Horizon's

For me personally, I put more emphasis on food quality over things like service, ambiance and location.  After all, the whole point of eating out is well, eating the food.  Yes, the other aforementioned criteria can enhance the experience, but if the food is not acceptable, then it is akin to paying for a movie that sucks.  No matter how nice the theatre, the seats, the company, the popcorn or location, one would come away disappointed.  So that brings me to Horizon's on Burnaby Mountain.  I haven't been to the place in ages for that very reason.  The reliance on their awesome location (and subsequent view) may have affected the effort put into their menu.  We recently visited them for brunch to see if anything has changed and/or improved.

Other than the repairs that were made due to a fire years ago, the place looked pretty much the same with stellar views of Downtown Vancouver, the North Shore and Metrotown.  They also still sported their popular made-to-order Omelette Bar with an array of ingredients supplemented by baked goods and fruit.  Although we shouldn't expect a French-style omelette, I feel that they overdo the eggs where the whole thing becomes more like a frittata.  If you do not mind that, then for $20.00, it is a good value as you can have as many omelettes as you wish.  My son had his favourite with the Eggs Benedict featuring the classic combo of Canadian back bacon, English muffin and Hollandaise.  As much as the egg was perfectly runny, the English muffin was hard as a rock.  We couldn't even cut through it!  How do you mess that up???

For myself, I had something more typical with the Flat Iron Steak with eggs.  This was probably the best dish of the meal where the steak was prepared medium-rare as requested.  It was fairly tender with a decent char on the outside.  The chimmichuri on top was rather weak-tasting though.  Both eggs were poached perfectly being runny with fully cooked whites.  I enjoyed the tangy and light Hollandaise atop the not-overly-wilted spinach.  I wasn't a huge fan of the hashbrowns as they were too squishy and greasy while being not crispy enough.  My daughter went for the Maple Miso Salmon which tasted great.  The marinade created a sweet and caramelized aroma that was accented nicely by the rich umaminess of the miso and sweetness of the maple syrup.  However the fish itself was woefully overdone being hard and dry.

Although the Seafood Crepes were promoted as the best dish by our server, it ultimately fell flat.  Thick, dense and rubbery, the crepes shouldn't have even been called crepes.  Not appealing at all and absolutely terrible.  Inside, the seafood was hit and miss with the fish overdone and lifeless.  On the other hand, the shrimp and scallops were okay.  The buerre blanc was a total letdown as it was water and completely flavourless.  It needed some acidity and salt.  Viv went for the most interesting dish in the Huevos Estofados consisting of tomato, chilies, pepper, onions, corn, cheddar, cilantro, eggs, chorizo, cream and crispy tortilla strips.  This was a nice combination of sweet, spicy and smoky savoury.  This along with my steak were the 2 best dishes of our brunch.  It is really too bad since their location is stellar.  The food just doesn't do it justice.

The Good:
- Awesome view
- Attentive service

The Bad:
- Food is not up to par