Brunch at the Explorer Hotel in Yellowknife

Trader’s Grill located inside the Explorer Hotel at 4825 49th Ave in Yellowknife

February 25, 2018: On the last day of my travels in Yellowknife, I went on Yelp to research some brunch places to check out. At the last minute, I contacted an acquaintance and asked for her suggestions of places to eat at. She suggested brunch at the Explorer Hotel (Trader’s Grill). I looked it up on Yelp and it seemed intriguing with an all-you-can-eat brunch (“Best Sunday Brunch in the North” on their website) that included crab legs (a Yelp reviewer said that). It was very close by to our hotel (just a 5-minute walk and we had passed by it during the last couple of days when we were walking into town too) and convenient that we agreed to meet up for brunch. I called the Explorer Hotel to make a reservation for brunch since Star said that was recommended. (Apparently from what I read online, reservations for brunches were nearly mandatory/strongly recommended otherwise they could refuse you at the door.) Wow.

They had three time slots and we booked the one at 12:30 to 2 p.m. The brunch reservation was made easily through the phone (our hotel had free local calling).

Our hotel checkout was at 12 p.m. which was perfect (extended from 11 am :)) for us to head next door for brunch.

The Explorer Hotel in all its glory

Trader’s Grill is on the first ground floor in the hotel lobby

The brunch at Trader’s Grill was moderately good. At first glance, the serving space was smaller than I thought. There were also no crab legs (whereby an online reviewer had commented there was).

Entrance to the restaurant

Big fireplace!

Carving station — Chinese BBQ pork

Veggies and cheese

Grapefruit and orange juice

Smoked salmon, chilled seafood, salads

Salads, vermicelli, rice

Lots of hot plates

Just refilled

Sweet and sour chicken

Fruit station

Desserts station

Star, being a regular at the buffet, told me that they discontinued the crab legs over a year ago due to mostly mainland Chinese diners hogging all the crab legs in one go. Despite the buffet selection being smaller than I expected, it was still decent for a brunch venue.

Mom’s plate

Two levels of seating

I tried a bit of each item. I liked the sausages, Eggs Florentine, grapefruit juice, and the desserts. The cakes were so tasty!

My first plate

Second plate 🙂

My desserts

It was a really nice and cozy space to dine in for a Sunday brunch and there were a lot of people here too. (I loved the giant fireplace they had.) Since we were the last time slot of the day, as we approached 2 p.m., the dining room cleared out of guests and we were the last ones left. The servers there were very friendly and accommodating.

The brunch wasn’t exactly cheap at $29.99 for one person. In hindsight, it felt expensive for brunch especially for two people after tax and tips, but then again when I look at the fact that it was unlimited food and the food was decent, then I guess for a brunch in Yellowknife, it’s standard pricing. I guess the Asian side of me felt guilty about spending so much for brunch though.