D’ Banquet Restaurant: Filipino Weekend Buffet in Tagaytay
So this month, I was invited to dine in a buffet restaurant in Tagaytay offering Filipino cuisine. It’s called D’ Banquet. I was excited because BUFFET! and also I won’t miss a chance to test out a Filipino restaurant that’s new to me because I believe we’re a bit short on good ones, in terms of quality and sulit-ness.
Before going here, I actually searched about the buffet restaurant and was surprised to see 4 and 5 star ratings in Google, with most reviewers appreciating the taste & quality as well as variety of food. I thought, okay, this must be good! We’re about to find out.
Here’s my review of D’ Banquet restaurant in Tagaytay!
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D’ Banquet, Tagaytay
First of all, what I noticed is that D’ Banquet has a nice, comfortable interior. There’s also an option for alfresco dining. It feels a little high than other Filipino restaurants offering buffet that I’d been to.
The staff were very friendly and immediately pointed me to my table.
Every Saturday and Sunday, the restaurant offers buffet for P599 per person, from 9AM to 3PM. There’s no time limit, so you can pig out as much as you want. As with other buffet restaurants, there’s a fee for leftovers and take-outs are not allowed.
For the rest of the week, the menu is for ala carte items only.
Like I said, I went here for the Sunday buffet, so now let’s move on to the food.
For the buffet, here’s what to expect:
- Soups
- Salads such as fresh salad, potato salad, macaroni salad
- Paella/fried rice, regular rice
- ~25 dishes including beloved Filipino favorites such as sisig, tokwa’t baboy and lechon kawali
- Pancit and pasta with different choice of sauces
- Pastries and bite-sized desserts such as custards, tarts, pichi-pichi
- Fresh fruits
- Drinks.
They also have Tagaytay specialties such as bulalo and tawilis.
The menu changes every week, so expect something different when you come by.
Here are some of the dishes laid out during my visit. I won’t be posting everything obviously, and there are some items I skipped (such as the appetizers).
Don’t scroll down if you’re hungry, especially if you’re reading this in the middle of the night!
First, there’s the soup. There was bulalo soup, cream of mushroom soup, and (if I remember correctly) corn soup. I got the bulalo soup, which I’ll recommend to you as well because (1) this is Tagaytay and bulalo is a must, (2) their bulalo soup is good and even though I only expected to get beef stock, the soup has actual beef slices and veggies and is a meal on its own.
Next, the rice. There’s regular rice and paella. I got paella, which was quite nice.
Let’s move on to the mains. I actually tried to taste a little bit of everything. As another blogger commented, the dishes are pretty straightfoward, there’s no twist or anything else added. There’s plenty to choose from — beef, pork, chicken, and seafood. There’s limited choices for vegetarians though.
Here are some of our all-time Filipino favorites. I liked the lechon kawali and lechon paksiw, as well as pork dinakdakan.
Here are other dishes. It was my first time eating balut ala pobre, which is basically balut eggs without the chick, served in a creamy sauce, and was surprised that I really liked it.
If you like seafood as much as I do, you’ll be happy with the many choices in D’ Banquet. There are mussels, shrimp, crablets, fish, and mixed seafood. The easy winner for me is the cheesy baked scallops. I also liked the crispy shrimp nilasing, which I think will go well with vinegar, and the fish scallop with onion, which was soft and flavorful.
There’s also a salad bar where you can make your own salad or get potato salad and macaroni salad. In other buffet restaurants, the salad bar is almost always ignored, so I was surprised to see other guests lining up here.
There’s also a pasta section. For the pasta, you can choose from spaghetti or fettuccine and usually 3 different sauces. At the time, options were pesto, tomato, and carbonara sauces. I got myself fettuccine with pesto and tomato sauces. The pesto smells so inviting and it’s good, while the tomato sauce is the typical Filipino sweet style with hotdogs. I actually prefer my tomato sauce on the tangy side. There are pancit bihon and canton as well, though I was too full to try them.
For the dessert, you’ll be happy to know that the desserts in the buffet are from the famous Amira’s Buco Tart Haus. I got custards and tarts, which are just sufficiently sweet to end the lunch.
As for the drinks, you can ask for plain water or choose from one of the many juices in the bar. I liked the cucumber lemonade since it’s refreshing.
And here are my plates. I started off with a bowl of bulalo soup and a mix of everything else. In the second plate, as you can see, I got another helping of cheesy baked scallops and finally tried out their pasta.
I also got myself a heap of potato salad and bite-sized tarts. Finally, I capped off the meal with a good cup of matcha tea from the cafe.
Here’s my verdict: Overall, the dishes are done well. D’ Banquet is a good option if you’re looking for a buffet restaurant in Tagaytay and are specifically craving for Filipino dishes. Even though the menu is not as big as chain buffet restaurants in Manila, given the quality and variety of food, it’s worth the P599 rate.
Other things that I would commend the restaurant for are the spacious dining area, friendly staff, and their in-house performer who serenades guests in each table.
About D’ Banquet Restaurant (Tagaytay)
D’ Banquet is a local restaurant offering Filipino dishes. It offers buffet on weekends at P599 per head and ala carte meals during the rest of the week.
Aside from the main dining area, the restaurant also has an events/exclusive dining area, a cafe (not inclusive in the buffet), and a one-stop pasalubong center where you can buy tarts, pies, and other delicacies.
Operating hours:
- Weekend buffet: 9AM – 3PM
- Ala carte: 9AM – 8PM
How to get here
You can find D’ Banquet restaurant at: Aguinaldo Highway, Corner Arnoulduz Road, Tagaytay City. The nearest landmark is the Pink Sisters Church.
- From EDSA, go to their Buendia or Pasay bus terminal and get on a bus en route to any of the ff: Nasugbu, Lian, Calatagan, Mendez, or Alfonso. Tell the driver to let you off at Pink Sisters Chuch.
- From Alabang, there are vans directly headed to Tagaytay in Festival Mall. Get off at the last stop, Olivares Terminal, and walk the short distance to the restaurant.
The restaurant has ample parking for private cars as well.
Contact
You can contact/follow D’ Banquet in their Facebook.
Disclaimer: Thank you D’ Banquet for the invitation! As always, opinions are my own.
Have you been to D’ Banquet in Tagaytay? What other restaurants in Tagaytay would you recommend?
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Katherine Cortes is a long-time backpacker and a freelance writer/editor. She likes beaches, snorkeling trips, and relaxing staycations (preferably with bath tubs!).