The Victor (Mother's Day Brunch)

Normally, we don't celebrate Mother's Day on the actual day.  Being practical people that we are, we tend to avoid the crowds and the inflated prices that are generally found at restaurants.  Hence, we do it the day before or maybe even the week afterwards.  However, there are perks to do it on the actual day.  One of which is the elaborate brunches available at many of the hotel restaurants in town.  This year, we did do a proper Mother's Day at The Victor located in the Parq Hotel.  I've been to the Sunday Disco Brunch here before and it was great.  So we knew what to expect this time around.

To facilitate the Sunday brunch buffet, they have to spread out the food into different sections.  The main part of the spread is near the sushi bar, with the bar itself being the main focal point.  The "lineup" starts with some smaller items and Salads.  I didn't include the romaine and mesclun greens but they served as the base for the rest of the items and the salad dressings.  One item of note was the devilled eggs, they were really salty.

 

Once past the salads and little bites, we moved onto the Sushi Rolls as well as some Poké.  In general, the rolls were pretty typical, yet did feature some chewy sushi rice and fresh ingredients.  I thought the poke was quite good with large chunks of either salmon or ahi tuna mixed with their respective sauces.  I wished there was some rice to go with it.

 

Onto the showstopper section, we found a selection of Oysters on the half shell, Cocktail Prawns and split Snow Crab Legs.  Even though I would've preferred king crab, that would've put the cost up by a lot.  With that being said, the snow crab legs were pretty large and meaty.  Not bad.  Oysters were shucked well and they weren't too big, hence they went down easy.

 

Over at the Carvery, we found BBQ pork which was decent and BBQ Salmon, which was a bit over and dry.  The Ham was great being baked until super tender and buttery.  As much as it wasn't really a carvery item, the Shakshuka was tasty with silky eggs in a earthy, tangy and slightly spicy tomato sauce.  Right beside it, the Prime Rib Roast was tender, juicy and mostly medium-rare.

 

Adjacent to the Carvery was a selection of Breakfast Items that featured sausages, bacon, smashed potatoes and scrambled eggs.  As you can see, the eggs were completely runny and not cooked to oblivion.  Hence, they were silky and soft.  The bacon was lean and crispy while the sausages were meaty and well-seared.  Potatoes were crispy with a soft interior while tossed with peppers and onions.  Although I didn't have one, you could get a custom omelette as well.

 

Over at the bar, we found a Dessert Spread with different cakes, cupcakes and cookies.  I particularly enjoyed the carrot cake as it was moist, nutty and sweet.  Back across the sushi bar, we found a Power Bowl station with the usual ingredients as well as a bunch of fruit such as orange slices, green & red grapes, strawberries, pineapple and watermelon. 

 

Finally, one cannot leave any buffet brunch at The Victor without hitting up their famous Candy Bar.  Now the picture you see above is from their Disco Brunch because the one at the Mother's Day Brunch was super busy and some items were getting empty (although they were constantly refilling).  So this is a much better picture.  Overall, the brunch was quite good with quality items that were generally well-prepared.  Sure, it is pricey, but you must take into account the service, Downtown location, quality and selection of food as well as the beautiful dining space.

The Good:

- Generally solid eats

- Nice dining space

- Excellent service

The Bad:

- Since they have to makeshift their buffet stations, sometimes there is a bottleneck at the start of the lineup

- Dessert selection is fine, but could be more refined

H2 Rotisserie & Bar Mother's Day Brunch (Westin Bayshore)

As much as we believe that all "special days" are overly hyped and commercialized, there are some reasons for giving into "spending the money".  Yes, I'm talking about Valentine's Day, Mother's Day and Father's Day.  Honestly, do we really need to pick out one specific day to love somebody?  So we ignore them all of the other days???  With that being said, I realize that Valentine's Day could be merely an excuse to take someone out for a date and/or it is fun to join in on all the fun.  The same could be said about Mother's Day since many places make it into an event and honestly, moms do deserve to be spoiled...  So with that in mind, we booked H2 Rostisserie & Bar for their Mother's Day Brunch.

Whenever we hit any buffet, we head straight for the Seafood (because it was ingrained into us as kids that it was worth the most...).  I did what I was programmed to do and helped myself to Snow Crab (which turned to King Crab later on into the service for some reason), Shrimp, Clams and Mussels.  This was a good start as the clams and mussels were prepared properly being buttery and not overdone.  Exhibiting a fresh snap, the shrimp were also on point.  Although a bit salty, the snow crab was fluffy and also cooked just right.  Next, I moved onto some hot items including the Rack of Lamb and their signature Rotisserie Chicken.  I found the lamb to be perfectly medium-rare (closer to rare), tender and moist.  It was nicely seasoned with rosemary, but the dollop of mint jelly was good too as it was not too minty.  The chicken was flavourful exhibiting rich roasted caramelization.  I found the meat (drumstick) to be moist while the skin to be beautifully rendered.  Benedicts were also good with runny poached eggs and a silky Hollandaise.  However, the Halibut was a miss as it was rock hard and not seasoned enough.

