The breakfast buffet is separated into three lines – one for main dishes, another for fruit and cereal, and another for dessert/sweet breakfast items.
From the main line, items included – scrambled eggs, hard boiled eggs, corned beef hash, grilled sausages, ham, cheese omelette, dim sum, ratatouille, potato patties, cinnamon swirl toast, and croissants.
The first item one sees entering the main line is the “scrambled” eggs… I’m sure some people remember their first trip to the breakfast buffet and questioning the compact looking yellow substance in the metal tray in front of them at least for a second or two. Yes the eggs look a bit off; however, they are not farm fresh, but powdered. If you prefer whole/real eggs, you’re only option is to grab the hard boiled eggs adjacent to the “scrambled” eggs. I’m not sure if the cheese omelette uses real eggs or powdered, but it was very good regardless.
To be honest, I don’t like breakfast sausages. Every time I have had them at breakfast buffets – hell, even at traditional breakfast, I have found them to be fatty and disgusting. I’d rather stick to bacon. Unfortunately, bacon was not available so I did eat the sausage and I must say it is the BEST breakfast sausage I have ever had. Perhaps it’s due to the fact it is grilled, or the combination of spices, but I’m glad I did not pass it up.
I’ve always enjoyed the corn beef hash provided at the buffet. The mix of potato, corned beef, and some other ingredients I can only guess at always makes me go back for more. Other items on the main line that I tried and found decent are the ham, potato patties and dim sum. I found it quite odd the buffet was offering dim sum for breakfast as I have been informed by a friend it is traditionally an item offered at brunch.
After filling up the first plate from the main line, I personally love to douse the eggs, corned beef hash, potato patties, and sausage with sweet maple syrup. In the good ol’ days, one would be able to bring back individual servings of maple syrup back to the table for a discrete pour. Alas, gone are those days, and I had to pour the syrup from a single flask located near the toaster into a small bowl to bring back to the table. I still get raised eye-brows from those I sit with.
From the line next to the main, items included – fresh fruit, organic yogurt and assorted cereals complete with toppings such as cranberry, granola, and dehydrated bananas. The yogurt served was in individual cups of the brand Olympic , and if I even remotely interested in eating cereal at a breakfast buffet, I’m sure I would have enjoyed the toppings offered.
From the third line, items included – Belgium waffles with strawberry and whipped cream, assorted cold cuts, candied salmon, and other sweets. The candied salmon was exquisite and definitely worth filling half a plate. Belgium waffles are always oh so good and absolutely wonderful with the supplied toppings. A friend of mine had the following to say about the waffles.
“I must say the waffles with whipped cream and strawberries topped were some of the best I’ve ever had, mainly because it wasn’t overly sweet like how a lot of breakfast places offer. The strawberry syrup wasn’t laden with sugar, and neither was the whipped cream. It allowed the flavours to come through instead of being overshadowed by the sugar.”
Finally, many drinks are available for enjoyment such as orange juice, coffee, assorted teas, 2% milk, hot chocolate, and Coca Cola soft drinks. Of course with many buffets, the glasses provided for the cold drinks are fairly small so one must walk back and forth several times or fill up more than once. As a remedy in my younger-years, I would always grab a couple large cups from the cafeteria, and stuff them in my backpack before entering the buffet. Several trips back to the drinks section were reduced to one or two.
Overall, the breakfast ferry buffet is a great start to the morning aboard a BC ferry. Not only do they provide a variety of traditional breakfast items, but also healthy items such as fruit and cereal. As mentioned by many people, the view can’t be beat and I feel my brother has previously summed the experience up nicely - “The Pacific Buffet has a monopoly on ferry buffets, and offers a relaxing view of the ocean, far away from the rat-race of the white-spot cafeteria and sandwich bars on the other side of the boat”
If you’ve got the stomach real-estate, the cash-flow, and will be traveling on either the, Spirit of British Columbia, Spirit of Vancouver Island, or Coastal Celebration between 7-10 AM, be sure to grab a table inside the breakfast buffet while sailing between Swartz Bay and Tsawwassen.
Price: $16.50 + tax for adults
$9.50 + tax for children 5 to 11 years of age.
3.7 / 5
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5 comments:
Thanks for holding down the fort over the summer - it's nice to see a new review occasionally!
FYI, the eggs are NOT powdered.
@Anonymous
Where is your proof they are not powdered?
Give me a source of your claim.
You may question my proof of the scrambled eggs being powdered, and it lies in the look and consistency of the product in the hot tray at the buffet line.
Maybe anonymous KNOWS what they are, but anonymous forgot to TELL us how he knows. In any case, I already feel DUMB for some unexplained reason.
Yaaaa the breakfast buffet is by far the best ferry buffet out there. Its waaaay better than the lunch and dinner combined. I thing the eggs are the the kind in the milk carton, egg beaters or whatever, so still not real, fresh eggs, but not powdered either. Have you ever cooked scrambled eggs in the microwave? They get this weird texture thing going on, so maybe they do use real eggs, they just cook them all fucked up or something.
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