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Brunch Buffet at H2 Rotisserie & Bar + Giveaway

Posted in All You Can Eat, Brunch, Contests, Family-friendly, Great Views, Group Lunch, Hotel Dining, Joyce, Lunch, Restaurants, Special Occasion, Vancouver, West Coast, tagged Brunch, Buffet Brunch, Coal Harbour, Congee, dim sum, Downtown Vancouver, French Toast, H2 Rotisserie & Bar, Harvest Bowl, Mimosa, rotisserie chicken, Westin Bayshore on November 21, 2017| 22 Comments »

[Editor’s Note: This giveaway is now closed. Winner has been chosen and contacted. Thank you for entering.]

When I say “hotel breakfast”, what comes to mind? I would think of a la carte standard affairs, or varied quality of “continental breakfast” from 2-3 star hotels.

We are lucky in Vancouver in a sense that there are many hotels offering delicious, not your typical breakfast/brunch options, e.g. Tableau, Mosaic, Yew, Blvd. Enter the new player, H2 Rotisserie & Bar at Westin Bayshore, which offers a weekend brunch buffet.

Brunch Buffet at H2 Rotisserie & Bar

I was invited to sample H2’s brunch buffet and wow, it was a big spread. It certainly has the typical brunch items such as eggs, pancakes, waffles, bacon and sausages. But what caught my eyes were the following:

Rotisserie chicken carving station – H2 prides itself for its rotisserie chicken so I wasn’t surprised to see it at brunch. Walk up to the chef on duty and they will get you a slice (or two) of white and/or dark meat.

Dim sum/congee station – it serves up har gow (shrimp dumplings), siu mai (pork dumplings), BBQ pork buns, and sticky rice. Oh you can also build your own congee bowl, but it’s located in a different section of the buffet line.

Made to order french toast station – they literally soaked the bread in the yummy custard, heat up the pan with some butter, and made me my French toast right in front of me.

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Saffron Indian Cuisine

Posted in All You Can Eat, Bread, Burnaby, Dinner, Indian, Joyce, Meat, Restaurants, tagged Burnaby, Butter Chicken, East Indian, Kingsway, lamb, papadum, Saag Gosht, Saffron Indian Cuisine on October 10, 2014| Leave a Comment »

Dinner with friends brought us to Saffron on Kingsway near Metrotown. Many years ago I ate there once; the fact that it’s still standing to this day must be a good sign.

Food

After we placed our order, we received some complimentary Papadum with a mint and lime sauce. It’s like the comp bread basket at a western restaurant, but chickpea-based crackers. They were crispy, not salty, and the dipping sauce had prominent minty flavours and some acidity from the lime juice. That whetted our appetite.

Because it was a Saturday, dinner buffet was not an option. A la carte style only. Remembering how much I liked the Lamb Saagwala at Palki, I ordered a Saag Gosht with Lamb and see how it fairs out. It wasn’t as creamy as Palki but it seemed to have richer flavours from the mix of spices. The meat was tender, not gamey though, and some even had a bit of fatty parts so it was even more enjoyable. The meat pieces could be bigger.

According to the menu, each entree comes with basmati rice, but you could actually substitute it with naan bread. (more…)

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Christmas Brunch at Dockside Restaurant

Posted in All You Can Eat, Baked Goods, Bistro, Brunch, Chocolate, Dessert, Great Views, Joyce, Restaurants, Seafood, Special Occasion, Vancouver, West Coast, tagged Buffet Brunch, chocolate fountain, Christmas, Christmas brunch, Dockside Restaurant, Granville Island, Granville Island Hotel, Prime rib, Smoked Salmon, Squid on December 30, 2013| 1 Comment »

It has become a family tradition to go out for a Christmas Day buffet brunch every year. We want to try different restaurants so for the past few years we have visited EBO, Herons and Mosaic. This year, we chose Dockside Restaurant at the Granville Island Hotel; its long menu caught our attention.

Food

Overall food quality was great and there was plenty to choose from. Here is a laundry list of menu items:

Prawns, Wild Snow Crab Claws & Cold Water Shrimp, Albacore Tuna Tataki with Daikon and Ponzu, House Cured Sockeye Gravlax, Poached Oceanwise Steelhead, House Beet Pickled Herring, Spicy Avocado Crab Devilled Eggs, Smoked Kippers, Cedar Jellied Indian Candy, Smoked Trout

This was probably my favourite station. I really enjoyed the house cured salmon, tuna tataki, prawns, and snow crab claws. Even though they were chilled and marinated, they weren’t over-dressed to compensate for the what-could-be loss of flavours during the chilling process.

