Restaurant Verbena is soup-er cool and cozy

You know you’ve arrived at Restaurant Verbena when the majestic view of Taal Volcano greets you from the restaurant’s verandah; that is, if the view of Taal Lake is not blanketed by fog. The restaurant, located at the Discovery Country Suites in Tagaytay, has a large indoor dining area that includes a loft dining space and a chef’s table in the kitchen. Incidentally, the indoor dining area doubles as Country Suites’ lobby. If you want to enjoy the cool Tagaytay air, the verandah offers the pleasures of al fresco dining.

As you step into Country Suites, large comfortable sofas to the right of the lobby welcome you. It is not difficult to imagine guests sitting here and lazily dozing off into a nap as the crisp afternoon air cools the room. To the left are formal table setups where you can dine a little more formally. However, there are no rules here; you dine where you want to sit.

Restaurant Verbena executive chef David Pardo de Ayala comments on the more relaxed space of his new venture compared with the more frenzied pace at Soleil, his last restaurant in Makati City.

"If we are going to talk about the pace of work here, definitely Makati is so much more demanding," says Pardo de Ayala. "Because we are in Tagaytay, diners expect less from the restaurant; they are not as demanding as when they are in Makati. They are happy with the simple menu the restaurant offers. But every so often, a regular would spring a surprise. Someone might come in and say, ‘Make me a dinner that’s not on the menu.’ That’s when I can relay on a secret stash of ingredients I personally keep in the kitchen here."

The rationale behind Restaurant Verbena jives with the concept for Discovery Country Suites: "We aim to offer an experience that is casual yet elegant, relaxed but still polished and professional at the same time, the chance for first-rate dining in a rustic country setting. We want to present diners with a novel alternative to what can be currently found in Tagaytay."

While the restaurant is barely a year old – it opened only last March – the menu has seen a number of changes. Pardo de Ayala says the menu is designed to complement the Tagaytay weather.

"With the cool weather, there are more soups and salads on the menu," he explains. "When the weather turns warmer in the summer months, then we add more grills to the menu, and perhaps a cold gazpacho."

There are already favorites in the menu, such as the grilled US Angus rib eye steak and the seared Chilean sea bass, which his regulars can always look forward to. But every so often, he would introduce a couple of new items to the menu to give guests more choices.

"It’s so easy to change the menu because everything is printed here," he explains. Indeed, there is something temporary about the menu. Printed on parchment paper, the printed menu easily slides into amateur menu boards that add charm to the whole presentation. Everything feels homespun here.

With the cool Tagaytay weather, it wasn’t surprising that our host, Discovery Country Suites resident manager Sunshine Rose S. Rocha, ordered something warm. The starter was the organic mozzarella cheese pot served fondue style, with spicy tomato sugo, fresh Tagaytay herbs and warm focaccia. What followed were the roasted Tagaytay tomato and Parmesan pistou and the potato leek soup. The salads included the popular herb-marinated mushrooms and organic arugula and Verbena salad patch. While all these dishes were meant to prepare you for the entrée, they were all filling enough to serve as lunch. Indeed, they all warmed us on that cool, rainy afternoon.

For entrees, we had two warm soupy and saucy dishes, the US Angus short ribs goulash and Mediterranean seafood bouillabaisse. These were as comforting as comfort food goes: the bouillabaisse was warm and hearty, redolent with the taste of seafood, while the goulash was meaty, tender, and just as reassuring.

The dessert course was an embarrassment of riches. Eventually, we settled for the chocolate marquise, honey ricotta crème brûlée, and frozen cognac parfait. Even if you are not partial to chocolate, the marquise will definitely win you: Imagine soft creamy chocolate melting in your mouth? The crème brûlée had the added texture of ricotta cheese and a surprise of raspberries at the bottom. The parfait was warm and creamy; the topping of sloshed figs, oranges and whipped cream was a sinful extra you could not possibly resist.

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Restaurant Verbena is at Discovery Country Suites Tagaytay, 300 Calamba Rd., San Jose, Tagaytay City. For inquiries and reservations, call (046)413-4567 or its Manila reservations office at 683-8383. Log on to www.discoverycountrysuites.com.<