorite parts of the visit, and I’d love to see more of Edmonton /​St. Albert with views like that.
But this isn’t a five star review. The Achille’s Heel of this place lies in it’s pricing, like the other reviewers have said. While everything tasted nice, I don’t feel it was «fine dining» enough for the price, and the quantity was on the small side as well. You could argue that this is because it is meant to promote healthy portions — but then I’d argue that should be done for a lower price tag.
If you’re in the area, and you prefer healthier eating, this is certainly an option for you, but it is over-​priced for what it serves.

Potenially one of the Coolest additions to the Edmonton landscape is the Enjoy Centre, and the Resto here almost lives up to the rest of it. I really get disappointed when a room is beautifully designed, imaculately designed, and the food is purposefully sloppy to have some eco credit, and the service is purposely snooty, like the steady diet of wheatgrass and spirulina had erased the manners and social graces.
there comes a point when a locally focused place becomes glib and snotty, like the Yogi that flaunts how aligned there shakras are, and Prairie bistro does this. Yes, i get the novelty about listing where your ingredients come from, but the menu is more a laundry list of farmers then a tantilizing card.
all in all, the food was tasty, but missed the mark, mostly because they really tried hard to avoid elegance, and balance, and contrast, and interest.
beer list was good, but they were out of the two I wanted, so i felt a bit slighted
i dunno, maybe tyhe point is to be sloppy and glib, but its not my flavour.

Took my mom there for her birthday. Great location and décor but service and portions just didn’t cut it for the price. I have no issue paying for fine dining but small portions and waiting close to 50 minutes to get our food is unacceptable. No doubt a beautiful room but won’t be on my list for our next outing.

Summary:
— gem in St Albert
— beautiful room with an amazing view of Lois Hole Centennial Provincial Park
— great food, good service and priced appropriately for what the fine dining experience they are delivering
Detailed review:
The Prairie Bistro in located in the beautiful, new Enjoy Centre in St Albert. The first thing that struck me as I was led into the dining room was the floor-​to-​ceiling windows that looked west towards Lois Hole Centennial Provincial Park — it’s all green and lots of water. The place did not feel like Edmonton/​St Albert; instead I felt like I was in a resto on the coasts of somewhere like BC, Washington St or Oregon.
Menu had a good selection of dishes (salads, soups, apps, entrees, desserts) but was simple. I gravitated to the charcuterie plate which was an assortment of in-​house cured meats served with a pickled vegetable medley — don’t be deterred by this higher priced appy as there are 5 different meats and the veggies were a perfect accompaniment. For my entrée, I went with the night’s special — a perfectly cooked duck breast (crispy on the outside and rare on the inside) also served with a nice selection of summer veggies. My dinner mate had the cheese plate as his app (which had similar selection as my plate) as well as the steak tartare app for his entrée — he enjoyed both very much. We didn’t opt for dessert as we had alternate plans.
I also enjoyed how they had the drink menu inside a vintage Maclean’s magazine — a simple but unique/​nice touch. I didn’t take a hard look at the wine list so don’t have too much to say about that (will report more next time). I thought our server did a good job at topping up our water/​wine on a regular basis without smothering us — this was important as my dinner mate and I were having great conversation! Overall, very pleased with the service.
Something else to note is there is a casual dining area adjacent to the restaurant. I believe you go up to a counter and order off a smaller menu for take out.
Definitely worth the drive up to St Albert to try — will be returning!