Council Oak brunch, Healtea

Good morning,

It’s always amusing to watch “influencers” in restaurants, enthusiastically taking pictures and videos as if they were tourists at Versailles. 

Of course on this day, I was part of that gaggle. Council Oak at the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino invited various media to experience their new brunch offerings. 

I have a long-standing suspicion of brunch and the fact that this was advertised as a buffet, made the prospect even more dire. Still, it was at the upscale Council Oak so I was hopeful.

I also introduce you to a new organic, low sugar, zero alcohol sparkling beverage that I think will go viral. It’s also Canadian.

One final word: our new Capital Eats website is live so pop on by and let us know what you think.

Now let’s dig in.

— Ralf Joneikies, food and drink editor. [email protected]

Brunch can be a hit or miss affair and buffets well… we all know what surprises those can hold. Put the two together at Council Oak, and you have an experience better than you expect.

Council Oak offers a gentle retreat from the chaos of the gaming floor. Both the food and service does a good job of moving in the direction of fine dining.

The buffet experience begins (you guessed it) with tables of baked goods that are as good as those from a quality bakery. They’re also very filling, so I gave this a miss.

Next on the tour, you have an assortment of four salads. As with everything our group enjoyed, freshness was paramount. Caesar, couscous, Caprese and a leafy greens salad were on offer, all with pleasantly seasoned dressings.

Moving down the line, you arrive at the cold seafood table. Clusters of snow crab, jumbo cocktail shrimp, two forms of house-cured, smoked salmon — dill cured and beet cured — and Honeymoon oysters from New Brunswick.

These oysters were new to me and straightaway, with their firmer flesh, bright, appetite-inducing minerality and citrus finish, were catapulted into favourite East Coast oyster status. 

Accompanying condiments like cocktail sauce, horseradish cream and mignonette are housemade. The only thing missing for me was a warm garlic butter. This would have been so nice with the sweet snow crab. 

The snow crab legs had been pre-cracked, but like a barbarian, I used my hands to get at the briny gossamer meat

Another nice discovery? The jumbo shrimp had been perfectly poached, the sweet flesh giving way with just the gentlest of bites. No rubber here.

On the way to the beef carving station, you can enjoy a variety of eggs prepared fresh. Yet, I was in the mood for that rarely cooked roast. 

I was impressed by how lean the roast appeared and how tender and flavourful the results were. The accompanying jus was rich with collagen and thicker than expected, with flavours of thyme and red wine coming through.

I loaded on some sides of roast beets, carrots and sumptuous scalloped potatoes. All retained a toothsome bite with the taste of the vegetables just first-rate. They had also retained their colour and nothing was overcooked.

You finish your buffet journey with almost a dozen different desserts and a jewel box assortment of macarons. 

I kept it modest with a plate of tres leches, a lemon-blueberry bar and matcha cheesecake. The cream-domed tres leches cake was even more wonderful than its appearance would suggest. The whipped cream was the real deal and my spoon, plunging through the layers, surfaced with a more fluid condensed milk cream. It was a happy embrace.

Admittedly I took the advice of all at my table who suggested I should pass on the lemon-blueberry bar. Apparently, it was the one lowlight of the entire experience.

The matcha cheesecake was low in sugar, and texturally spot on, but the use of matcha was a little too liberal and lent an unnecessary bitterness. Matcha goes a long way and using less is the way to go.

To finish I indulged in a very good chocolate mousse that accompanied, and there’s no other way to describe it, an excellent coffee. I neglected to ask but next time I will find out which coffee they use.

Here I need to mention the attentive professionalism of our server Sam. The man was always arriving at our table whenever things needed clearing or water glasses needed to be filled.

During such media events, you’re always aware that a venue will be putting its best foot forward. What can’t be manicured, however, is the level of cookery coming out of a kitchen. Nor is it possible for good service to be performed for experienced diners. When you know, you know.

Council Oak has set a very high standard for the Sunday brunch buffet. The food is prepared by professionals with experience and the offerings are replaced so often that you’re never left waiting or wanting for freshness. 

At $65 per person this brunch is a value proposition for anyone who cares about quality and who feels they deserve a special dining experience. You can eat to your heart’s content and be helped in the process by service professionals who seem to anticipate your needs.

They have an Easter brunch coming up where, for $75, you will find a few extras such as roast turkey with white wine gravy.

I don’t make it a habit to say this but – I expect to be back. 

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Healtea is the latest in a growing line of alternative, healthier sodas that are making their way onto grocery store shelves. 

This is one with a distinct difference, however. It’s a line of herbal tea infusions with only organic Italian lemon juice and organic maple syrup used. The sugar per can is only 8 g/l. That’s 30 grams less sugar than an average commercial soda, yet it’s sweet enough to elevate the characteristics of the individual ingredients. 

As a kid from the old country, I was exposed to stinging nettle in a variety of ways. That included brushing up against it running about in the backyard. The immediate effect was a burning sensation and deep red rash.

It’s also cooked into mashed potatoes and more commonly used for tea. The Healtea nettle+rosemary infusion took me back to my childhood when my mother would make such teas.

It was just sweet enough and, perhaps psychosomatically, I felt something soothing come over me. I’m not ascribing any innate health benefits but that taste took me back and I felt comforted.

The Hibiscus+Mango is equally nice, only fruitier, and you can delight in the fact that “Natural Flavour” is nowhere to be found on the label. For avid label-readers, the words Natural Flavour suggests a product to be avoided and I recommend this article on the subject.

The flavours in these products are from natural sources, but they contain chemical preservatives and are extracted using solvents. Much in the way that all cooking oils not labelled “Cold Pressed” are heated and extracted using a neurotoxic petroleum by-product called hexane.

The QR code on the package leads you to their clean-label promise. I recommend visiting their website to learn how truly health-conscious this Montreal-based business is.

I found my four packs at Farm Boy for $9.99. An inspired and refreshingly delicious drink at just $2.50 a can. This is one product that needs to be on restaurant menus coast to coast.

What a relief it must have been for New Edinburgh residents to learn that the much loved Fraser Café would be replaced by an Italian eatery. (Apropos Fraser, it’s still only a rumour that they are set to re-open in the old refurbished church on Beechwood.)

Enjoying the food over two visits, I learned that chef and co-owner Massimo is one of those true talents who’s been hiding in plain sight. 

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