JASPER NATIONAL PARK - Canadian Rockies: Including Banff and Jasper National Parks - page 380

Other Hotel Dining
Most of the larger accommodations have restaurants. In general, they open for breakfast
and dinner only, with a cold or cooked buffet complementing an à la carte dinner menu.
Walter's Dining Room (Sawridge Hotel, 82 Connaught Dr., 780/852-5111,
6am-10:30am and 6pm-9:30pm daily, $19-36) is a cut above the rest and reasonably
priced. Surrounded by the greenery of a four-story atrium, the setting is relaxed but eleg-
ant. The menu features contemporary preparations using Canadian ingredients such as Al-
berta beef and salmon. You could start with the duck terrine with sweet apricots, followed
by salmon simmered in a chardonnay and fennel broth, spending a little more than $40 for
the two courses. The adjacent lounge has the same pleasant setting and a smaller, less-ex-
pensive menu.
One block back from the Sawridge Hotel is the Jasper Inn and its Inn Restaurant (98
Geikie St., 780/852-4461, breakfast and dinner daily, $18-33), with a fine sheltered court-
yard complete with an outdoor fireplace and heat lamps for those cooler evenings. As is
usually the case in hotel restaurants, the menu is of wide appeal, presenting pastas, beef
dishes, and seafood, such as a halibut burger with sweet potato fries.
Outside Downtown
With so many dining choices in downtown Jasper, it's easy to ignore the many fine res-
taurants scattered elsewhere in the park.
One of Jasper's best restaurants, M Becker's Gourmet Restaurant (780/852-3535,
8am-11am and 5:30pm-9pm daily May-mid-Oct., $22-38) is six kilometers (3.7 miles) out
of town to the south along the Icefields Parkway, but well worth the short drive. From this
cozy dining room, where the atmosphere is intimate, or the adjacent enclosed conservat-
ory, the views of Mount Kerkeslin and the Athabasca River are inspiring. This restaurant
is a throwback to days gone by, with an ever-changing menu of seasonal game and pro-
duce that includes a wild game platter. A menu staple is the pestocrusted rack of lamb. For
dessert, the strawberry shortcake is a delight. The breakfast buffet costs $16.
Back toward town from Becker's, on Highway 93A, is the dining room of historic
Tekarra Lodge (780/852-4624, 8am-11am and 5:30pm-9:30pm daily mid-May-early
Oct., $28-43). The setting may be mountain-style rustic, but the cooking appeals to modern
preferences with combinations like prosciutto-wrapped chicken with pear and smoke
gouda.
You'll probably want to eat at the Treeline Restaurant (780/852-3093, 10am-5pm
daily late Apr.-mid-Oct., 9am-8pm daily July-Aug., $14-21) just for the view—it's high