Fairing Well with Figs at the Fairmont Hotel in Foggy Bottom
Posted by Erica Sietsma at 7/21/2008 5:36 PM 
Categories: Special Occasions, Foggy Bottom, Desserts, Buffet, Drink Specials
Categories: Special Occasions, Foggy Bottom, Desserts, Buffet, Drink Specials
With Ann still in town from Japan, we decided we needed to do a shi-shi hotel brunch, looking for someone to compare to the Willard. We were lured to the Fairmont Hotel on M Street in Foggy Bottom by their
advertisement for the "Chocolate Lover's Brunch, offering a "chocolate" (this is actually on their website...) with bottomless
champagne and a chocolate fountain. When we arrived, the hostesses still
referred to the brunch as such, however there was no chocolate wonderland, but there was a fountain.
NOTE: THEY ARE NO LONGER DOING THE SUNDAY BUFFET BRUNCH IN THE COLONNADE. Though you can still do a la carte at Juniper.
Review of Fairmont by Ann:
ENVIRONMENT: The space is not as old-school swank as Willard, but it is really lovely, with a live pianist.
SERVICE: As should be expected with a hefty price tag we had excellent service. Dagmawi definitely gave Armando a run for his money and will go into our waiter hall of fame with Gionathan and Armando!! He scored a hit with us, not only because our glasses were never empty, but while we were discussing the rumor that Laura Bush sneaks over to the Willard to have a desert and a cigarette, one of us remarked that we couldn't believe that she smokes and, not missing a beat, Dagmawi, as he is pouring some champagne, interjects, "Wouldn't you...?" He also confirmed that this was NOT the Chocolate Lover's brunch, but gave us the lowdown on the most delicious chocolate desserts out on the table.
BOOZE: The mimosas and champagne were good and free flowing as part of the $65 brunch and I don't have any notes on anyone ordering a Bloody Mary, so they must not have been memorable if anyone went that route.
FOOD: Since we are experienced brunchers, we knew we needed to pace
ourselves. We started with the salad, and seafood areas of the buffet.
Crab claws were delicious and as good if not better than the Willard.
Dana noted that they had an entire bowl of figs. This is not something you see every day and they were excellent.
The salad, cheese and other assorted starter items were standard brunch fare, nothing to gush about. I do think the cheese selection is much better at the Willard. spectacular view of their garden courtyard - though you can not dine outside.
They also had pancakes, waffles and
french toast. Again, being professionals we know not to fill up on the
carbs too soon, but their pumpkin french toast was AWESOME!!! You can
not get THAT at the Willard... 
DESSERTS: One area where we all agreed that Fairmont outperformed the Willard was the dessert table. I am not a big fan of the sweets, but even I grabbed a plate to sample!
We had a hard time figuring out the names of the specific desserts, and I can't believe this is accurate, but my notes say "pineapple and toasted marshmallow - delicious!"...so it must be true.
I know I tried the cheesecake and
the chocolate truffle torte - heavenly. I do not think any of us ate
the chocolate covered strawberries but the 10 year old sitting to our
left probably consumed about 25 on her own as we saw her making
countless trips to the buffet table.
As you can imagine this took us about 3 hours, while not as out of hand (or as long) as the Willard brunch, the conversation covered cannibals, dating coworkers and other random topics. We noted that the buffet brunch lets you escape from awkward moments by simply interrupting the speaker with , "Anyone ready for another round?"
OVERALL: Everyone agreed the food and especially the desserts were very good and it would be a good place to take friends/family in from out of town or for a special occasion. However, if you had the extra $20, we say go to the Willard instead, if you haven't yet been.
REPEAT? We would probably do the Willard instead, UNLESS we were craving desserts. Then, the Fairmont is better.
NOTE: THEY ARE NO LONGER DOING THE SUNDAY BUFFET BRUNCH IN THE COLONNADE. Though you can still do a la carte at Juniper.
Review of Fairmont by Ann:
ENVIRONMENT: The space is not as old-school swank as Willard, but it is really lovely, with a live pianist.
SERVICE: As should be expected with a hefty price tag we had excellent service. Dagmawi definitely gave Armando a run for his money and will go into our waiter hall of fame with Gionathan and Armando!! He scored a hit with us, not only because our glasses were never empty, but while we were discussing the rumor that Laura Bush sneaks over to the Willard to have a desert and a cigarette, one of us remarked that we couldn't believe that she smokes and, not missing a beat, Dagmawi, as he is pouring some champagne, interjects, "Wouldn't you...?" He also confirmed that this was NOT the Chocolate Lover's brunch, but gave us the lowdown on the most delicious chocolate desserts out on the table.
BOOZE: The mimosas and champagne were good and free flowing as part of the $65 brunch and I don't have any notes on anyone ordering a Bloody Mary, so they must not have been memorable if anyone went that route.
FOOD: Since we are experienced brunchers, we knew we needed to pace
ourselves. We started with the salad, and seafood areas of the buffet.
Crab claws were delicious and as good if not better than the Willard.
Dana noted that they had an entire bowl of figs. This is not something you see every day and they were excellent.
The salad, cheese and other assorted starter items were standard brunch fare, nothing to gush about. I do think the cheese selection is much better at the Willard. spectacular view of their garden courtyard - though you can not dine outside.
We then moved on t the hot food and
we had eggs and omelets made for us and most of us tried some bacon or
sausage. I am not a huge meat eater but the bacon was really good so I
am sure I had seconds.
Someone tried the lambchops and reported that they were spectacular.
You would think that living in Japan would prevent me from wanting Asian food while at a DC brunch, but no, I ate more than I should have of the vegetable egg rolls that were offered on the Asian table. I did pass on the lame looking sushi though. But I excuse myself from any evaluation of sushi in DC, since I am admittedly biased.
Someone tried the lambchops and reported that they were spectacular.
You would think that living in Japan would prevent me from wanting Asian food while at a DC brunch, but no, I ate more than I should have of the vegetable egg rolls that were offered on the Asian table. I did pass on the lame looking sushi though. But I excuse myself from any evaluation of sushi in DC, since I am admittedly biased.
DESSERTS: One area where we all agreed that Fairmont outperformed the Willard was the dessert table. I am not a big fan of the sweets, but even I grabbed a plate to sample!
We had a hard time figuring out the names of the specific desserts, and I can't believe this is accurate, but my notes say "pineapple and toasted marshmallow - delicious!"...so it must be true.
I know I tried the cheesecake and
the chocolate truffle torte - heavenly. I do not think any of us ate
the chocolate covered strawberries but the 10 year old sitting to our
left probably consumed about 25 on her own as we saw her making
countless trips to the buffet table. As you can imagine this took us about 3 hours, while not as out of hand (or as long) as the Willard brunch, the conversation covered cannibals, dating coworkers and other random topics. We noted that the buffet brunch lets you escape from awkward moments by simply interrupting the speaker with , "Anyone ready for another round?"
OVERALL: Everyone agreed the food and especially the desserts were very good and it would be a good place to take friends/family in from out of town or for a special occasion. However, if you had the extra $20, we say go to the Willard instead, if you haven't yet been.
REPEAT? We would probably do the Willard instead, UNLESS we were craving desserts. Then, the Fairmont is better.
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