Somehow, we had never made it to Sunday Brunch at The Westin before this past weekend. How is that possible? I have no idea. I am, generally, a creature of habit and have had many brunches of late at Hot Tin Roof, 2 Cents, Azur and Blackfin. But we needed to try something new (and I was sick of seeing other people’s Facebook photos and never experiencing it for myself), so, off we went.
There were six of us, including a couple of local friends and a couple of friends visiting from Hollywood. When we were
first seated, it took our server quite a while to come back with the requested mimosas and waters, and I was not sure how that would play out over the course of the meal. Turns out, our glasses were never more than half empty, so it worked out just fine. It also made it impossible to know just how much we were drinking.
The entire brunch is a buffet. One humongous room full of food, with everything from breakfast to lunch and a whole slew of desserts. On our first pass, one of our friends came back with a plate full of food and dessert. Dessert first was a bold move.
The array of food is something like this: A table full of Caprese salad, Cesar salad, smoked fish, sushi rolls and spring rolls; the next table had gravlax (very, very good), hot smoked salmon, breads, chilled seafood, and some hot food like fried green tomatoes, grouper, white cheddar waffles topped with shredded beef (also amazing), and other things I am clearly
forgetting; then there was a carving station with roast beef (awesome) and hoisin glazed pork ribs, as well as an omelet station; the back of the room had real breakfast-y foods with bacon and sausage, eggs Benedict, potato cakes (delish), and French toast; finally, the last table had a slew of desserts including créme bruleé, chocolate and white chocolate puddings, bowl after bowl of fresh fruit, and I am sure a few others I am forgetting. Overall, the assortment is tremendous and the quality is very good.
The six of us enjoyed just about everything we were eating, over the course of several hours,
we were continually plied with mimosas, and had a great time overall. Would I go back? Absolutely. I tend to like the intimacy of Hot Tin Roof a bit more, as well as the fact that it is not a buffet (so I never have to get up – whatever, I am lazy, I admit it.) But The Westin is a great choice for brunch, and at $44/person, including never ending mimosas, it is priced right. I am already looking forward to a return visit.
