Le Chef — Restaurant in Baguio

Food Selection -Le Chef offers both Ala Carte & Buffet Meals, that have various dishes to choose from -we particularly love their steaks - both the beef & lamb variety - that come with different sidings; their mashed potato siding is quite flavorful -we love their Greek Salad the most & their pesto pasta -their desserts are mouthwatering, albeit not as many choices as we would have liked -they have a decent wine selection, though we were expecting they would have more fine wines in their selection -we are just glad that the delightful taste, the filling serving sizes, & the plating of the dishes remain top notch through the years (at least, since we first dined at Le Chef in 2012) -the dishes remained appetizing, delicious, & satisfying -the freshness & quality of the ingredients - under the skillful hands, discriminating taste, & artistry of the Chef - translate into such delicious & satisfying dishes

Service -we've been dining at Le Chef since 2012; we usually go there at least 3-4 times a year, sometimes more, usually in groups (between 4 to 20 people in a group) -it appears that through the years, the service has slightly deteriorated in terms of waiting time; this is most noticeable during the peak days/hours. This appears to be because they are understaffed & they seem to have a high turn over of staff (sometimes there would be new managers/supervisors, waiters, servers only after a few months). There have been times when only 1 waiter would handle an area that accommodates at least 50 diners; while there are other servers that assist in serving the dishes, the taking of orders is done by just this 1 waiter -In one of our recent visits last October 2019, the male supervisor did not even attempt to help out that 1 waiter in his area (the male supervisor was just standing there, adjusting his clothes & avoiding eye contact with any of the diners); good thing, the female supervisor in another area took the initiative to help out that 1 waiter

Ambience -given the location, the temperature is great coupled with the relatively fresher air -during dry season (summer), it can get warm at lunch time (especially in the dining area inside); during the rainy season, it can get too cold in the evenings (but they provide heaters for this) -generally, the patrons are decent people; however, being that the location is a tourist spot & open to the public, there would just be times when some guests (not necessarily diners) would have noisy kids & obnoxious/unsightly teens/young adults who seem unable to notice that there are other patrons who just want to have a quiet meal -when they serve Buffet Meals, expect the crowd to be a lot noisier (this is one reason we prefer to dine when they serve Ala Carte, when there are less people & too often the patrons are more quiet; our only concern during Ala Carte is the serving time) -parking is limited, but they allow diners to park at The Forest Lodge parking area for a PhP 50.00 fee per vehicle (as of October 2019); the parking area is within walking distance of Le Chef; from that parking area, one would just enter Le Chef via the garden dining area (not via the reception/lobby of The Manor) -if taking a cab, one can be dropped off at the reception/lobby of The Manor

Wish List -we wish that parking is free for diners, even if they park at The Forest Lodge parking area -we wish that they deploy more waiters during peak days/hours to shorten waiting time -we wish they hire more permanent managers/supervisors, waiters, & servers who will stay with the company longer, so that they can get to know more the frequent patrons/diners, that they could offer not only professional service but also personalized care (like they would know our favorite dining area, our favorite dishes, our preferred wines, how we like our steaks, etc.)

Pricing -pricing is just about right given the menu, the service, and...

Hosted a small group on March 13th to celebrate our 33rd wedding anniversary, and return to the Philippines. The atmosphere was fitting for our 4 kids, and my wife's 3 siblings and closest boisterous friends during her college days. Distance between tables in an outdoor-like setting was adequate to avoid disruption of nearby guests. We all mostly had the 4-course meal, where we found the options were all not uncommon. I cannot remember what I selected, but I do recall that my main course meat was dry, and the melted ice cream was presented as less than 1/4 cup of cream. Same feedback from my wife and kids. The table end where I sat lacked leg room, as it appeared to be a fold-up, and not a table expected in a restaurant that claims to one delivering fine dining. The wait staff were very attentive and polite. However, in their enthusiasm to serve, they seemed rushed, resulting in loss of finesse in their movements, many times over- reaching across our plates. Constructively, I would consider going back regularly for the cool open air atmosphere and try other menu items, but not for the chefs menu we had that evening. In support of wait staff towards delivering a consistent fine dining experience, I would suggest training to serve with well timed, intentional and efficient steps and movements, and not quick with over enthusiasm.

*I was going to write a separate review for Le Chef regarding their food items served in the piano lounge. Since I am unable to, I will just add it here. We were there March 15 this year to relive my wife's singing past with her musical friends. My son's and I opted to have beer and some pizza to nibble on. Le Chef served us pizza that was very low quality, frozen and boxed equivalent! By itself, their pizza would get the minimum allowable 1 star to enter a review, and just lowered my average review of the food I've had there. All I can advise is that Le "Chef" raise their bar substantially regarding the pizza's they serve in the lounge, and that customers...

Horrible dinner experience. Incompetent evening staff especially the girl, Alyssa, the staff at the dining reception area who doesn’t seem to want to assist us—or she doesn’t seem to know that she have to assist us. We’ve asked multiple times about dining in there but she just kept saying, “if you’re eating light meals you have to dine in the Piano Bar”, when we just want to dine in Le Chef. It’s our third night in The Manor by that time and like other hotels, there’s no apparent boundary with the common areas inside the Hotel and the restaurant itself. So when she she didn’t assist us to any seats, we just sat in one of the tables inside. I went to her again to ask if anyone could kindly take our order and pointed where we are seated. She then went to our seats to get our order. A little later, she went back to say that the area where we are seated is closed and she have to transfer us to another table, which would have been just fine. But another while later, she told us that the table where she transferred us is already reserved, so she had to transfer us once again to another table. By this time, our order has been with them for almost 20 mins already, when she came back to ask what was our pasta order again and that the baby back ribs we ordered is not available. This is frustrating as we already told her from the first time we spoke to her that we have to leave by 8pm. She assured us that our orders will only take 5 to 15 mins. So verifying what our order is again 20 minutes in, is kind of a big deal. Anyway, another while later, our orders finally came in, except for the pork tenderloin. We started eating but when we noticed that it’s taking too long for that order to arrive, we followed up. We were told that they didn’t get to list down the pork tenderloin order. So they have to rush it. The whole ordeal was frustrating, but it would have been worth it if the food is amazing, but it’s not. The Beef Steak was the only barely decent-tasting meal from what we ordered. The rest are...