Antonio's Fine Dining

Last February, we celebrated M's birthday by going out of town to enjoy the cool Tagaytay weather!

To commemorate the special occasion, I made reservations for lunch at Antonio's Fine Dining and the girls couldn't believe it! First of all, this place has been known to be quite expensive. Second, we weren't sure if the servings were worthy of the price, or if the kids would find it to their liking.

But when we got there, we were happy to find that the overall ambiance of the place was really pleasant and quiet. Tucked in an almost very remote section off the main highway in Purok 138, Barangay Neogan, Tagaytay City, Antonio's is all that its cracked up to be: quiet, simply laid out, and no nonsense when it came to the food.

As a family, we've been to quite a few dining spots, but we try to focus on places where the ordinary Filipino family of four can well afford. Its only during special occasions such as birthdays or anniversaries that we get the urge to try out something more posh and EXPENSIVE!

And the girls noticed, too, the prices on the menu. They said they don't mind being in a nice formal place, but that they hope that we won't do it too often.

Ah thank God, my girls, they still enjoy the home-cooked, caveman food variety!

Upon arrival and a bit of confusion with regards to my reservation, we were sat at table not too far from the windows overlooking hills of Tagaytay (or Cavite, as the case may be).

We ordered fresh mango juice for the four of us, and this was served on a nice carafe that guaranteed refills for all.

Looking at the menu, we ordered some of the best items on the menu: Herbed Roasted Rack of Lamb w/ Cardamom Beurre Blanc for Sab; Grilled Beef Fillet Gratinated with Wild Mushroom on Mashed Potato for Alf; I ordered the Chilean Sea Bass, foil Baked w/ Tomatoes, Olives, Parsley Pine Nuts on Mashed Potatoes, and the birthday girl got Schwein Haxen (Roast Pork Knuckle), sauerkraut, chateau potato, cabbage.

Each set menu includes the house salad, soup of the day, dessert and coffee or tea, with the choice of entree determinining the price of the meal.

That day's house salad consisted of arugula, sun-dried tomato, Gorgonzola and glazed walnuts. The kids didn't enjoy the arugula that much, but they did try to finish as much as they could. Our soup was a creamy pumpkin soup that was really good.

Then our orders arrived. The rack of lamb looked scrumptious, but I had to control myself coz I didn't order that. Sab didn't mind sharing a morsel or two, but she did look forward to devouring most of it!

My Chilean Sea Bass melted on my tongue, and Me-Ann's Roast Pork was also good. We all ended trying out each other's dish. Surprisingly, it was quite filling!

We capped our meal with a great dessert selection: Yugurt Panna Cotta w/ Lemon Curd, Chocolate Terrine w/ Double Cream and Roasted Pistachio, Dark Chocolate Souffle w/ Cardamon Creme Anglaise and Flourless Chocolate Cake. We just managed to finish half and kept the rest to take with us.

The dining experience at Antonio's is something one needs to experience to truly say that he has enjoyed the finer things. I'm just glad we had the opportunity to do so, and that my daughters had the chance to sample fine dining without the pretenses, without the "stiff upper lip" and with all the best ingredients, great food and exceptional service.

Total expense for our party of four = P8,085.00! I guess I have to say that the whole meal was worth this price, and I'm glad its not very difficult to do so. In this instance, you get what you pay for!

We might just be back sometime in the near future. Maybe we'll try the breakfast next time. We'll see.