Pier W (Brunch)
 Cleveland, Ohio        Date of Visit  03/23/14         Website  

We have been trying to make the brunch at Pier W since it was listed as one of the best brunch places in Cleveland. The Blue Door in Akron made the list, we are fans, figured we couldn’t go wrong with another from the same list. A few tries didn’t work out but we are finally on the shore of Erie hoping for awesome versions of the items they have on a regular basis.
 

Where You're Actually Sitting
 

The part that did pan out, even though our wintery spring weather turned the view a little monotone, the location of the restaurant jutting out over the shore with a distant view of the skyline is really nice.

It’s a good thing Janet didn’t know she was hovering over the edge of the cliff while we were eating or we would have needed Zanax on the buffet.

The article went on and on about the bouillabaisse and the desserts and on and on. They probably should have stuck to the view. There are five sections of the buffet, traditional breakfast stuff, seafoody, salads/whatnot and dessert. The last is a carving station for prime rib and waffles and you can order an omelets at the table. It took a while for our server to find us but once he did he was friendly and mostly efficient. They do a nice job at the buffet keeping small amounts of food hot and generally fresh.
 

There were some bright points. A complimentary and tasty mimosa. Coffee was delivered with a little beignet covered with powdered sugar and warmed with some fall spices. The scrambled eggs were of a wonderful consistency, especially for a buffet service and the smoked salmon wasn’t bad and came with a lot of options for dressing. Past that, things were either of Hometown Buffet quality or worse and the view isn’t nearly worth the difference in the price.
 

Scrambled Were Perfect
 

The bacon was flabby, the sausage and pierogi were over-done to the hard to chew stage. Potatoes weren’t bad, neither were the quinoa, citrus and goat cheese salad, nor the Cajun or cold shrimp and the oyster. Many of the options were tragically under seasoned, definitely aiming at more of an old folks home sort of punch level.

The bouillabaisse was definitely a victim of this. So were the sushi, the salads, the prime rib, and the canned benedict. The (SoNOT) crispy Amish fried chicken tasted like it was baked in graham crackers, not my thing. Desserts appeared mostly bought in, the creme brule and the chocolate mousse, which both appeared done in house were by far the best options and we tried many.

Bottom line, find another place along Lake Road to enjoy the view and definitely another place to eat brunch. I hope their regular menu is better, but on the heels of this, I have little interest in finding out. Serving a better than sad buffet isn’t easy. At all. Loads of places in Vegas have it down, Pier W does not.