Hunter Gather: Brunch in Whistler
Hunter Gather is a hipster pub located in Whistler village. They are also a taphouse with local craft beer. We came here to check out their brunch menu and was pleasantly surprised to find that they only accept walk-ins (sometimes it is hard to get a reservation to restaurants in Whistler Village if you don’t plan ahead).
Interior
The interior is a very open-space concept. You can kind of sit wherever and there is a big ordering counter in the middle. It’s cafeteria style, so you go up to order your own food.
Tables and seating are ok, the seats are like plastic chairs so not super cushiony or comfortable, but everything is fine (especially with gear). They also have benches, which will provide more seating room. They have bar height seating as well.
Overall, a very casual eatery with lots of natural light through the windows.
Food
Salmon benny on potato rosti ($21)
I tried potato rosti when I first traveled to Switzerland and loved it because I freaking love potatoes. Think of it like a potato pancake. I was super excited to order this and try it.
The eggs benedict is on a potato rosti instead of the traditional muffin, and they put BC house cured salmon with cream cheese, 2 poached eggs, garlic kale and lemon hollandaise. It comes with your choice of a potato coquette on the side or a fruit salad (surprise – I chose the potato lol).
The rosti is so good!! It is crunchy like a birds nest and seasoned so it’s flavourful and not just plain fried potato. The salmon is more like shredded (not smoked salmon pieces), but it is yummy and goes great with the runny egg yolk and the lemon hollandaise. They also give you a lot of kale in the benny too so that’s really great. The potato coquette kind of has a curry-like filling on the inside so it’s got a bit of spices in there.
Chicken & waffles ($19)
My boyfriend orders the chicken & waffles and it’s pretty massive. They have southern fried chicken on Canadian maple waffles, served with hollandaise sauce and maple sauce. I like the way they presented it with a tower.
The chicken and waffles were relatively easy to eat (no bone) and fried well. It is a sweet and savoury dish. We actually liked to add some of the berry coulis jam to eat with the waffles – very yummy. Fruit salad was ok, kind of refreshing but there’s only like 1 grape in there (I like grapes).
Final thoughts
Loewe’s rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐
I enjoyed my brunch at Hunter Gather and would come back for brunch again. Their breakfast menu is not the biggest (mostly sandwiches, beenies and waffles) but they also have a large lunch and dinner menu featuring smoked bbq brisket so I would love to try that one time. Prices are pretty normal for brunch (especially in Whistler) and reasonable for the amount of food you get.
I loved the eggs benny on potato rosti and would recommend you choosing the rosti over their regular eggs benny even though it’s a couple dollars more – I believe it’s much more worth it and more unique as well.
A lot of people think eating out in Whistler is expensive, but there are more casual and budget-friendly places too and Hunter Gather is one of them. I will be returning again!
Sincerely, Loewe