I can’t forget the fabulous conversation between the 11 of us, but I’ll get to that in a bit. At the far end of the salad table were all sorts of cheeses and other delicacies. Quail, figs, brie, fruit, pork terrine with pears, piel del toso and escabeche (whatever those last two are), the list goes on nearly forever. It was difficult to look at these options and not question how tall I could stack my plate before I am considered too bourgeois to eat there. It only felt a little bit like they were looking at us and judging in their quiet way.

I followed the path of the salad table towards the dining area, so the omelette station and meat train were next. The omelette station was skillfully manned by two chefs, one prepping the ingredients (shrimp, salmon, ham and peppers) and the other swiftly cooking. In a flash I had a light, fluffy omelette which was a delight to eat. The next stop was the roast beast, or ‘Uruguay Flank Steak’ as it was listed. Pink and tasty. The bread table lay in wait next. The display reminded me of an exploded cornucopia of starch. Plentiful loaves of bread and gargantuan amounts of pastries almost distracted me from the meats. ’Tis folly to fill up with bread at a buffet, but I couldn’t resist a croissant.

The dessert table was the final explosively impressive setup of the meal, two trips later. I don’t even know if I can use such a limiting word like ’meal’ to describe this entire experience. It’s more of a ‘gorging’.

So, to top off our gorge we explored the depths of the magnificent chocolate fountain and all the tasty dishes surrounding it. Chocolate balls, tarts, brownies, fudges, custards, truffles, chocolate bark; still all are eclipsed by the fountain. Various fruits were available for skewering and fountaining, but one brave breakfaster decidedly dipped a rogue waffle. Imagination is the key to eating in a buffet. 

Unlimited freshly squeezed orange juice and coffee made our bellies swish. The service was prompt, efficient and accommodating. Though I made a reservation for eight people, they were able to squeeze in the three latecomers no problem.

Best quotes from the morning:

“Your plate is like Noah’s ark. Bacon, salmon, sausage, ham, duck, beef, goat cheese…”

“Wanna pecan butter tart me?”

“I may be at the Fort Garry but I’m still me – I’m going to eat my bacon with my fingers.”

And finally, what could potentially be our motto:

“The Breakfast Connoisseurs – Are you tasty?”

It’s almost moot to discuss the quality of food. Everything was absolutely incredible and well worth the price. It may not be something one (okay, me) can afford to do more than once a year, but it’s truly an unforgettable experience. We were all ready to set up camp and wait until we felt like going back for more, lunchtime was coming.

The Fort Garry Sunday Brunch (9 stars)

                                                   November 2008

     Hi, bookstore owner Kelly Hughes here.  My wife Candace turned [insert age here] last week, and she was happy to remind me of the year that I bought her a candle for her birthday. In an attempt to save my reputation from (long) past stains, I took her to The Fort Garry for Sunday brunch.

     Now The Fort Garry brunch is not cheap. It's $40 each. If you think that hearing about overpriced bacon in a recession is in poor taste, then I suggest you move on to one of the Internet's many other free activities. If you have the stamina, read on.

     The Fort Garry was built by the Grand Trunk Pacific Railway in 1912, and is truly one of the grand old hotels in Canada. (Candace and I sat in the Palm Room, with a view of the terrific rotunda ceiling.) The hotel was restored to its former glory twenty years ago by local entrepreneurs (and slight wingnuts - they still don't accept Interac - how 1988) Richard Bel and Ida Albo. Bringing brekky back was one of their crowning achievements with the property. (Since Bel and Albo both came from the restaurant industry, it comes as no surprise that this is where they went with this. They used to own Prairie Oyster at The Forks.)

     Every Sunday, The Fort Garry is transformed into a very tastefully-appointed breakfast factory. The hotel lobby is filled with food and the side rooms are crammed with diners. (The maître d' confided to me that they had served 500 people by 1pm that day.) Ancient jazzmen play from the mezzanine, while overwhelmed patrons try to decide what to eat first. Omelettes, eggs benny (with real, made-from-scratch Hollandaise), salmon, bacon (they have their own smoke room downstairs), waffles, salads, cod, chicken, ham, and baked goods, all vie for one's attention.

     If you're not full after this (unlikely), there are more desserts than a person would really think necessary. Meringue sticks, tarts, truffles, cakes, dainties and pastries are all made by the hotel's three full-time pastry chefs. Fruit is also there, ready and waiting to be dipped in chocolate, although unfortunately the chocolate fountain has been replaced by a chafer full of the stuff (which makes one think somebody really abused their fountain privileges).

     If you're going to pig out somewhere and want to avoid another bout of ptomaine poisoning from Foody Goody, The Fort Garry is not to be missed. The atmosphere is so great. It really is a throwback to historic Winnipeg (and not in a bad way like Rae and Jerry's).

(Kelly Hughes owns Aqua Books and EAT! bistro at 274 Garry Street. A version of this review appeared in This Week at Aqua Books,

which is only available in your email inbox. You can sign up at aquabooks.ca.)

January 13 2008

The Fort Garry Hotel Brunch

222 Broadway

Breakfast Buffet - $44.71 after tax & gratuity.

