Windsor Arms Hotel (Sunday Brunch Buffet)
Windsor Arms Hotel is a 4-star luxurious boutique hotel on St. Thomas Street in the heart of the Yorkville neighborhood. The hotel is synonymous with afternoon tea, but did you know that they also offer a Sunday brunch buffet? Earlier
this past Thanksgiving weekend, I was invited to Windsor Arms to check
out their Sunday brunch buffet. I love brunch, so there was absolutely
no hesitation in accepting their warm invitation. The brunch is priced a
little high at $65 per person, but it does includes unlimited mimosas,
and an impressive gourmet selection of breakfast, and brunch favorites.
I'd say that it's worth the splurge, simply based on the quality of the selection available, and the
unlimited mimosas, and beverages (juices and caffeine).
Sunday brunch was held in the Courtyard Café; adjacent to the hotel lobby. The restaurant space of the Courtyard Café was elegantly designed with a high ceiling, bright space with natural sunlight, and filled with artworks that made the space very reminiscent of the late romantic era. I was quite impressed when I first walked into the spacious buffet area. Windsor Arms' Sunday brunch buffet features made to order omelets, and Eggs Benedict, fresh breakfast items, hand-carved meat station, assorted salads, baked goods, chilled and raw seafood, an exceptional selection of hot, and cold items, and an impressive spread of desserts including a chocolate fountain. Below are some of the standout features that's offered at Windsor Arms for their Sunday Brunch buffet.
Sunday brunch was held in the Courtyard Café; adjacent to the hotel lobby. The restaurant space of the Courtyard Café was elegantly designed with a high ceiling, bright space with natural sunlight, and filled with artworks that made the space very reminiscent of the late romantic era. I was quite impressed when I first walked into the spacious buffet area. Windsor Arms' Sunday brunch buffet features made to order omelets, and Eggs Benedict, fresh breakfast items, hand-carved meat station, assorted salads, baked goods, chilled and raw seafood, an exceptional selection of hot, and cold items, and an impressive spread of desserts including a chocolate fountain. Below are some of the standout features that's offered at Windsor Arms for their Sunday Brunch buffet.
Bread & Pastries: The bread and pastries table covers all bases in terms of carbs - offering various kinds of bread, scones, danishes, croissants, and pain au chocolate served alongside butter, and preserves. A great start to a Sunday brunch!
Salads/Cheese Platter/Cold Cuts: The variety of cheese was decent, but I did like their cold cuts platter. J also agreed, as he made himself a filling cold cut sandwich from the selection. My favorite item from this table was probably the quinoa salad - the hearty grain salad was light tasting.
Breakfast Essentials: The brunch spread includes popular hot breakfast items such as sausages, buttermilk pancakes, eggs, and crusted Challah French toast. I loved the crunchiness of the crusted French toast, and helped myself to two slices served with maple syrup.
Seafood: The Sunday brunch at Windsor Arms recently underwent a slight change, as they now offer a larger selection of seafood. The seafood selection now includes raw oysters, shrimp cocktail, cooked mussels, smoked salmon, ceviches, and Alaskan crab legs. I was impressed with the variety, and enjoyed quite a few oysters, and mussels myself. The raw oysters were properly shucked, and tasted great with the customary condiments. I would have preferred if the oysters were traditionally served on ice, so that they're constantly kept cool instead of adhering to room temperature. However, I do believe that the staff does constantly rotates new ones out. Unfortunately, our brunch was a little on the late side, and they ran out of Alaskan crab legs by 1 pm, so I didn't get to try it. This station was probably one of my favorites after the dessert table.
Meat Carving Station: For those wanting meat, they also had a meat carving station with roast beef, and roast lamb as the main staples. However, since it was the Thanksgiving long weekend, turkey was one of the options at the carving station. I enjoyed both options, as the roast beef was tender, while the turkey was moist, and flavorful.
Hot Entrees: There was a good selection of hot entrees from braised short ribs, potato croquet, halibut, ravioli, and butter chicken with white rice. My favorite out of the bunch was the braised short ribs as it was tender, and had a nice melt-in-your-mouth texture.
Made To Order: The pancakes may not have been made fresh to order, but thankfully their omelets, and Eggs Benedict were. The Windsor Arms offers three classic benny options; classic Benedict (peameal bacon), FlorentineBenjamin Eggs Benedict with its perfectly poached egg, smoked salmon, and rich hollandaise sauce. The next dish brought out to us from the kitchen was the lobster baked potato. It was an ingenious way to incorporate lobster to make it a brunch item. The cheesy whipped potatoes weren't as heavy as it looked, and the lobster was baked perfectly to my liking.
Meat Carving Station: For those wanting meat, they also had a meat carving station with roast beef, and roast lamb as the main staples. However, since it was the Thanksgiving long weekend, turkey was one of the options at the carving station. I enjoyed both options, as the roast beef was tender, while the turkey was moist, and flavorful.
Hot Entrees: There was a good selection of hot entrees from braised short ribs, potato croquet, halibut, ravioli, and butter chicken with white rice. My favorite out of the bunch was the braised short ribs as it was tender, and had a nice melt-in-your-mouth texture.
Made To Order: The pancakes may not have been made fresh to order, but thankfully their omelets, and Eggs Benedict were. The Windsor Arms offers three classic benny options; classic Benedict (peameal bacon), FlorentineBenjamin Eggs Benedict with its perfectly poached egg, smoked salmon, and rich hollandaise sauce. The next dish brought out to us from the kitchen was the lobster baked potato. It was an ingenious way to incorporate lobster to make it a brunch item. The cheesy whipped potatoes weren't as heavy as it looked, and the lobster was baked perfectly to my liking.
Dessert Table: Towards the end of the brunch, I was very full from all of the food. However, I couldn't help, but stopped to gaze at the dessert table set in the middle of the buffet stations. They had a wonderful selection of desserts such as pudding, cakes, fresh sliced fruits, cupcakes, crème brûlée, and cheesecakes.
My Plates of Food:
Buffets often value quantity over quality, but the brunch at Windsor Arms was more of the latter. The quality of the food was definitely
there, and so was the service. In regard to the service, It was pretty much spot on. We got our drinks
refilled in a timely manner, and our plates were efficiently cleared
off our table. As I mentioned earlier, the price may be steep for regular weekly brunch visits, but it's definitely worth the splurge due to its central location in Yorkville, delicious Eggs Benedict, the selection of hot foods, and fresh seafood, carving station, dessert table, and unlimited mimosas. All of the aforementioned make the brunch at Windsor Arms a worthwhile visit. Brunch is offered every Sunday morning from 11 am with the last seating at 1:30 pm in the Courtyard Café.
Social Media
Facebook: http://facebook.com/windsorarms
Instagram: http://instagram.com/windsorarms
Twitter: http://twitter.com/windsorarms
Website: http://www.windsorarmshotel.com/dining/courtyardcafe/
Twitter: http://twitter.com/windsorarms
Website: http://www.windsorarmshotel.com/dining/courtyardcafe/
Disclaimer: The food provided in this post was
complimentary. However, all of the opinions expressed in this review are
of my own.
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