Gazette Restaurant, The Westin, Montreal

Setting

Gazette Entrance.

As a hotel restaurant, the entrance was located down at lobby level, set back slightly be a long coridor.

Tables.

It was fairly large and well lit, but the decor rather generic.  Tables of varying sizes were available, all with standard hard chairs.

Bar.

There is also a long bar, ideal for solo diners (or drinkers) in the evening.

Breakfast

The breakfast a la carte menu is quite extensive, however, I did not order from it.

Canadian Breakfast Table, $24.

I went for the "Canadian Breakfast Table", or, what I'd call ... "the buffet".

"A full selection of natural ingredients including breads and an assortment of Viennese pastries, smoked salmon, Quebec cheeses and cured cold cuts, fresh fruit, berries and low fat yogourts, cereal, oatmeal and a selection of hot meals including made to order omelets, fresh fruit juices, Starbucks® coffee and an assortment of Tazo® herbal teas"

It did indeed offer all of these things and I really enjoyed my meals.

Setting

Breakfast Buffet.

The breakfast buffet space was pleasant enough, plenty of open space, and not a cookie-cutter "butter" assembly line style.

Drinks

Drinks were available at the buffet, but are also available a la cart.

Fresh Juice.  $4.

The juice lineup was orange, grapefruit, apple, cranberry or pineapple for fruity option, or tomato or v8 for vegetable juices.  All available by the cup for $4

Smoothies.

In addition to the juices were smoothies, a choice of orange-banana or blueberry-pineapple-strawberry.  These also were offered a la carte, at a whopping $9 each (presumably larger portions!)

Regular Coffee. $4.75.

Coffee was Starbucks, regular or decaf, and needed to be ordered from the staff.  If not part of the buffet, a single cup of coffee was $4.75!  Clearly, if you were planning to get numerous drinks, the buffet was the way to go.

The coffee really wasn't very good. Starbucks brand, yes, but harsh and acidic.  The first day I thought it may have been old, but it was no better the next day.  I struggled to drink it, and required sweetener.

Interestingly, got a decaf to go both days, and it was far better.

Food

Food is mostly self-serve, so I was able to put together lovely sampler platters each day.  And yes, platters, the plates were quite large!

Breakfast, Round One, Day One.

The first day I went for a little of everything, sweet and savory, plus of course, all the baked goods.  I was blown away by numerous dishes, particularly the muffins.

Breakfast, Round One, Day Two.

The next day I had a slightly different first round, but still a bit of sweet and savory, and another omelet, as I really kinda liked this rolled, crepe-like, style. 

Breakfast, Round one, Day Three.

The third day was no different, and as you can see, every day featured the rolled omelets, not normally something I go for, but quite well done and unique here.

Cereal.

Cereal was all Kellogg's.

The boxed selection was Raisin Bran, Special K, Frosted Flakes, Fruit Loops, Corn Flakes and Rice Crispies.  There were two types of granola in twirl dispensers.

Ugh, the twirly dispensers for granola.  My least favorite things ever.  And these were no different.

I tried to get granola the first day, no luck.  I banged on it, tilted it, etc, no luck.

I tried to get granola the second day, same result.  I wonder if anyone noticed that they NEVER FILL IT because no one can get any??!!  I ended up taking the top off and scooping it out.  I didn't touch it in any way, and used a clean bowl as a scoop, but I'm sure I was breaking every rule.

And, not sure why.  It was just generic, stale (likely cuz it was there FOREVER cuz no one could get to it), Kellog's granola.

A basic bowl of cereal will set you back a whopping $10 a la carte, just the cereal with your choice of milk.  Oooph.

Yogurt.

I didn't try them, but there were individual low-fat yogurt, plain or flavoured, $4.00 if a la carte.

Whole Fruit.

Standard whole fruit offerings of apples, oranges, and bananas were available.

Cut Fruit & Berries.

I went for some of the berries instead.

The strawberries and blueberries were both fine, toppings to jazz up my french toast, but not particularly flavorful on their own.

Cured Cold Cuts.

The cold cuts platter basically always looked like this.  Not just what the offerings were, but how much  was there.  The pate always plentiful, proschuitto non-existant or a single piece left.  I think they took their time refilling the premium products ...

I tried the pate.  It was fine, good flavors, textures, all sorts of bits.

I also tried the proschuitto, which was fine, but not better than average.

Quebec cheeses / Smoked Salmon with capers, lemon, red onion, cottage cheese.

I tried all 3 cheeses.

The round edge one was extremely bland.  It tasted like ... the most generic cheese imaginable.  Not good.

The square shaped one was cheddar though, and it was quite good.  Nicely aged, sharp cheddar.

Last was a triple cream, ripe, but the rind didn't have much flavor, no nuttiness nor funk, and the cheese itself was a bit boring.

The smoked salmon was consistently good.  Oily in the right way, not fishy, nicely smoked.  Great drizzled with some lemon and paired with capers.

Toast, Bagels.

Basic bread and bagels for toasting were provided, along with butter and jam, and a conveyor style toaster.

Homemade Pastries: Day One.

Finally, the part of a buffet I can never resist, a favorite section of mine: the baked goods.

The first day, the top row contained only cinnamon rolls, the middle row had assorted muffins and chocolate croissants, and the third, butter croissants.   The next day, pecan braids were added to the top row, and the muffin varieties changed (the berry one now raspberry/blueberry, the carrot one topped with pumpkin seeds, and the bran no where to be seen).  My final morning cranberry custard twirls were introduced, and the muffins changed again (blueberry, raisin bran, banana).

The muffins were shockingly good.  The other pastries? Standard buffet meh.  But those muffins were excellent.

A pastry "basket", e.g. your choice of any three, is available a la carte for $10.

Day 1 Muffins: Strawberry/Blueberry, Bran, Carrot Walnut.

The first day, in "ZOMG, breakfast buffet" mode, I selected all 3 muffins.  Did I have a dining companion?  No.  Did I need 3 muffins, alongside my french toast, omelet, and sausage?  Absolutely not.  Did I expect to try them, nibble a bit, and feel bad discarding them, but, dislike them all?  Absolutely.  Did that happen?  Nope.

The muffins were good.  Clearly freshly baked from frozen at least.

The berry muffin was my favorite.  Crazy moist, loaded with not only blueberries, but also large juicy chunks of strawberry.  An extremely flavorful and satisfying muffin.

Next favorite?  The one I thought the muffin was a banana nut muffin, with a walnut chunk on top.  It wasn't banana, it was ... carrot!  Much, much better!  Another moist muffin, loaded with shredded carrot, nicely spiced, chunks of walnut on top for crunch.  Good moisture, good spicing, good texture ... check!  You easily could have added some mixed whipped cream and cream cheese and turned it into a cupcake.

Last was the bran muffin.  It was a fine bran muffin.  Denser, heartier, a nice healthy choice.  If I had not just devoured a giant plate of food, and 2 other muffins, I would certainly love it, particularly with a little of the jam and butter.

All were good, all worth getting again.  I immediately knew I had to get the croissants and other pastries the next day!

Day Two Muffins: Raspberry Blueberry, Carrot Pumpkin Seed.

The next day, I very gleefully snatched up one of each muffin.  Maybe it is good there were only two kinds this time.  They both were different from the previous day, slight tweaks on the berry and carrot offerings.

The berry one this time was raspberry and blueberry, and again was excellent.  Really moist, loaded with juicy fruit, quite flavorful.  A sweet muffin though, almost boring on a pound cake style.  Which ... is probably why I liked it?  I probably preferred the strawberry, but only because I like strawberries more than raspberries, and the bigger chunks of fruit provided even more pockets of sweet fruit.

The carrot one this time was topped with pumpkin seeds, which was a bit odd.  I again looked at it and thought that it might be banana or morning glory or something, but, it was the same excellent carrot base, moist, spiced, quite good carrot cake, just, with pumpkin seeds on top for some crunch.  I preferred the walnuts as they were a better match for carrot cake, but the pumpkin seeds were fine.  And this time ... I did whip up some sweetened cream cheese and just turned it into icing for a carrot cake.  Yes!

Overall, berry slightly better than carrot, both wonderful.

Day Three Muffins: Raisin Bran, Banana, Blueberry.

The final morning there were only a few muffins in the basket, a single blueberry, two of one kind (banana) and two of another (bran with nuts and raisins).  I snatched one of each, but was sad to see no carrot muffins this time.

The banana was the least interesting, just a simple banana bread muffin, but moist and fine if you like banana bread.

The bran was loaded up with juicy raisins and nuts, far more interesting than the bran from several days earlier.  A nice hearty muffin, and I enjoyed it warmed up with butter and jam for leftover breakfast the next day.

