We went to brunch at the Desmond Hotel in Malvern. We used to go there years ago. They had a fabulous brunch back then and the hotel has been for sale for a year, and it’s clean and it’s still wonderful staff (they have always had really nice staff.)
But although the place was clean and fresh, it was kind of a pedestrian brunch and I expected better.
Now, maybe that’s my fault for going with the brunch on display instead of ordering right off of the menu, but the eggs were cold, the French toast was barely lukewarm, the bacon and sausage were cold, the salad dressings were too processed and pedestrian, the pork loin they served at their meat station should’ve been wonderful, but my husband had it and it was dry and I didn’t even go near the turkey because you could see that that was dry.
They had these shrimp that had been roasted in some kind of a chili sauce and they were actually delicious.
The salad bar had some nice fresh options, but again the salad dressings were over processed and just blah — for example the balsamic vinaigrette was so over emulsified it kind of gelatinous and it was a mixture of being really sweet and too salty so in other words, it’s a super processed dressing. I suggested they add plain old oil and vinegar for people as an option. The fruit salad wasn’t anything to write home about as it was very institutional.
I ended up having a salad because when I had first gotten my plate, I wanted breakfast food and because it was cold, it kind of lost its luster so I got something else.
The pastries looked good, but I suspect again more institutional quality versus a pastry chef in the kitchen.
Now the prefixe buffet was like $29 a person which is I guess modest, but for charging close to 30 bucks per person they should’ve had more attention to detail to the food. And again, it’s really a shame because they really have nice staff.
The hotel is for sale and has been for a while so I don’t see them realistically putting more into it except they really should because it might be a better return on investment.
We used to go there for years for brunch and it was fabulous and it’s just a shame that it’s not the way it was.
And again, they are taking the time for presentation, etc. but the taste and things like basic food temperature and taste just aren’t there.
They had a young kid running the omelette station, and he kind of knew what he was doing. I was watching him, but he was very chintzy about what he was putting in the omelettes. I mean, nobody wants an omelette that’s so over-stuffed that it falls all over a person when you’re eating it, but still you need enough cheese, for example, to make it do that little gooey thing when you cut into it.
But if this is their food these days, I wonder how many weddings they are actually booking because they talk a lot about their wedding business and brunch something that should kind of be a no-brainer.
https://vista.today/2025/09/desmond-hotel-malvern-for-sale/
I have been there 2 times for lunch during the week this past year. Both times the place was like a morgue. My 2 friends and I were the only ones in the big room all to ourselves. Almost an echo. The hostess was our waitress and the lunch was ho-hum. Very disappointing too.
On another note, I was painting Plein Air at the Barnes on Tuesday with Philadelphia water color society. After, Bob and I stopped in at Heimie’s Delicatessen a long time favorite for a Rueben or Corn Beef and free pickles. We opted to have one in a wrap instead of the bread. It came on a big plate, minus fries or at least a couple of chips. The price was $17.95 each! We each ate half and brought the other half home for dinner. I have to say the place was packed, loud and everyone was squashed into every corner. I don’t think we will be back.
As for the Barnes. Such a disappointment inside; St. Joseph’s U is keeping it going…you prob know this. The grounds were fun for us painters and the Iris and Peonies were spectacular.