Wildflower Grill’s menu impressive
When “brunch” and “hotel” are uttered in the same sentence, the word “buffet” isn’t usually far behind.
The Wildflower Grill is a merciful exception.
Wildflower’s mission is “new Canadian cuisine” — pan-Asian, yet French-inspired — and the menu did not disappoint. Foodie-friendly vocab and protein provenance are right there in a baker’s dozen of delectable-sounding mains.
I settled on eggs Benedict with cedar plank salmon and Bearnaise atop a vol-au-vent pastry, though other options included traditional bacon and hollandaise or Alberta sirloin and Spanish adovada. It came with a side of deliciously fresh fruit.
The pastry — literally “windblown” in French — was bliss, a croissant-esque apartment for poached egg, Bearnaise and cedar plank Coho. Richer and redder than its Atlantic cousins, the salmon was cooked firmer than my liking, yet not to the point of becoming fishy-tasting.
Chicken and waffles were the better choice, a delightful medley of sour, sweet and salty. The waffle was crisp but still doughy, the chicken intoxicated with ice wine vinaigrette. In concert with sherry maple syrup, everything harmonized beautifully.
Jamaican Blue Mountain coffee ($5) and loose leaf English Breakfast tea ($4) arrived in small French presses — a nice touch — but the cream had curdled, only to be replaced by more suspicious dairy. I drank my coffee black.
This may have been the finest food on the itinerary, but small misfires took away from the leisurely, indulgent joy of a great brunch.
Cups, spoons and plates were spotted and stained, the plating wasn’t nearly as imaginative as we expected. In hindsight, the menu seemed to be a little too precise for its own good: promised arugula and bacon were indecipherable in the waffles, which now came with an unannounced side of roasted apples. The eggs Benny came with a fingerling hashbrown bonus, not that we protested.
The service also felt a bit perfunctory. Our waiter was friendly, but couldn’t figure out where the coffee beans came from, other than Calgary. No mention was made, either, of other brunch offerings, desserts and other delectables. Without prompting, we got the bill. We didn’t put up a fight.
Small quibbles. But the kind that make a lazy Sunday meal feel like standing at a brunch buffet.