Dining at Valentino Resort and Spa

Aside from the gym and spa, and the resort's relaxing ambience, Valentino Resort and Spa also has their own restaurant.



The rest of the group already had their share of the dining experience at the resort's restaurant over lunch, but Mark and I just had to skip having lunch with them since we brought our own food. :)

Come dinner time, Marwin suggested that we go out since they already had their lunch at Valentino's restaurant.  Unfortunately, aside from a kambingan, there wasn't any restaurant nearby, so we just went back to the resort's restaurant.

While waiting for our food. Galit galit? :p

Mark was on a diet and was prepping up for a competition, so he just ordered their grilled chicken.  Mark and I were both expecting a char-grilled chicken, but the chicken looked like it was fried.  I guess it was grilled using a turbo broiler.  The dish had a generous serving of chicken breast and it also came with a garlic mashed potato and sautéed bean sprouts.  Mark enjoyed his dish and was captured by the taste of the mashed potato that he ordered another serving for take out. :)

Grilled Chicken with Garlic Mashed Potato and Sautéed Bean Sprouts

I was on a meal plan that time and was only allowed to take in vegetables for dinner, plus whey protein, so I just settled for their chopseuy.  Another generous serving, the dish also had some kikiam and pork slices in it which I just had to set aside. :p  I was also very keen in setting aside the sauce because I was actually allowed to have only raw veggies, or steamed/boiled at the least. :p

Chopseuy

I wasn't able to jot down the price but as far as I remember, Mark and I only paid less than Php 500 for our dinner (which included 4 bottled waters).

Our accommodation includes free breakfast, American and Filipino breakfast were the ones I remembered, which also come with a choice of coffee, hot chocolate, or juice.

Mark had coffee while I chose to have the hot chocolate.  I guess it was a bad choice for me.  The hot chocolate was just, uhmm, too sweet. It actually tasted like chocolate syrup (like the ones used in pancakes) placed in hot water.

Hot Chocolate

Everyone who ordered coffee was raving about how good it was, so when one of the servers gladly obliged when Marwin had his cup refilled and asked who else wanted a refill, I immediately asked Mark to get a refill for me. :p

My meal plan doesn't really allow me to have liquids other than water or fresh orange juice, but since I already deviated from my meal plan by having hot chocolate and coffee,  I thought that I might as well indulge in Valentino's Filipino breakfast! :p The Filipino breakfast comes with a choice of tapang taal, daing na bangus, tocino, or longganisa; plus scrambled or sunny-side-up egg and steamed or fried rice.

Filipino Breakfast: Tapang Taal, Fried Rice, and Sunny-Side-Up Egg

Mark and I both chose the tapang taal.  The tapa wasn't like the ones that I got used to but it was just delicious!  It actually looked and tasted like the Filipino version of Beef Steak, or Bistek Tagalog as what we all know of.  Although I was really enjoying the dish, my stomach just didn't want to take in that much food, so I was able to finish only half of my plate.  The other half was devoured by Mark.

Filipino Breakfast: Tapang Taal, Fried Rice, and Scrambled Egg

He must have been very hungry that time that he got another order of the Tapang Taal meal, making him finish a total of 2 and a half meals!

All of us had a good dining experience at Valentino.  Aside from the good food, their customer service is also commendable.  There was this one staff who never failed to greet us each time we were in the restaurant.  Most of them were also very accommodating especially with our (mine and Mark's) requests and numerous questions regarding their menu. :p

With food that are both palate- and budget-friendly partnered with good customer service, I guess I can just forget about the glitches in the resort's accommodation and that middle-aged lady. :p  Over-all, I can say that I enjoyed my stay at Valentino. :)

VALENTINO RESORT AND SPA
Barangay Pinagtung-ulan,
San Jose, Batangas