My last savoury plate (due to the modest selection) consisted of Ha Gau, Siu Mai, BBQ Pork Bun, Charcuterie, Sushi and Baby Scallops.  Now if you are wondering why my one ha gau looked all sad and deformed, it is because that was the only one left.  There was a whole large steamer to begin with, but they were packed-in so tight, they all stuck together.  This was not replenished for the time we were there.  The sushi was pretty limited and it was the typical Sunday brunch variety (average).  Much like the ha gau, the charcuterie was not replenished fast enough, so I was stuck with salami only.  As you can see, this was the "meh" part of the meal.  However, the Made-to-Order Crepes were outstanding.  Light and fluffy while decently thin, these were buttery and delicious.  There was fresh whipped cream, chocolate and berries available as toppings.

Other than the rotisserie and seafood, the highlight had to be the Dessert spread.  It featured a chocolate fountain with fruit, various candies, petit fours and really good Macarons.  Texturally, they were almost perfect with a crispy shell giving way to a soft chewy centre.  They were very generous as little bags were available where we could take some candy or even a Macaron or two to go.  The pricing for Mother's Day brunch at H2 Rotisserie & Bar was $70.00 per adult and $25.00 per child.  For those who are in the know, this pricing was actually one of the least expensive for Downtown hotel restaurants (especially for the kids).  Once we took a look at the spread, it was also obvious why it was less than, say, Notch8 at the Hotel Vancouver.  So if you aren't too picky about the selection of food, then H2 has some hightlights such as their chicken, crepes and desserts.  However, if you were looking for a more elaborate spread at a higher price point, I would go with Notch8.

The Good:
- One of the lowest-priced special brunches in Downtown Vancouver
- Inviting dining space near the water
- Great service

The Bad:
- Selection was small
- Some items were not replenished fast enough

Mother's Day Brunch @ Notch8 (Fairmont Hotel Vancouver)

Normally, we try to avoid the crowds and the accompanying high prices of Mother's Day by either celebrating it a week earlier or later.  However, my mom wanted it to be right on the actual day this year and to top it off, at probably one of the most decadent spots in town - The Hotel Vancouver.  Gone are the days when it was held at Griffin's.  These days, their special occasion brunches are at Notch8 which took over the space once occupied by 900 West.  Decorated in classy dark colours with soothing lighting, there is more of an upscale look and atmosphere.

We made an early reservation for the sold-out seatings to find a beautiful Seafood spread that took up the entire bar area and the adjacent space. There was a selection of shrimp, dungeness crab legs, smoked salmon, lox, smoked tuna and salmon candy.  Everything was on point with fluffy crab, meaty shrimp and buttery salmon and tuna.  I really should've devoured plates of these, but there was other things to eat such as Salad.  Yes, I should've bypassed it completely, but the colours were so attractive!  My favourite was the ambrosia orchard salad with the crunch of root veggies and the sweetness of the citrus.  The grilled corn salad was also tasty with a smoky sweetness.

Onto the hot items, there was a Carving Station that featured the usual prime rib and baked ham, but there was also salmon wellington and seared duck breast.  Looking at the plate, it was rather obvious that the prime rib was fairly rare.  However, it was well-seasoned and super tender.  The duck breast was a little overdone, but was still moist and came with a tasty jus.  Same could be said about the wellington as the salmon was cooked all-the-way-through.  It was not dry though and the duxelles on top was Earthy and tasty.  The pastry on the outside was rather doughy as seen in the picture.  Although it appeared rather plain, the crab benedict featured a perfectly runny poached egg.  There was avocado on the side if one wanted any.

For some odd reason, I went back to the salads and had the grilled Caesar with bacon and parm. After that, I tried some of their Hot Dishes including lobster hash, chicken & apple sausage, bacon, truffled egg frittata, baked eggs with merguez sausage and sundried tomato, lemon butter veggies, cauliflower and broccoli gratin, tuna casserole and a sweet one in the chocolate hazelnut crepes.  I didn't actually dig into each offering as some were picked clean and others (like the egg dishes) didn't look all that appealing.  Surprisingly, my favourite was the tuna casserole featuring big tubes of pasta with plenty of moist tuna and cheese.  Adjacent to the seafood spread was various Cheeses and small selection of meats.

The real draw of the buffet brunch was the Dessert Room as it was nearly the size of the hot food section itself.  The 2 pictures doesn't nearly do it justice as that only represented 1/3rd of what was actually available.  In addition to a chocolate fountain with various fruits and marshmallows, there was macarons strewn all over the room.  We also found cake pops, tarts, cupcakes, scones, creme brulee, chocolate mousse, various cakes, meringues, cream puffs and fruit crumble.  Suffice to say, we didn't eat all of this, but things were actually quite good including the macarons.  Overall, the brunch was bordering on extravagant, yet should've been for the price tag of $75.00 each before tax and tip.  The highlights were definitely the seafood, carving station, dessert and even the salads.  However, the hot food was somewhat of a disappointment.

The Good:
- Nice dining space
- That dessert room
- On point service

The Bad:
- Hit and miss hot food
- Expensive