Essence of Unionville

This review is based purely on the afternoon high tea buffet. Located inside Hilton Hotel. Called and booked a reservation for 3:00pm on a Saturday. You are given a two hour limit. Just park anywhere and upon entering they ask you for your licience plate # so that they can authorize your free parking. $ 20 per person for AYCE.
The only reason I am giving this a 1 star review is the quality of food and selections available. The only thing I found decent were the sandwiches. They had tuna, smoked salmon and egg salad sandwich. All were pretty decent. Everything else was crap.
Based off the pictures posted here I saw macarons and what I thought to be crème brule, however there was none of that available. There was a dessert that looked like a crème brule but it was far from it. I think they use to have macarons but not anymore. The cakes were terrible, the pastries were terrible and just taking one glance at what they had available just turned me right off from the get go. There was no turning back at this point and nothing would have made the experience better… lol. As you can tell I’m just hugely dissapointed. To make things worse there is no tea selection just some Red Rose tea bags.
I did not eat all that I could eat and I can honestly say I would rather spend my $ 20 at Tim Hortons.
Service was excellent.

This review is for the afternoon high tea. I have to say I loved the experience. I like the ability to choose my own desserts and to get up and grab them when I feel like it. Yes, the buffet style isnt as elegant as a sit down service, but I would trade that off for being able to select my own options.
Our server was really good. A nice, older gentlemen. He was attentive and cleared our plates quickly. He also cleaned up a small mess from some spilled tea and did it with delight. Props to his service!
Dessert selections were very decent. I loved the bread pudding and the cakes. Skip the chocolate cake. BORING. The salmon sandwiches and egg ones were the best tasting ones. The tuna was decent too. Overall, I loved this high tea experience. I would come again if I was in the mood for some serious desserts. Oh and there are macarons too. Three different kinds. 4.5 stars

I’ve been to this hotel for several work conferences/​visiting friends for several years but never have been to the buffet. I didn’t even know that if you weren’t a hotel guest you could still enjoy the restaurant.
This place is located inside the Hilton in Markham. There is a parking lot (paid) but just write you license plate number down at the restaurant and you get free parking.
This restaurant is actually pretty big — to accommodate it’s guests plus the «outsiders». Easily you could have 50+ people in here. Great for maybe a smaller wedding reception/​meal or rehearsal brunch. It also looks more upscale — dark woods, white cloth napkins with the silverware nestled nicely in them.
The buffet I have to say surprised me. Well stocked at all times and the variety were impressive. Fruits, grilled veggies, sushi (not the best… but it was there), cheeses, an omelet station, hot foods like eggs, sausages, chicken (this was pretty good with some sort of gravy like sauce); a couple of salad options, breads/​pastries and one whole table devoted to desserts/​muffins. Oh my! Mostly everything I tried was good. Is it the greatest –no. But the variety (not sure if they change it up or this is the standard brunch menu) was a nice surprise b/​c I was just expecting the typical brekkie — eggs/​toast and some fruit.
The service while pleasant was a bit slow, which was strange since when we were there it wasn’t that busy and I definitely saw enough staff around to handle the amount of guests. They were a bit busy talking — it took quite awhile to get the bill and then pay.

Come in with the right expectations and you won’t be disappointed. I came here for an afternoon tea. It costs $ 20 per person and it’s a buffet style. This is a very cheap price point considering it’s a buffet and a 4 star hotel. The overall Experience and setting is not like four season or shangrila’s high tea but you get what you pay for. Definitely a good value but if you are looking for a luxurious high tea experience then it’s not for you.

Great restaurant in the Hilton hotel. Get the mixed grill platter. The place is usually empty. So the service is great.

This place serves basic hotel food. Was here for a work conference and no one liked their food that much, even the desserts. Roasts were overdone, butternut squash soup was bland and watery, sparse vegetables and over sweetend desserts.

A small dimly-​lit restaurant well-​nestled inside the hotel; In need of some updating especially juxtaposed to the newly furnished lobby. Service was very prompt and courteous. I ordered dinner which was quite palatable. The dishes were exquisite in their palatable detail. A taste of plain old sludge-​like macroni with shrimp (although I had ordered spaghetti-​a faux pas!) revealed a mêlée of several variants of cheese in addition to a subtle hint of ground walnuts. In spite of the school cafeteria-​like pasta, I had a great aftertaste and will definitely look forward to the next time! My company also resonated this feeling. Good food. Good dining experience.

