Ready to eat once more?
Cafe Verbena. noun.
1. Resto that is an alternative to Antonio’s but not quite at par;
2. A place with a homey country ambience and free wifi in Tagaytay!
3. It serves contemporary country cuisine by Executive Chef David Pardo De Ayala
This is a good alternative if you want a private dinner place with a country ambiance. The service was very good. I was surprised to see that instead of magazines, they have Filipino great books like Bahura and Manila My Manila (by Nick Joaquin) for reading to pass the time. Since Wifi is free, you can now have a place to check your emails, update your blog, or upload your photos of your Tagaytay adventure. It does not have a clear view of Tagaytay lake but at night, you wouldn’t care anyway.
I’ve got mixed reaction on the food from my readers about this place so I was determined to checked it out for myself. Don’t expect an Antonio’s type of food where the food is prepared as you ordered. I have a theory that if Chef David is not in the house, most of the food are frozen or prepared in advanced so the quality of food is degraded. It is still a lot better than most restaurants in Tagaytay, but since the quality of food is just OK, some would feel that it is over priced. This was our experience and let me know what you think about this place.
We have been going around Tagaytay for a good 30 minutes until we finally decided to indulge ourselves into the cozy and elegant place called Cafe Verbena @ Discovery Suites, Tagaytay. We were looking for a new place in Tagaytay but we only find the usual ones which you can’t consider as “bloggable” as my wife and I would call it. You can feel the soft breeze and fresh air sipping into your nose with the cold air blanketing you . Indeed, Christmas is just around the corner! We can’t wait for it! Some predicts that this will be the coldest December ever so we need to be prepared for it.
Here is a peak at the Cafe Verbena Menu
Appetizer and Salad Menu
A Salad of Country Tomatoes with Mozarella (P180). Organic “Mozzarella di Buffala”, Basil Baby Capers & New Zealand Avocado Oil.
The presentation is ok but we felt that this is something that we can easily do at home once you have the right Mozzarella cheese. Nothing to be happy about except that this is healthy food. We always make it a point to eat “live food” which includes raw or slow cooked vegetables to give our body the proper nutrients it needs.
Organic Mozarella Cheese Pot (P240). Served Fondue style with spiced tomato sugo, fresh tagaytay herbs and warm focaccia.
Cheese Pot! Cheese Pot! Cheese Pot! (Say it aloud! hahaha) My wife got shocked when she heard my brother said it. She thought otherwise! Can’t get enough of the sweetness and spiciness of the tomato sugo! Don’t forget the melted mozarella! We could have asked for more but then we wouldn’t be able to taste the other dishes that looks yummy! You’ll never go wrong with this when you order this as an appetizer.
Black Peppered Fettuccini (P260). With smoked bacon, roasted garlic and seared portabello mushroom.
Bland for our taste because no one bothered to mix the pasta. You need to eat the portabello mushroom and the fettuccini with the salty smoked bacon.
Grilled Lamb Baby Back Ribs (P390). With sweet & spicy bbq sauce with Italian polenta fries and baby greens.
We just had to try this one to justify our previous eat of baby back ribs in Polu Kai Grill with almost double the amount. This is a lot better than Po Lu Kai’s Baby Back Ribs and I feel better in paying for this. Tasty meat and definitely meat falling off the bone! The fries is not your usual one…try MM’s Fried Polenta Sticks with Tomato Sauce…this may not be the same but close enough am sure! Happy eating guys!
Gangivecchio Seafood Spaghetti (P360). A Sicilian specialty with a twist of Tagayaty Assorted Seafood, Organic Bell Peppers, Fresh Herbs and Tomato Soffritto.
The Pasta was cooked al dente. This did not fail to meet my expectation of a tomato based sauce pasta. You can tell that the seafood are fresh because of their crunchiness.
Sorry, no dessert this time even if I was tempted to order a Chocolate Souffle.
Cafe Verbenna @Country Suites, Discovery, Tagaytay
300 Calamba Road, San Jose,
Tagaytay City 4120 Philippines
Telephone: +63 46 413-4567
Manila Reservations: +632 6838222
Direct Line: +632 683-8204
www.discoverycountrysuites.com
Related Posts:
The Cafe Verbenna Breakfast Experience 
We have tried their breakfast set menus which include unlimited servings of fresh juices. The omelet with smoked fish was very good. The service is at par with hotels in the Metro or even better. I find it overall to offer better value for money than Antonio’s breakfast.
hey bro!
have you taken Aidan to the the casting agent already? from the 1st pic above, your baby really should be in TV Commercials and Print Ads!
i was on a date in Zigurrat last night, then ended up drinking beer in the MATRIX bar on the P.Burgos red-light district a few steps away.
