Reflect Social Dining + Lounge

They had a good selection of food for the Sunday brunch. All the staff were very friendly and attentive. Fantastic service over all. I had to take off a point because most of the desserts were too sweet.

Festive Brunch 2016 in the Crystal Ballroom was fairly decent for $45 per adult.  Many of the downtown hotels charge almost double this and require advanced reservations and payment.  It was easy to make a reservations through email, and [hidden email] was prompt and professional in taking my reservation.  It was nice that each table had a mini Christmas tree centre-piece and the ballroom was decorated in a festive style.  The spread of food was impressive, however; many of the dishes lacked flavour and served lukewarm.  The staff were gracious and friendly, but were slow to clear our table.  The cold seafood spread had dungeness crab legs, freshly shucked oysters, cocktail shrimp, and smoked fish including salmon, and mussels.  I found the smoked fish to be too salty and the crab legs and prawns to be quite bland, even though the meat had a nice texture.  The egg bennies tasted watery and the hollandaise lacked punch.    Highlights for me were the  dim sum, lamb curry, and prime rib.  The desserts were a let down: the chocolate fondue lacked chocolate flavour and the mango cheesecake bar suffered the same fate.  My hubby downed 4 mimosas but happily volunteered to drive us home because in his words, 'The glasses were so tiny that I only consumed the equivalent of 1 drink, and they weren 't exactly strong. '  Still worth a try if you like the variety a buffet offers, but many of the dishes are hit and miss!

Easter is upon us once again and I’d like to share with you a past Easter brunch buffet experience that I would recommend.  If you are looking for a lovely place to enjoy an Easter meal, you might consider the offerings at the Hilton Metrotown. In 2014, I visited the Reflect Social Dining Lounge restaurant with some friends and family for an Easter buffet.  We were attracted to the idea of having a hassle-free Easter meal together and the price of $35 per adult seemed quite reasonable.

2nd dine out that I went. Came here with my family. It was my husbands parent first time trying dine out food. They enjoyed it. They had Octopus Carpaccio Salad as appetizers. I had the Mushroom Tarte Flamb. Its pretty good. For the entree,they had lobster and lamb shank. As for me, I had the squash risotto, it's so cheesy which I love it and it made me so full that I couldn't finish it. I gave it to my husband since the lobster wasn't enough. Our dessert was caramal cheesecake and Local Cheese Plate. I'm not super fan of strong cheese. My cheesecake is good, just way too sweet. Service is amazing.

Reflect Social Dining Lounge was the first dine out I went to this year. I looked into it pretty late and most restaurants were already booked solid, especially since Penguin and I wanted to go during the weekend. I browsed through the endless listings of restaurants and was able to get a reservation at Reflect. Their Dine out menu was offered at $40.<br/ <br/ The lounge was pretty peaceful and quiet. The black granite tables were accented with red candle light. However, I found the the lighting inside the restaurant a little too harsh, I would’ve preferred if the light was a little dimmer and warmer in colour. Service was friendly and attentive.<br/ <br/ For starters, I ordered the sake Infused Octopus Carpaccio Salad. The thin slices of octopus were tender, but my favourite component of this dish was the octopus bits that were marinated in a wasabi sauce. There’s also kelp, tobiko and radish on the plate. Everything tasted fresh. I couldn’t find the sake anywhere, but the zing from the wasabi and the citrus notes from the ponzu vinaigrette made this a very appetizing starter. <br/ <br/ I got the duo of ½ atlantic lobster thermidor and sesame ahi tuna loin for my entree. The portions were on the smaller side and the flavours were underwhelming. The ahi tuna tasted like roasted sesame and tuna and the lobster thermidor tasted like cooked lobster meat mixed in a cream sauce that’s been placed back in its shell. Everything on this dish lacked sodium and seasoning. The red kuri squash puree did not go well with the rest of this dish and the greens under the lobster were in dire need of some sort of vinaigrette.<br/ <br/ Penguin has never been to dine out before, ironically, he decided to order off of the regular menu. He got the 10oz. AAA ribeye steak $30), which was a very good call because it was delicious. The steak was nicely charred on the surface and remained juicy and tender on the inside. There were also a medley of veggies under the steak, the only thing he didn’t like was the artichokes which had a strange sourness. Unlike my entree, Penguin’s steak was very flavourful and filling and he was quite satisfied with it.<br/ <br/ For dessert, I opted for the salted caramel cheesecake. The cheesecake was like a New York style cheesecake with a layer of what tasted like melted Werther’s original candies on top. very rich, smooth and decadent, a tad too sweet for me though. The macaron on the side was also too sweet. I thought it’d be a strawberry flavoured macaron but it was just a plain almond one