Not one of the greatest breakfast buffets I’ve seen — just OK. Fruit choices are not your top of the line (no berries of any kind, for instance), and don’t go expecting smoked salmon, although they do have some cold cuts and limited cheese (s). No omelette station either. Most surprising is the lack of a Chinese option in this Chinese-​strong market: congee, maybe? But perhaps good old picky, demanding me shouldn’t expect too, too much for «only» $ 18 (continental is $ 15). We’ve had our share of inattentive waiters here, even bad attitude, while others, like the one this morning, are hard-​working and pleasant. Being able to get the oft-​eschewed bran muffin made a good impression on me — so, 3 stars.

We had Christmas Eve buffet dinner there. Food was ok at the price of $ 42 per person. Service was terrible. We were rushed to finish dinner within 1.5 hours without being notified ahead of time. Bill was left on our table right at 1.5 hours time frame.
The server insisted that phone confirmation was made to each customer and told us about the time limit. However, we have never received any phone calls at all. We told the server about this and stated that is not reasonable to finish dinner within 1.5 hours. There was no apologize at all because of this incident and the servers started being rude to us. Since then we received no service at all. Also, food stopped being served half an hour before the end of time limit.
We are so disappointed about this restaurant and will not consider going back again.

Located inside the Hilton Suites Hotel in Markham (Hwy 7 & Warden), we went for their Sunday Brunch buffet. Standard fare food was excellent as was the service. Pricey @ approx $ 60. per person.

Once again we come to this place. The waiter knows us well and greets us very politely. For an afternoon tea buffet, I expect a lot more varieties. There are 5 or 6 different types of sandwiches, diced fruits, croissants, pastries, cheese cakes, apple strudels and cakes. Tea or coffee is included. The parking is free if you let the restaurant knows your plate number. For a price of $ 21 per person, I think it is on the expensive side given the food choices. I suggest that the buffet should include the cakes available for sale in the cake shop that are a lot nicer.

Really horrible. Thought it would be more «afternoon tea» however it was more like sending you off after a stay in the hotel. I’m not sure what the craze is — since this is definitely not afternoon tea. It’s more like brunch/​afternoon snacks.

After a very eventful week the girlfriend and I decided to come over here for a mini-​celebration of sorts (if that is indeed applicable in this situation). We’ve been here before — she remarked that this was one of the first places we went on our dates, but before this review turns into a mushy gooeyness like an ice cream in the sun, let’s quickly start on talking about the food. I don’t want you to lose your appetite listening to me gush.
There is a prix fixe menu here, $ 35 for 3 courses, although really it’s just a salad/​soup of the day for the appetizer and one choice of cake for the dessert. Thus the real choice is the main course, and I took the lobster risotto. It was very creamy and smooth (a tad too rich even, perhaps), with nice chunks of lobster strewn throughout. We shared the beef and vegetable soup (which essentially is minestrone) and the dessert (a nice lemon cheesecake). She ordered from the a la carte menu, the Singaporean stir fry, which is always excellent. The flavours come out quite strong and the spicy kick at the end of each spoonful is a wonderful surprise. Even though the prix fixe may not be the greatest offering since sliced bread, it still represents good value because a typical a la carte dish could easily be around $ 30 each.
Our server, Jim, is an older Greek gentleman, and he was extremely friendly and polite throughout. It really gave me a feeling of the «old world» of Europe (as if I know what that meant) even though we were smack dab in Markham! The restaurant was quiet, as expected always, but this is its own charm because you really do feel that you have the place all to yourself. It was wonderful, and even though the hotel feels like it could benefit from being modernized a tad, what with its interior style being stuck fast in the 90’s, the overall ambience at the restaurant is always one of class and elegance.
Not very cheap, but always a great date place!
PS: To all you aspiring casanovas out there, bring your date here and say «Look honey, I PRACTICALLY booked the whole restaurant for us». You’ll either get a «hmm…I’m impressed» look or a «hmm…witty» comment from your date. Either way, you WIN.