I love buffets. Even the really bad ones. I love that you can try out so many different things, get your food at your own pace, and eat til your buttons pop off your shirt. There are, however, two major downsides to buffets: The food is made in huge batches and spends a while sitting under a hot lamp diminishing the quality, and I can never really eat enough food to justify the price tag of most buffets. And, at $25 a head for sunday brunch, the Boiler House is a bit on the steep side.
However, the quality of the food is so superb that even at only eating one and a half plates, I felt satisfied at having spent my money at such an establishment.
There is a pretty wide variety of foods to consume at the buffet. You have all your continental staples – fresh fruit, croissants, french toast, home fries, scrambled eggs. But you also have some excellent additional choices such as shrimp cocktail, fresh slices of ham and roast, custom made omelettes, and fresh made belgian waffles. All the food is kept warm (or cold) and is constantly replenished and kept fresh.
Service was excellent and even though we were located on the second floor tucked away in a corner, our servers were still quick to refill our coffee and collect our plates. To top everything else off, they had a live band performing during brunch too which really help to set the atmosphere.
On the downside, the condiments were tricky to find. There aren’t any bottles of ketchup or syrup on your table and they’re way down by the other end of the buffet (no where near the french toast or home fries). For some strange reason, when they’d refill our coffee, they’d only fill it 2/3rds of the way and we had to tell them to top it off. I understand the need for space to add cream but it was a bit ridiculous. The final downside is this place rarely ever accepts walkins for Sunday brunch. You almost always have to book ahead a week in advance.
Over all, the Boiler House had been an excellent experience – one that has further whet my appetite for finer brunch buffets which I plan on scouting around for.