And finally, the blueberry.  I was sad it was just blueberry and didn't have strawberries, raspberries, or some other fruit, as this was just most of a simple blueberry muffin / pound cake, but, it was fine.

Pecan Braid / Chocolate Croissant / Cinnamon Roll.

After the success of the muffins, I went for ... all the other pastries.

None were good.  Classic buffet danishes, really.  The pastry wasn't very flaky nor buttery, but at least they weren't soggy, or stale, or dried out?

The little chocolate croissant was the worst, barely any chocolate inside, and what was there wasn't of high quality.  The pecan braid was the second worst, basically just disappointing, since I've had similar ones that were good so it had some promise, but alas, not much pecan filling at all, just a boring danish.  Which means the cinnamon roll was the best, but, it too was low end mediocre.  Eh to the pastry, and the cinnamon goo filling wasn't particularly generous or interesting.  Even the very center wasn't gooey or special.

Don't bother with these.

Cranberry Custard Twirl.

One day I'll take my own advice.  I grabbed one of these the final morning, when the entire middle basket was filled with them.  If they were going to take over, they must be good right?

It was actually the best of the non-muffins.  The top was crispy in a good way, the custard added some moisture, and overall, it was fine, except for the fact that I don't like dried cranberries.  Still dramatically better than the others.

Oatmeal & Toppings.

I did try a bite of the oatmeal, literally just a couple spoonfuls, just for completeness.

It was ... buffet oatmeal.  Gloopy, thick, strange film on top, not good in any way.  At least they had lots of toppings, including another container of real maple syrup, nuts (walnuts, pecans), fruits (dried cranberries, raisins, blueberries), seeds (pumpkin, flax), and brown sugar.

Oatmeal is available a la carte with sliced bananas and pecans on top, drizzled with honey, for $8.  I can't imagine that is much different, and, it isn't as customization.

Eggs: Scrambled, Daily Omelet.

Every day featured two egg dishes.  One always scrambled eggs, one always an omelet.  No poached, fried, or other styles, no whites only.  Certainly no fun things like benedict, although these are all available on the a la carte menu, and the "breakfast table" did say it included made to order omelets, I just never saw them, nor a sign or anything indicating that these truly exist.

The scrambled eggs seemed to be a crowd favorite, which confused me greatly, but it was nearly always empty, and was constantly being refilled.  Maybe people just take big scoops of that compared to other items?

From the a la carte menu, you can construct your own three egg omelet, with a variety of fillings, for $16.

Scrambled Eggs.

Yeah, I don't like eggs, but I tried the scrambled eggs when it was a fresh batch, taking just a tiny tiny scoop.  If everyone else was gobbling these up, I didn't want to miss out!

They were just generic scrambled eggs (from a powder? a liquid?), nothing interesting at all.  Not creamy nor rich.  No idea why everyone wanted these.

Omelet Day One: Spinach, Mushroom, Cheese.

The rolled omelet however was actually quite nice, for an omelet.

One amusing quality that I liked was the fact that the top and bottom were slightly crispy, from being in a hot box.  I liked the texture it added, almost like a crepe!

I'm not really an omelet girl, but the rolled style is certainly something I prefer to American style, as I like the thin layers and texture changes.

Inside was a generous stuffing of spinach, mushrooms, and cheese.  The spinach was nicely wilted and not soggy, the mushrooms soft but not mushy, and the cheese stringy, gooey, and nicely melted.

A very decently executed omelet, not what you expect from a buffet at all.

Omelet Day Two: Asparagus and Cheese.

After the near success of the omelet the first day, I was happy to take one the next day as well.

But it was far less interesting.  No crispy top, thicker layers of egg, just, a standard rolled egg omelet.  Which was fine, if you like eggs, I'm sure.  It was nicely made.  But not crepe-like as the day before, the part of it that I liked.

The filling too wasn't as fun, just asparagus, and a tiny bit of cheese.  Barely any cheese, not nearly as gooey as the previous day.

Meh to this, but, again, I don't like eggs, and there was absolutely nothing wrong with this, I was mostly just surprised the previous day.

Omelette Day Three: Denver.

Don't ask why I kept trying these.  Particularly this one, that was sitting in a visible pool of water.

But it turned out to be my favorite, and I devoured it.  I selected the most dried out looking piece, intentionally.