This is almost too big to write about. The grandiose display of this opulent breakfast is simply shocking, and I’m not even describing the price when I say that.

(I used up my quota of using the word ‘resplendent’ in the Velvet Glove review, so I will try to use other adjectives: succulent,  overwhelming - and my favourite - tragically delicious. Yes, ‘tragically delicious’ is a phrase and not an adjective, but the food is too good for me to care.)

For example: A resplendent jazz trio gave way to a solo pianist in the south end of the hall. He delighted us by playing pieces from The Music Man and The Phantom of the Opera. 

Immediately there was a problem with the huge buffet: where to start. Across from the front desk in the main hall (relentlessly torturing the people working, no doubt) was the gigantic main course table. About a dozen covered serving platters concealed the savory big’uns like the braised duck, thinly cut potatoes with peppers, eggs benedicts, herb-stuffed sausages and bacons (heh). There’s simply too much excellent food to remember, let alone handle in less than seven trips. 

     Adjacent to the main table was the salad bar. Certainly no lame cafeteria-style, sneeze-guarded, iceberg-lettuced salad bar; this was top notch. The big bowls featured eight exotic salads and three leafy-themed ones, the ingredients of which I had trouble processing as being considered salad-like and thus forget. Possibly I should have paid more attention to them for the sake of review, but the whole experience was like a dream… when I wasn’t eating I was wandering around with my head in the clouds, totally overwhelmed with resplendent glory (damn, I did it again!).

What can we say about the Fort Garry brunch that hasn’t been said already? This is the Breakfast Connoisseurs second stab at this splendiferous and excessive tribute to consumption, and it was still as good as their legend.

It’s fancy as a gilded truffle, and expansive as a mumu in the summer. Instead of describing the resplendence again, I’ll list some of the most notable dishes.

Cheese & Fruit table – artichoke hearts, olives, figs, dates. Cheeses – Derby Sage, Black Truffle, Applewood (my favourite) and Horseradish Cheddar. Wild boar or duck terrine (w/apricots in the middle).

Salads & Seafood table – shrimp in an large bowl made of ice, thick-cut slabs of salmon with an interesting fruit sculpture on top. Broccoli bacon salad, potato salad & a few others. Champagne vinigrette, poppyseed dressing.

Hot dishes – Dijon herb-crusted salmon w/artichoke aioli, orange roughy w/citrus roasted tomato sauce, Brussels sprouts & carrots, red pepper roasted chicken, eggs Benedict (w/real hollandaise), shredded potatoes with red peppers, and buckets of excellent sausages and bacon.

Breads – too many to count! Buns, croissants, sun dried tomato and cheese bread (my favourite). French toast and waffles with warmed real maple syrup and real whipped cream.

The daring chocolate covered bacon

January 3 2010

The Fort Garry Hotel

222 Broadway

Sundays   9am - 1pm

Sunday Brunch - $51.10 including tax and gratuity

Omelette station – options of crab, shrimp, ham, tomato, red pepper, green onion, cheddar cheese. It took no less than three people to prepare each omelette, done to perfection. They grill the veggies/meats first, start the eggs on the side, add the fixins after, and the cheese last before giving it a perfect flip.

Desserts – holy fronk, there were so many that were so good. In particular, we all loved the Crème Brûlée (even if it wasn’t crispy due to the time spent waiting to be eaten on the buffet table). Check out our photos for a preview of the other miscellaneous parfaits, cakes and squares.

The chocolate fountain is an old stand-by, and was flowing freely. Check out the pictures of the controversial chocolate-covered bacon!!! While it’s not an endorsed part of the Fort Garry brunch, one of our breakfasters was creative (and daring) enough to put the two together. The result? Mouthgasm.

Something new this time around was the marble slab ice cream station. They put the ice cream on the marble slab and then mix in whatever ingredients you want. I got white chocolate chips, Skor bar chunks and M&Ms with chocolate AND butterscotch syrup on top (which the server insisted on giving, really).

The coffee was good and strong - both it and the orange juice flowed free as the Red River in March. I guess the OJ pulp could be the chunks of ice in this metaphor. Their only hot sauce was Tobasco, but really, nothing needed the extra flavouring.

So, you know the buffet is good. In fact, it’s great. It always makes me think of the old Rocket Robin hood cartoon with Friar Tuck taking single bites of things and then tossing them over his shoulder. Wear stretchy pants and settle in for the gorge.

Home made marshmallow!

Creme Brulee and rum balls.

Fresh fresh orange juice.

The omelette corner with Chantal Guénette

Fort Garry: Ham & cheese omelette

Bouquet: Choose your own omelette station; they whipped it up right in front of you. One chef warmed up my ham while another started cooking my eggs. Last time I was here they were in a rush for some reason and they didn’t fully cook my eggs. Today they did it right.

Boeuf: They threw in the cheese at the very last possible second so it wasn’t completely melted. They took it off the heat to put the cheese in, folded it in half, and put it on my plate immediately after. They also didn’t have mushrooms as an ingredient. Odd…

The edible chocolate covered bacon