“bloggable” bar, Rach!!
Spending a couple of days in Tagaytay. Tried both Fire Lake Grill and Verbena today. Though I paid almost the same at both places, Verbena wins hands down. We had the cheese fondue, the arugula salad, beef short ribs goulash, lobster saffron pappardelle, the trio of flavored panna cottas, wine and juice – and still ended up paying less than at Fire Lake, where we had only a soup, a sparse salad, rib eye steak, BBQ porkloin, a miniscule flourless choco cake and mascarpone granita. The quality of Verbena’s food, the presentation, and service standards are at par with the best that Metro Manila has to offer – but without the outrageous/absurd prices. I told the hubby that, had he taken me to Verbena when we were still courting, he would’ve gotten a lot of pogi points. Thanks for the recommendation.
I think you may have been a bit off on your review for Cafe Verbena… here is mine:
I just had one of my best lunches in months in Cafe Verbena!
With the company of my best friends, Chef David capped our fabulous Tagaytay reunion with a fantastic luncheon fit for kings!
Our menu:
Starters:
Amuse Bouche of tapanade crostini with sundried tomato and mozzarella
Marinated roasted Tagaytay bell peppers
Crispy croqueta de Tinapa (local smoked fish)
Baked oysters rockefeller
Salads:
Crispy fried mozzarella salad
Warm scallops salad with organic arugula, jamon Serrano, red onion confit and anchoide vinaigrette.
Simple green salad – assorted Tagaytay greens, fresh herbs, cherry tomatoes & sherry viniagrette.
Soup:
Tagaytay Bulalo soup (local recipe for beef shank with marrow soup)
Midcourse:
Black truffle risotto, crispy soft eff and smoked bacon jus
Lucban longganisa (local sausage from the Lucban, Quezon) risotto
Main Course:
U.S. ribeye tagliata with seared shitakes and arugula with potato puree.
Dessert:
Chocolate Marquise with pistachios and vanilla English cream
Apple tarte tatin with creme chantilly
Crepes nutella with caramel bananas
Panna Cotta Heaven – Saffron panna cotta with caramel oranges, Black pepper panna cotta with berries, and Lemon balm panna cotta with pistachio brittle
Chocolate Fondue
So when I said fit for kings, now you know what I mean.
Of course because I was too excited (and a little hungry) by the time we arrived at Verbana, I went after their yummy bread with their home made butter, chicken terrine and a bean spread. Thing is because the menu was really a surprise menu for us, I didn’t realize how much food was coming. But not to worry, I was ready to take on whatever Chef David prepared for us.
My favorites (and this does not mean the rest weren’t great), just that these were the ones I tried to get more of:
– Tinapa Croqueta – so delicate even if Tinapa has a tendency to overpower any dish.
– Warm scallop with Jamon Serano – I loved the anchovy dressing that complemented the combination of each of the ingredients in the dish.
– Bulalo soup – I’m actually not a big fan of Bulalo soup, I’ve always found it too greasy even if my husband says that is what makes it good. But this one was truly easy to eat with not to much of that fatty taste I don’t like, plus the veggies made were still crisp (which never is the case for other Bulalos I’ve tasted)/
– Lucban Longganisa risotto – I wanted to have more of this, but of course I needed to share with my friends (but my friend serving us did give me the biggest portion, woot woot!). The risotto was cooked to perfection, something that is really hard to get here in the Philippines. Most of the time it’s either too soggy or crispy. But this was perfect. Plus the taste of the Lucban longganissa was subtle and not subtle, I’m not sure how to explain it, but the way it was prepared, I seriously will be craving for this one for a long long time.
– The BEEF…the glorious Beef! – Honestly folks it was cooked exactly the way a piece of meat should be prepared. The meat was juicy and the herbs used gave justice to the excellent beef it was supplementing. Of course I love shitake mushrooms, so what more could I ask for. And his potato puree (which I’ve tried in his other restaurants) has always made me wonder why I can never do it to perfection the way he does!!!
– Lemon Panna cotta was glorious! The pistachio brittle on top was perfect with the panna cotta and just melted in my mouth!
– CHOCOLATE MARQUISE — This is Chef David’s piece de resistance, and honestly, the best chocolate dessert I’ve had in years. I didn’t bother being nice to my friends and just ate most of it cause the chocolate with the English cream combination was so perfectly executed, I just can’t imagine finding anything better in the Philippines.
I recommend this place to anyone visiting Tagaytay. Not only do you get the view of one of the Philippine key landmarks (Taal volcano – a volcano within a volcano), but you also get a warm fuzzy feeling after eating in Cafe Verbena!