Nothing says “good morning” like a hearty breakfast at the Alila Ventana. Make sure to order the pastry basket as it’s the best thing here.

View other posts in this series:

• Simply Spectacular: The Immaculate Alila Ventana Big Sur
• Enjoying Breakfast at the Alila Ventana Big Sur (this post)
• Satisfying Lunch at the Alila Ventana Big Sur
• Delicious Dinner at the Alila Ventana Big Sur
• Alila Ventana’s NYE Dinner at The Sur House: Absolutely Delicious
• The Paid and Free Activities at Ventana Big Sur
• Comparing Miraval Berkshires With Alila Ventana: Which Is Better?

The venue

Breakfast is served at The Sur House each morning from 7AM to 10:30AM. Alternatively, you could also order breakfast via room service. But we enjoyed getting up in the morning to smell the fresh mountain air at the start of our day. Maybe it’s just the sound of the rocks under my feet reminding me of when I would go camping as a child, but I just loved the short hike to the restaurant.

Once at the end of the path, you’ll find The Sur House with some unused tables. Rather than having guests dine inside the restaurant walls, the hotel serves breakfast outside. I think that’s a good decision by the hotel to help take advantage of the natural beauty of the surrounding area.

Once outside, there is a host stand and some tables that provide a view of the ocean. The one downside is that you’re not going to get too much shade and the sun might get in your face. If it’s a bother, you could get staff to lower the shades a bit.

The simple beauty of the area set the mood for the rest of the day. Soft music was also playing in the background, giving it an elegant feel.

The breakfast menu

We each received a menu. Prices are listed on the menu, but hotel guests are free to ignore them. The prices are intended for outside guests (such as those who are camping at the campgrounds). The menu did not change at all between the two mornings we had breakfast. That didn’t bother us at all as there was enough variety to satisfy us on this trip.

(For those keeping track, we stayed here three nights, but only ended up eating two breakfasts. We had an early-morning departure of 5AM on New Year’s Day to make our flight home. While we could have considered room service early in the morning, we were too full to make a real effort.)

Note: You can find a copy of the latest menus on the Alila Ventana website.

Breakfast #1

We each started off with a glass of water and a freshly-blended green juice. The juice wasn’t too sweet and tasted healthy.

Jenn ordered the Big Sur mushroom tartine. This dish featured plenty of earthy mushrooms on top of a slice of bread and smothered with ricotta cheese. You’ll also find some onions and an egg adorning the dish. Whoever decided to add in the ricotta knew what they were doing as it worked well to bind the flavors of the dish together.

I ordered the chicken hash, which was a bit heavier of a dish than what Jenn had. There are chunks of chicken mixed in with sweet potatoes and a fried egg. I’m generally not one to openly seek out spicy food, but the chili aioli made the dish special. It provided just a bit of a kick that otherwise prevented the dish from becoming a bit bland.

Alongside our main courses, we also ordered a couple of sides for the table because why not? The first was the pastry basket. Jenn gave me a weird look when I ordered it, probably thinking why would I waste stomach space on pastries. What we got were some perfectly flaky, warm, fresh pastries that were honestly the best pastries we’ve had in a long time. Accompanying the pastries was a jam and cream mixture that fully complimented the bread. This is absolutely a must-eat.

We also ordered some fresh fruit for the table. Normally we love fruit, but I think the quality of everything else we ate made the fruit feel more average. It was refreshing but it was also just fruit.

Breakfast #2

On our second morning, Jenn again went with the green juice but this time I opted for some freshly-squeezed orange juice.

Jenn was feeling a bit more like a New Yorker and decided to go with the bagel and lox. A word of warning for those who don’t like spicy foods: the cream cheese is blended with horseradish. The combination made the spread less heavy and added a little kick. For us, it was definitely a welcome combination. As for the bagel and lox, it tasted as well-prepared as any bagel we’ve had in New York. For those paying cash, I’m not sure I’m ready to pay $30 for this dish, so I’m glad I didn’t have to make that decision.

My breakfast this morning was the chorizo scramble. I have a love-hate relationship with chorizo, which stems from the mixed feelings I get with the yummy taste combined with the typical greasy, oily feeling I get eating it. Well, I’m happy to report that this dish was not oily at all. This was much better than what I recalled getting at restaurants back home, and is something I wouldn’t hesitate to get again.

For our sides, we went with the hemp heart pudding. Attempts to try making a similar dish at home have not turned out anywhere as well as how it ended up here. The one critique is that although the menu says it includes coconut milk, it tasted more like regular milk was in the dish.

Did you think we could go another breakfast without ordering more pastries? Well this time we decided we were stuffed and ended up taking them back to the room with us (which we then saved for our early-morning road trip back the following day).

For proof of it not costing anything for hotel guests, I present to you the bill received upon dining.

Stay tuned for the next installment where we will dive into the lunch options at the resort.