It was back to the thin, almost crepe-like style that I liked.  Inside was again tons of perfectly melty cheese, cubes of ham, onions, and colorful bell peppers.  It was the filling that made this.  While I didn't really care about the ham, the veggies were remarkably well seasoned, and whatever cheese it was, clearly the same one as the first day, was delicious.  I loved the filling, and the thin layers of the crepe, er, omelette, really were tasty.

I may have drizzled (ok, dunked) this in maple syrup, and enjoyed it quite a bit.

Poached Egg (with Hollandaise).

The last day, I also asked for a poached egg, once I found out I could order eggs any way (including a different variety of omelette if I wanted).  I hesitantly asked if I could have a little hollandaise added, as I know they have it for the a la carte benedict.  I was told it would be extra, but my server brought it with my egg, saying he asked for it anyway, but not to count on it in the future.

This was fine, a standard poached egg, kinda runny whites still inside.  The hollandaise was decent, not broken, but more lemony than I like.

Fine, but eh, go for the omelettes!

Breakfast Meats: Bacon, Ham, Sausage.

Every day had the same trio of basic breakfast meats.  All are also available a la carte for $4.50.

The sausage type never changed, and it was never revealed what the actual protein is.

Sausages.

Well huh.  I'm not sure what inspired me to take a sausage the first day, I guess a "hey, you should have a meat protein", was a fleeting thought as I walked by?  And sometimes I do adore sausage.

And ... I really liked this sausage.  I'm not sure what kind it was, I think perhaps pork, perhaps chicken, perhaps turkey.  I really have no idea.

The skin was snappy, it was really well seasoned, the interior texture was just right, not grisly nor strange.  Perfect with some drizzled maple syrup!

Grilled Cured Ham.

After the success with the sausage, the next day I went for the ham.  Do I like ham?  No.  Did it look like just sliced deli ham?  Basically.  But ... I was drawn in by the grill marks!

I should have listened to myself.  It was ... grilled sliced deli ham.  Lol.  Yes, it was grilled, it had grill marks, but it wasn't magically smoky or interesting in any way.  Fine if you want ham, probably nice inside a breakfast sandwich you construct, but, uh, not for me.

Canadian Bacon.

On the third day, for completeness, and, a real desire for something salty and crunchy, I took a little piece of bacon.

It was ... bacon.  Super crispy, not flabby, not oily, fine bacon.

French Toast (pain doré): Day One.

Much like the muffins, the french toast was a huge surprise.

I love my breakfast carbs, but french toast is at the bottom of my list.  Soggy eggy bread? Eh.  And from a hot tray in a buffet?  Ha.  It didn't even look fresh.

But I was in "Buffet day #1 mode", e.g. "TRY ALL THE THINGS!", and took a piece, slathering it with maple syrup.  Points for having real syrup, from Quebec.

Soggy eggy bread this was not.  It was nicely moist, slightly crisp, and definitely not eggy.  It was sadly also not very warm.  If I hadn't slathered it in syrup already, I would have gone back to the toaster and given it a ride there to warm it.  The cold quality did lower this a notch.

I know this still doesn't sound great though.  Sure, not *bad* french toast, but it was still cold, what was good about it?  The bread they used!  This was clearly a rich broiche, perhaps even pound cake.  Great flavor, very rich, sweet even.

I wanted whipped cream so badly though.  And I wanted it hot, or at least warm.  There was so much potential here though.  If you get the french toast from the a la carte menu, it comes with syrup, or whipped cream, or berry compote.  I was tempted to do that the next day.  You also have the choice of regular or cinnamon glazed french toast!

French Toast: Day Two.

The next day ... the french toast, labelled the same, was totally different looking.

The slices were now larger regular sandwich bread slices.  It looked lightly battered in traditional egg dunk.  Classic french toast, which is something I never really like that much.

I still tried it, as it was a fresh batch, and I almost adored it the previous day, but ... yes, just traditional french toast, made with regular bread, no real cinnamon spicing, slightly eggy, decently moist, but entirely boring for me.

No additional toppings showed up either, just the maple syrup from the previous day.

French Toast: Day Three.

The third day, the french toast changed yet again.  Croissant french toast?  It was promising, but looked soggy.

And it was soggy.  Nothing really good to say about this.   Good re-purposing of leftover croissants?

Tomatoes / Potatoes.

The veggie sides were always seasoned colorful mixed little tomatoes, and some kind of fried potato.  Both available a la carte for $4.

I tried both the first day.

The seasoned tomatoes looked amazing, and were fine, but not particularly flavorful nor blistered.  Not super awesome summer tomatoes as I was hoping.

