Lunch at the hotel seemed a bit unnecessary, if only because of the filling meals at breakfast and dinner, but it was still mostly delicious.

View other posts in this series:

• Simply Spectacular: The Immaculate Alila Ventana Big Sur
• Enjoying Breakfast at the Alila Ventana Big Sur
• Satisfying Lunch at the Alila Ventana Big Sur (this post)
• 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?

Resort guests have the option of eating lunch at two different locations (well, three if you count room service). Since we were here three nights, that meant we got to experience it at both places. Each location provides its own unique style, but the choice seemed clear on what we liked better. As a reminder, lunch (as well as all meals) is included for free with your room rate when you stay in the hotel.

The Sur House

Lunch is served at the Sur House between 11:30AM and 3:00PM daily. And just like breakfast, meals are served outdoors. I also should note that this is the only meal service here where children are welcome. That won’t matter if you are staying in the hotel since kids are not allowed there, but if you’re driving up the coast or staying in the campgrounds, it’s worth knowing kids are welcome for lunch.

We arrived around 1PM and didn’t need to wait. And, yes, we did see one child out here on the patio.

The lunch menu

It seemed like the lunch options focused a bit more on smaller dishes and a blend of Mexican and American choices. Given how filling dinner is, I’m fine with simple options for lunch.

What we ordered

Right off the bat, I should say that we found service excruciatingly slow at the Sur House (over 90 minutes long). It wasn’t this slow for any other meal service. It’s also not like there were many of other guests eating lunch either. The server seemed to disappear for long stretches and the kitchen took an inordinate amount of time to prepare the food. Since we only ate here one day, it’s unclear if it was a one-off or a trend.

That said, Jenn started with an Arnold Palmer and I chose the local “Monterey Beer” lager.

I ordered some Harissa Hummus, which was good, but we found the pickles to be overly salty. The hummus will balance it out a little, but I didn’t feel the pickles were needed.

Jenn went with the Ventana Tortilla Soup, which was excellent.

For my main dish, I chose the Churrasco, which was absolutely delicious. The crisp crust on the meat mixed with the chimichurri and cilantro rice was a superb combination. The only problem is finding enough room in your stomach to finish it all.

Jenn selected the Daily Fish, which was ahi tuna that day. But unfortunately, it seemed like the kitchen did not know how to cook the tuna. The fish came back fully cooked all the way through rather than simply seared around the edges as expected. It wasn’t just our dish that seemed butchered as another table complained about the dish and received a properly-cooked slab of ahi. Since we weren’t too hungry, we didn’t make a big deal about it.

But otherwise, the flavors of the accompanying vegetables were pretty good and the puree is also tasty.

We finished the meals with two scoops of ice cream. The choices today were mixed berry sorbet and fig ice cream. While I was a fan of the mixed berry, Jenn absolutely loved the fig ice cream.

We also ordered the Dulce de Leche Chocolate Cake, which had good flavor. As expected, it was a bit heavier than the ice cream. If you wanted to finish with a light, refreshing dish, this isn’t it. But that’s fine with me.

Poolside lunch

Your other option for lunch is dining poolside by the Meadow Pool, which is open for lunch between 11:30AM and 4:00PM. And in case you’re wondering, no children are allowed here.

You can either take your lunch by the side of the pool, as the name implies, or you can enjoy it on the beautiful lawn.

The menu

A bit of a whoops on my end, but it looks like I missed taking photos of the food menu. Thankfully, the hotel has the menu posted online for all to see. The lunch choices were quite simple, even more so than at the Sur House.

What we ordered

We started with some Sincere Cider, which was light and refreshing.

We each ordered a sandwich. Jenn chose the tuna sandwich, after one of the employees raved about the meal. The tuna is mixed with pesto sauce, making it the most delicious tuna sandwich I can recall ever tasting. It’s just a sandwich and it’s simple, but effective and awesome.

I went with the grilled cheese sandwich, which is made with brie and gouda cheeses. Simple, but I liked it. It was a bit of a guilty pleasure and comfort food, but I don’t need a big meal at lunch. Certainly not when you eat so much for breakfast and dinner.

We also shared some tomato soup, which was simple but tasty.

We liked the poolside dining the most

If you’re looking for something light, the poolside lunch is the best option. The service was good and sandwiches were simple but delicious and really all we needed.

The Sur House has potential for lunch, but between the extremely slow service and the improperly-cooked food, it just wasn’t meant to be. I’d like to think it was a one-off because all other meals at the Sur House were perfect. But still, it seemed like it’s unnecessary to go for the elaborate meals offered at the Sur House. We were completely stuffed.

Don’t get us wrong–we fully enjoyed every bite.