Antonio's Tagaytay Review

I've heard a lot about Antonio's in Tagaytay. Antonio's is known to be Tagaytay's #1 restaurant, serving gourmet food.

It took time for us to find the place. We were told the place is full so we really hurried to take the last spot.

When we got to the area, the gate itself was already impressive. It did look like a secret garden but instead of flowers, there were glaring SUVs and luxury cars and a noticeable helicopter on a helipad. Well that just meant maybe this place is really that good, I thought.

Upon entering the restaurant, the austere ambiance of old Spanish elaborate architecture engulfed me. With servers dressed in black and white, it seemed to take us back in time when slavery was accepted and not frowned upon. I wasn't a fan of their choice of uniform style.

One of the staff members handed me the menu, a little greasy and untidy but I thought, that's fine. The "servers" seem to know what to recommended and at least they know that the menu contains. They were able to describe the quantity of the meal, what it consists of etc. For example, I asked, "how do you make a flourless chocolate cake?" The server said, "we use mocha / chocolate powder instead of flour." Ok I can accept that but I am not sure if it can work yet.  Anyway they know what gnocchi is.

Quite remarkable are the huge windows and chandeliers and high ceilings. I loved the green surroundings. The weather was hot but I was comfortable with the breeze. The only discomfort maybe would have been the incessant fly-looking-bee.

Well we all ordered the set menu:
Lamb with Gnocchi side dish(1)

Crab Ravioli

Salmon and pasta (2)

We had salad, which was ok. A bit modest serving. Notable was the candied walnut.

Then we had soup which had a nice touch of coffee. They called it mushroom cappucino soup (something like that). Forgive me for not remembering exactly. I liked the twist in flavour.

Then we were given a complementary sorbet "to cleanse the pallatte". Well thank you. That just means that chef is sensitive with customers. Although that may also suggest the main course meals will be a tad bit delayed.

So the main course... well my Crab Ravioli was nice and tasty. I could have more though, not that I'm a pig but I thought the serving was a too small. My dad was so happy with his Lamb rack... my mom was slightly happy with her salmon... but my partner thought the salmon tasted as if it was frozen and not fresh. Well my partner's a bit picky because he's used to NZ salmon and it's understandably quite hard to source that fresh in the Philippines.

Since this is supposed to be gourmet food, I thought dad's and my main meal were the most "gourmet" of all that we had. The Salmon dish was not at all impressive. Even the pasta it came along with.

Then we had the dessert - a long awaited surprised. We were prepped first too, just before the start of the meal that we will be given a huge choice of dessert... so our verdict?

Again Dad picked the best dessert! Spicy chocolate - different and memorable.

My partner ordered chocolate mint, which he adored.

My mom ordered some kind of rich chocolate mousse with pistachios which she didn't really like.

I ordered flourless chocolate cake - yes it was the best chocolate cake I have ever had but too rich for me to have again ever in my life.

The table setting was great. Loved that they used the local flowers.

We even visited the rest of the area - Antonio's breakfast area, which had really creative furniture and interiors.

My verdict? Of course we will visit Antonio's again.

A little treat for all of us. The entire meal cost $40/person on the average. Still good compared to western standards for a three-course meal.

I would love to see some competition though. Surely someone else can create better food at a slightly lower price ;-)

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