The potatoes were just tiny chunks of crispy potatoes.  Again, fine, crispy, not too oily, but not really my thing.

Potatoes: Day Two.

The next day, the potatoes were larger wedges, clearly with some kind of seasoning on them.  The label was again the same, simply, "potatoes", and I didn't try them.

Potatoes: Day Three.

The final day they were again wedges, this time, no seasoning.

Tapas

In the evening, the space is a full restaurant, featuring a regular menu, but also extensive tapas lineup.  Tapas are also available at the bar area, where I dined for a bite and a drink one night.  I sat at the large beautiful bar that first night, but just grabbed a glass of wine to take back to my room the next.

Bar Pretzels.

The restaurant was essentially empty, save for one large (very loud) party, but the bar had a number of folks having drinks and snacks.  The bartender was fully bilingual, and service was good.  I was provided with pretzels the moment I sat.

Tapas Menu.

The tapas menu is quite varied, with nibbles like cheese platters and charcuterie, standard bar favorites like chicken wings and ribs, but also far more exciting options like lobster rolls, salmon poke, and a smoked sausage dog!

Salmon Poke & Sauvignon Blanc.

I was drawn in by many choices, I almost went for the lobster roll, but, it had sriracha tartar sauce, and, often I'm just not so into sriracha.  I almost went for the crispy calamari, wanting something salty and fried.  Even the fried pork dumplings sounded appealing.  And that smoked sausage dog ... topped with cheese, slaw, and crispy lardons!

But the poke got my vote.  I know, an odd choice on the surface, but I had seen photos of it, and I knew it had some serious crispy tempura goodness.  Since I was getting seafood, I opted for white wine.

It was all good, the poke very unique, but I wouldn't call this a destination restaurant.

Sauvignon Blanc, New Zealand.

My bartender recommended three different whites to pair with the poke, a riesling, chardonnay, or sauvignon blanc.  I went for the later, described to me as "aromatic" and from New Zealand.  It was fine, not to dry nor harsh nor acidic, but a sweeter style than I prefer, and not particularly great.

Pinot Noir.

The next night, I just took a glass of red wine back to my room, as I wasn't really up for dealing with the people, and needed to pack up anyway.  The options were Cabernet, Merlot, Pinot Noir, and an Italian varietal I forget the name of.  I went with the pinot.

It was fine.  Not too tanic, not acidic, but also, really just a table wine.  Nothing complex going on here at all.  A fine wine, but, not remarkable.

Poke: Marinated Salmon. $15. (No avocado).

"Sesame - fried rice - tempura - green scallions - tobiko - homemade wafu sauce." 

Now do you see why I ordered this?  Yeah, not your standard poke!

On top was chunks of salmon, normally mixed with avocado, and topped with a big mound of fresh slaw.  On the sides were tempura bits, and the whole thing was drizzled with their own wafu sauce.

The drizzle of sauce was awesome.  Creamy, sesame flavored, delicious.  I believe it was also the base of the slaw, which was fresh, crisp, a mix of cabbage and carrot, with tobiko in there for some pops.  The tempura bits on the side added some crunch.  An amazing combination, really.

I really enjoyed the slaw and sauce and tempura bits.

The base of the poke was of course the most fascinating part, and I knew exactly what to expect.  A huge crispy tempura fried, nori wrapped, sushi rice patty.

Crispy Tempura Nori Wrapped Sushi Rice.

The base was as fun as I hoped it would be.

Crazy crispy.  So so crispy, so well coated.  Held together perfectly by the nori, which also gave a slight fishy taste (in a good way).  Inside was standard sushi rice, a thin layer, sticky, warm.  So fun, and a really unique presentation.  I did find that the large size was a bit much, while I liked it, it grew to be too much.

I really enjoyed the crispy component, plus some slaw, plus some dressing.

Plating Fail.

The slate, while nice looking at some level, was totally impractical.  The moment I cut into the crispy tempura rice on the bottom, the top piece of salmon fell off onto the shiny bar.  I really was careful, but it was unavoidable, without just dissembling the dish.

Also not practical?  The size of the chunks of salmon.  They were huge, far bigger than bite size.  My creation contained 4, but of course, I lost one, a 25% loss!  Which I didn't mind in any way, as the salmon wasn't great.  It wasn't bad, not fishy, but also just nothing special.

So overall, a good dish, unique, but the plating, cut on the fish, and the size of that fried rice patty all made it a bit impractical.