A dear friend of mine was having a lavish staycation in downtown Vancouver, and invited me to join her for a posh breakfast at Hawksworth, in the Rosewood Hotel Georgia. I normally don't go for breakfasts and brunches because more often than not, restaurants pump out the same boring fare -- pancakes, eggs benny, blah blah blah. But this was Hawksworth. Surely they could jazz things up a bit, right? One hopes so for a place that charges you $3 for toast (your choice of three types of bread, though).Coffee ($5)
- A carafe of coffee, which works out to maybe 10 cups. Brown sugar at the table. Your choice of cream or milk. If you aim to quaff the full carafe (probably between two persons), you'll probably need extra sugar and cream/milk.
- For $5, this is probably the cheapest coffee you can get in a posh restaurant anywhere. (At the Fairmont Pacific Rim Lobby Lounge, coffee weighs in at $6.50 for a single mug, though it comes with a funny stirring spoon crusted with a fat crystal of sugar.)
- A light version of the traditional English breakfast. All the elements were there, except in lite quantities, IF The English Breakfast Society is to be trusted:
- Only two slices of perfectly done not-mostly-fat bacon
- Only one sausage
- One small slice of rather burnt-looking black pudding
- A small wedge of tomato
- A tiny amount of mushrooms.
- On the plus side, there were two slices of whole wheat toast, and they weren't too skimpy on the marmalade and jam.
- Baked beans properly in a small metal pot of its own, thankfully, but making a poor appearance as the quantity was shallow in the pot.
- There is just no way this can be worth $22 except that you are eating in the hallowed ambiance of one of downtown Vancouver's finest hotels. Considering what it is and what you could probably assemble at a breakfast buffet, you are better off ordering something else here.
Oatmeal Buttermilk Pancakes ($17) pear, walnut, caramelized honey yogurt, maple syrup
- This was my order. It jumped out at me from the menu because of the "caramelized honey yogurt", which turned out sadly to be more like "just yogurt", and in smallish blobs.
- The slices of pear were strangely not as flavourful as I expected.
- Overall, the composition of this pancake was nicely done with a variety of flavours and textures. Steep for $17, but it is definitely a jazzed up way to get three pancakes. Good, but not superb.
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