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| - My family and I booked a Sunday brunch after Christmas at the King Edward Hotel and it was definitely a family focused event. The main ball room was about 75% filled and it ran the entire spectrum in terms of family age groups. You had young toddlers all the way up to elder family members as patrons and the food selection was approachable for everyone.
There was a charcuterie station, cold and smoked seafood station, cheese and cracker, roasted vegetable table, fresh salad station, meze table, viennosorie table, hot breakfast area, hot lunch table ( 3 carving stations, 2 proteins, 1 vegetable pasta, and several hot vegetable sides), fresh fruit, smoothie, and juice table, and lastly... the desserts! So overall, food was plentiful, interesting without being too obscure for a young palette, fresh (I commend the kitchen staff who were literally walking non stop replenishing all plates that were down to 30% filled with a freshly filled one), and well seasoned for a buffet.
The buffet was nicely spread out and the tables environment was spacious so we would not be bumping into our neighbours. The atmosphere was definitely festive with the many trees and large nut crackers decorating the entire 2 storied ballroom. Though the setting was formal, the service was relaxed and informal (perhaps a touch too formal from certain individuals). Most of the staff were smiling and pleasant and very quick to refill cups and glasses.
I found the viennoiserie surprisingly good. The croissant, danishes, and other pastries were buttery, crackly crispy exterior, with loads of lovely layers puffed inside. I would say that it's better than most bakeries I've been to in Toronto. They weren't the horrible pale palor but instead they were on the dark golden brown that exudes flavour.
The seafood consisted of decent smoked salmon, smoked trout, deshelled chilled shrimp (about 31-40 size), grilled calamari salad, South American influenced ceviche style scallops and shrimp salad, chilled poached salmon, and another smoked fish I cannot recall. Overall, it was solid but not awe inspiring. Everything was cooked and prepared well. I did like the scallops with the citrus and chimchurri like vinaigrette.
The breakfast area was definitely better than other places I've been to. Crispy waffles spiced with Christmas spices and orange with maple syrup. Cinnamon french toast with a lovely custard interior, eggs Benedict was good (eggs were cooked well... yolks were liquid gold to the nice hollandaise but the english muffin was a bit too moist/chewy), and the freshly made omelettes were cooked exactly to order and filled with tons of veggies and cheese.
The carving station was composed of a porchetta, roasted lamb, and a beef wellington. The beef wellington was pink throughout. My family liked the beef but not pastry.. perhaps it was held too long? The porchetta was well received by the table but I'm not sure how authentic it is. Lamb was lamb... it's a rare occasion when I truly think it shines. Here, it's ok.
The warm lunch items were surprisingly good. They had a roast salmon in a light herb cream sauce. The salmon was not dry and the sauce was bright instead of heavy. The chicken was roasted then combined with a South Asian style sauce (Thai influence). The chicken was moist and flavourful... the toddler ate a whole chicken leg and he can be picky. Considering how poor this section could be (and experienced at other buffets), this one was far better than I would have thought possible.
The desserts had some bright spots as it has a Christmas influence on some unique items. My favourite was a chestnut pavlova like morsel. I love chestnuts and it's rare to see it being used so I was quite happy to see large swirls of chestnut on top of a crispy meringue. Other items include a maple tart with raisin, a mincemeat tart with strusel, creme caramel, creme brulee, 3 normal cakes (chocolate truffle, red velvet, almond mocha) and 2 Christmas inspired cakes (yule log complete with meringue mushrooms, and a chocolate mousse one). They also had a fruit mousse ... passion fruit perhaps? Oh chocolate mousse, 2 types of Italian cookies, and I'm sure I'm missing another type of dessert but at this point, I was venturing into sugar overload.
Overall, I felt that it was a nice place to have a family affair in a great storied location with plentiful and fresh food. The prices was $53/adult, half price for children, and free for toddlers and younger. Comparing this to notes and pictures of Stock (which is the other brunch buffet in the same price range), I feel this is far more approachable and enjoyable for a family personally. Though, I did see many tables with late 20s just laug
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