Fairmont Hotel
Cavendish Square
Ph. 726-4980
I’m more of a savoury guy than a lover of sweets. That helps a little when I’m dining at a buffet. My prodigious appetite, coupled with a lifelong obsession to clean my plate, makes buffets troublesome territory for my waistline. Liking fish and fowl so much means I am less likely to leave room for the concentrated calories in cheese or chocolate ganache cake. Still, when you’re faced with the plethora of savouries and sweets I found at the Bona Vista restaurant, it’s a challenge to stay true to the maxim, “Be moderate in all things.”
It was on a childhood visit to Cavendish Square that I
experienced my first buffet. My family and I were dining at the original
Newfoundland Hotel. I’ll never forget the simultaneous surprise and excitement
I felt when I realized that, in this case, “buffet” meant I was allowed to take
as much food as I wanted as many times as I wanted. Well, at least until my
parents said, “That’s enough!”
The daily buffet at the Fairmont’s Bona Vista restaurant is
a worthy successor to the buffet of my youth. On a couple of recent visits I
was able to enjoy freshly carved roast beef, turkey, cod, baked ham and much
more.
Take my advice and visit this buffet early. On one visit I
got there late (about 1:40 pm) and understandably, some items, having sat under
heat lamps or in chafing dishes for more than a few minutes were a touch dry.
For example, I picked-up some slices of baked ham at the carving station. The carver,
who was not present, had left several slices on the board under a heat lamp. It
had lost valuable moisture. However, the available raisin sauce I drizzled over
it compensated for the insufficiency.
There was plenty of flavourful juice present in the thick
slices carved for me from a beautiful joint of beef, on another occasion. It
was some of the most delicious beef I’ve tasted. I liberally slathered nicely
sharp horseradish sauce over it and had my sinuses cleared at the same time.
My recharged sinuses allowed me to appreciate the comforting
aroma of the roast turkey, dressing (stuffing) and gravy. When it’s prepared
properly there’s nothing better. I had some gloriously creamy mashed potato
with it and discovered beautiful flavours in all of it, especially in the
turkey and the gravy.
As I enjoyed some truly melt-in-your-mouth smoked tuna from
the Bona Vista’s cold table, I soaked up some of the room’s atmosphere. A group
of businessmen sat nearby with cell phones engaged. Their cool intensity was in
juxtaposition with the quiet warmth of the pastel coloured room. Warmth aside,
the room had the tired manufactured appearance I’ve seen in many high-end
department store cafeterias on the mainland. Imagine a French bistro designed
by Sears and you’ll get the idea.
There was no dearth of authenticity as far as much of the
food at Bona Vista was concerned. I thoroughly enjoyed the baked cod with plump
black olives, tomatoes and red peppers. I’m sure it would rival cod dishes
you’d find in the Spanish Basque country. Another pan was filled with
beautifully plump Oktoberfest sausages on a bed of vinegar-tart sauerkraut. If
only I had chosen a crisp Heineken instead of my Rosemount Shiraz.
What I found most impressive about Bona Vista’s cold table
was its selection of smoked fish, including salmon, tuna and mackerel. Texture
and flavour were marked qualities. I also treated myself to some freshly cooked
chilled mussels (shell on).
My only disappointment was Bona Vista’s lobster bisque. The
bisque had the unpleasantly pungent aroma and strong taste of too many lobster
shells. It is perfectly acceptable to make lobster bisque using only lobster
shells (without any lobster meat) but this soup was one-dimensional and boring.
Although I’m not a big desserts person I was extremely
impressed by one simple but extraordinarily good dessert – a banana/chocolate
bread pudding. I gorged on a large portion topped with a huge dollop of the
fresh whipped cream available in a stainless steel bowl at the dessert bar. Each
glorious spoonful was like consuming a warm fluffy pillow of ambrosia filled
with slices of banana and dripping with luxuriously rich, dark rivulets of
expensive chocolate. It was one of the best desserts I’ve ever eaten. As a
person who is usually more motivated by savouries than sweets, I was surprised
by my reaction to Bona Vista’s bread pudding. I couldn’t get enough of it.
The Fairmont is “the” high-end hotel in St. John’s – for
that matter it is “the” high-end hotel in the province. I don’t believe it
would be possible to say that were it not for the Fairmont’s decision to
operate two restaurants under its roof. The Bona Vista is the less expensive
and more accessible restaurant but I’m happy to say, for the most part, it
maintains the high standards expected of such an establishment.
Our meal for two at the Bona Vista, including two glasses of
wine and tip, cost approximately $80.
Best Points:
Bona Vista’s buffet provides lots of choice. The roast beef and the banana/chocolate bread pudding were extraordinarily delicious.
Areas for Improvement:
The lobster bisque was unappealing.
Ratings Category:
Bona Vista gets 8 points out of 10.