Local and International Cheese Display with House Compotes and Berries, Local and International Charcuterie with House Pickles and Mustards, Crostini, Lavache, Cracker Bread, Rainforest Crisps

Grilled Mediterranean Platter, Dockside Caesar Salad, Arugula & Grilled Pear Salad, Cobb Square Salad, Chili Malay Noodle Salad, Red Rice Quinoa & Ginger Salad

Smoked Bacon & Canadian Bacon, Chicken Apple Sausage & Bangers, Roasted Turkey Breast & Leg with Herbed Pan Gravy, Slow Roasted Prime Rib, Brown Sugar Sea Salt Crusted Double Smoked Ham, BBQ Pork & BBQ Duck

The prime rib roast was excellent! (more…)

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Sunday Brunch at the Gillnetter Pub: A Short Take

Posted in All You Can Eat, Breakfast, Brunch, Meat, Mr., Neighbourhood Gem, Port Coquitlam, Pub, Restaurants, tagged Buffet, Buffet Brunch, Eggs Benedict, Gillnetter Pub, Omelette, pastries, Potatoes on March 25, 2013| Leave a Comment »

I’ve never been a big eater in the morning, but I love breakfast foods. Because of that, brunch became a big thing for me.

Did you know, the Gillnetter Pub in Port Coquitlam offers a brunch buffet on Sundays for $12.95? Yes that’s right, all-you-can-eat breakfast.

Hot Spread

As with all buffets, there are hits and misses in the spread. Let’s start with the good stuff. They know their meats and potatoes. I don’t know how much of it is made in house, and how much of it is sourced out, but they all did a great job of bringing out my inner caveman. The sausages were moist and flavourful, and the bacon was cooked to an even crisp. They had several types of potatoes: country style hash browns, tater-tots, and these amazing little fried potato patties that I couldn’t stop eating.

Full Plate 1

One thing I really wished they had was eggs in forms other than scrambled; even hard/soft boiled would be nice. (more…)

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Christmas Buffet Brunch – Mosaic Bar & Grille

Posted in All You Can Eat, Brunch, Joyce, Special Occasion, Vancouver, tagged Buffet, Christmas brunch, Hyatt Regency Vancouver, Mosaic Bar & Grille on December 31, 2009| 3 Comments »

Earlier this year I went to Mosaic Bar & Grille at Hyatt Regency Vancouver for Dine Out Vancouver and was pretty happy with the quality of food. Therefore it reappeared on my list when I was deciding on a restaurant for this year’s Christmas brunch. In fact, I had made a reservation last Christmas for its buffet brunch but ended up backing out at the last minute because of the snow storm. Given the circumstances, I gave it another shot and took my parents there this Christmas.

Food

Compared to other hotel restaurants that were priced in the $50-$80 range, I thought $49.50 per person at the Mosaic was a decent deal for a holiday buffet brunch. It had a wide variety of selection, including turkey, prime rib roast, made to order omelets, fresh waffles, brioche sandwich, chilled seafood bar, smoked salmon platter, salad bar, chocolate fountain and creme caramel. Coffee, tea and juice was also all-you-can-drink. Turkey was juicy, waffles were fluffy, made-to-order omelets were fresh and tasty, and desserts were just to die for – there were way too many options for me and my little stomach!

Service

I was impressed by how quickly they refilled the platters. A couple chefs were constantly in and out with trays and sometimes even carts of food items. Our server, Ali, was attentive and very observant to what his customers were doing. He would come over to refill the drinks and clear the plates soon after he spotted an empty glass or plate. He even initiated to take a group photo for us before we asked him about it.

In addition, they strategically staggered the seating time so guests would arrive every 30 minutes and there was never a huge crowd of people entering the restaurant at the same time. With the quick refill of food, I think the restaurant handled this holiday service very well.

Final Thoughts

Despite the huge disappointment last year, I’m just glad that we returned to Mosaic for this year’s Christmas brunch. The speedy service and delicious food made it a memorable experience for the holiday season and one that I would use to recommend others to visit the restaurant in the future.

Mosaic Bar & Grille
655 Burrard Street, Vancouver
604-683-1235