So! I finally got to check one item off of my unending food destinations checklist: to try the new brunch at Roselys.
For those who don’t know, the storied Montreal Hotel Queen Elizabeth (or “Queen E” for those in the know) just got a pretty impressive vintage 60/70’s james bond/mad men overhaul by none other than famed agency Sid Lee (see: https://www.dezeen.com/2017/09/16/sid-lee-overhauls-iconic-montreal-hotel-the-fairmont-queen-elizabeth/ ).
Part of this overhaul came with the new bar Nacarat (I spoke about it here: Nacarat review ), a premium market (it looked great but there is something a bit excessive at the thought of buying your stuff at a 5 star hotel) and a restaurant) and a new restaurant: Roselys.
I wasn’t really interested by the regular menu but they also do Sunday brunch and I love brunch. Besides, what’s sleeker than brunch at Queen E?
First observation: you might want to reserve it advance. We almost didn’t get in and we were just 2. We arrived fairly early too. The place was packed.
The concept: High class breakfast buffet.
The cost: 46$.
Overall I liked it.
There was a seafood table (all you can eat oysters, a sushi chef, lobster, crab, tuna tataki, 5 types of raw salmon (smoked, gravlax, ect),), roast beef, duck, pulled pork, gnocchi, flammkuchen, gratin dauphinois, breads of all kinds (including Stollen!), breakfast sausages, great scrambled eggs, fine cheeses, crèpes to order (flambéed with cognac) , the dessert table was première moisson level dessert selection.
Everything was all you can eat, including bottomless coffee and orange juice.
I would come back with friends. I always have a small problem with buffets however: no matter how cheap or expensive it is, they always make money with me. I do not have a big enough appetite to warrant 46$’s worth of breakfast (nor do I eat enough Chinese to warrant 25$ worth of Chinese food for that matter).
For those who can enjoy it, however, it can be good deal (especially for seafood enthusiasts). Can I find better gnocchi at Impasto or Nora Gray? Of course!
But for a buffet this is really the best you can look for.
