Chemong Lodge is located at 764 Hunter St. in Bridgenorth, about 10km n. of Peterborough, and offers a Sunday brunch buffet. Being a lodge, it has a rustic white and wood interior with a nice vista in the rear seating area, which is quieter than the dining room. There were plenty of customers, but we still got a table without reservations. Iced orange juice cocktail is also available as part of the brunch buffet... it's a bit dilute but wasn't bad. Mishy loved the coffee, saying it was comparable to Douwe Egberts at their best. Well, it should be good for $4! Note that only the steam trays are labelled.
Mishy loved the mushroom salad which she said was amazing, and I agree it was certainly very good. Pepper salad she also loved, which I also agree with. Tomato soup was very good with zucchini and other veg. Charcuterie meats seem to be sourced locally, as were very fresh. Cheeses were excellent including an apple-flavoured variety. Canapes were very good with plenty of savour and seasoning. Sadly, Mishy indicated the the Eggs Benedict were cold and the sauce was not that good; I tried it and it seems to be on a bed of pastrami or other shaved meat other than peameal, but also the Hollandaise did not come through as if it was not made with butter or something similar; possibly it was a mix. It wasn't bad though. Scrambled eggs were quite good. French toast was actually more like bread pudding or even is bread pudding, so Mishy loved it even more and had seconds.
Bacon was fantastic, definitely locally-sourced and probably the among the best if not the buffet bacon I have ever had: perfectly crisp, superfresh and well-seasoned. Green salad was good and fresh, though could have used more dressing. Fingerling potatoes, aka wedge homefries, were good although the seasoning was a little understated. Mac and cheese was fantastic, creamy and delicious.. much better than I expected. Sausages were excellent as did not appear to be reheats as so many other buffets do and didn't have any rancid/musty oil flavor; again probably local so superfresh and less processed/filler. Beef brisket was a welcome addition to the buffet and the accompanying chipotle pineapple sauce was excellent.
For dessert, Mishy said that the chocolate mousse was too sweet and tasted like fake chocolate; I disagree with the fake but there was too much sweet which drowned out most of the other flavour. Chocolate cake in chocolate sauce was a chocolate overload and a must for fans of the cocoa bean. Crème brûlée wasn't bad, although not up to Mishy's standards I think because the custard was the wrong colour. Smashed strawberry shortcake or mousse was very good at we both loved it. It’s currently $39.99 for Sunday brunch; this isn’t bad even considering the area as any bunch buffet with unlimited Bennies is always going to be premium but the coffee was a bit much. Overall the excellent and best-of-breed items made up for the shortcomings.
Rating: 8.5 – 9 / 10
