Some places are quite nice from a distance. Carefully curated social media posts may make a place seem better than it really is. This is especially important for restaurants and cafés that require quite a drive to get to (at least for us Manileños).
This is the impression that Hillbarn Café and Restaurant, a restaurant in Tagaytay with a cute Dutch aesthetic, portrays. In fact, with a mock-up of an actual windmill being the centerpiece of the restaurant, it does make for a very nice, very Instagrammable snapshot.
This being the case, does Hillbarn actually live up to its European theme? Or is this nothing more than a roadside curiosity?
The drive
The drive is anywhere from 1.5 to 2 hours from Manila. It is an involving drive including a 45-minute blast down SLEX, with the remaining time taken up by wide provincial roads, and the last kilometers being tighter dual carriageways that will challenge your overtaking skills.
The drive isn’t the most engaging, with most of the trip being uphill and with straight highways and wide provincial roads. At the very least traffic is generally manageable during the weekends, with space to overtake and sights to see on the way up. Just note that there will be a turn that you will need to take before the restaurant; it’s easy to miss and opens up to a full view of the restaurant about a block away from the turn.
Parking and accessibility
The parking is huge. Not only is there a lot of space right in front of the windmill, but since this place moonlights as an events venue for weddings and whatnot, there is also a separate huge open parking right across from the restaurant itself.
Parking is not paved, but on gravel, which, while fine for cars and those with no mobility issues, may pose an issue with those with disabilities. There are also stairs going up to the second floor of the windmill, which serves as the dining area, so keep this in mind if traveling with seniors or mobility-challenged friends or family.
Venue
The windmill does look quite quaint, and there are multiple areas for photo shoots, including a pair of Dutch clogs with a background. So far, quite photogenic. Unfortunately, the ground floor is for a café only, which means you have to make your way to the second floor if you wish to eat.
On the second floor, it is a bit tight due to the sloping sides of the windmill, but there is also an outdoor area to the rear and side of the main building, but this may or may not be your cup of tea, depending on your tolerance for temperature.
The venue is clearly focusing on being that: a venue. While we were there, there was a wedding being setup, and from our vantage point, the events part of the restaurant seems flexible and easy to set up.
Food experience
Unfortunately, while Hillbarn focuses on being a photogenic venue, it would seem that they forgot to sprinkle some of that attention on the dining experience.
First, we were told that their hot drinks were not available, as their machine was broken that day. This was almost a deal breaker in itself, since we did go for breakfast, and after a relatively long drive, you would have hoped they would have had even just instant hot coffee, but alas, only cold drinks were available.
Secondly, the food was just lacking. We ordered the steak frites (steak and fries), and the chicken and waffles. The steak was actually decent, but served cold; cold, but properly cooked, so it could have just been left out after cooking. Thankfully, it was served with a pretty good peppercorn sauce. The mushroom sides served with the steak, however, was just plain terrible. It tasted as if the mushrooms were sauteed in margarine, as it was salty to the point of it being inedible. It made our tongues tingle with their saltiness. Finally, the kamote fries were ok, but nothing special. We felt as salty as the mushrooms, because this was the most expensive item on their breakfast menu.
The chicken of the chicken and waffles was decent, but the chicken was a bit bland. The waffles tasted okay but were tough to chew. All-in-all, this one was edible, but made us feel that they could have improved this if they did some comparisons with much better offerings from other restaurants.
Value for Money
For the quality (or lack thereof) of the food, it just was not worth it. Yes, the steak was the most expensive item on the menu, but you would think that even the cheaper items on the menu would be at the very least, decent, but this wasn’t the case. It is hard to justify a road trip for a meal when that meal can be better had, for cheaper, in a Pancake House or even elsewhere in Tagaytay, if the road trip itself was your goal.
Verdict
It is clear that Hillbarn’s priority is its aesthetic, and to this, it is clear it has done its homework. The windmill is impressive enough, and the various small trinkets and photo spots around do lend themselves to an IG-worthy photo, but this does nothing for the fact that after your photos, you still have to eat your meal, and unfortunately, this meal was not good for us.
We don’t know if it was an off-day, but the food was just not worth the drive. We hope they can improve, as we do think it would be worth going to if the food was decent, or at the very absolute minimum, their coffee machine gets working again.
Score: 6/10
Travel time from Manila: 1.5-2 hours
Budget: P 1,500-3,000 per pax
Website/reservations: https://www.facebook.com/hillbarncaferestaurant
More photos of Hillbarn Cafe and Restaurant:
