Had breakfast and dinner here as we were staying at the Carmel Valley Ranch for the weekend. Despite never wanting to stay at the hotel again, I would recommend Valley Kitchen if you happen to be on site (dinner was definitely better than breakfast). For breakfast, we had huevos rancheros (super huge, but decent) and the poached eggs and bacon (super heavy, but fairly tasty). I also had a green juice that was pretty good. For dinner, we shared a caesar salad (totally uninspired), crab cake (a bit salty but otherwise good), the honey chili chicken wings (so good), and the sausage pizza (pretty good!). It was my birthday, so they also brought a huge scoop of delicious s'mores ice cream for me with a candle. Not the fanciest place in town, but just a warm, friendly place for a nice meal. read more

Tim is an amazing Chef! Always a treat to enjoy his food. We now eat there at least once a week. Very busy on the weekends.

We made a special trip here from Aptos because we heard so many amazing things about the food. The soup & salads kept me from giving the full 5 stars . The beet salad & the broccoli salad were tasteless. No flavor. No dressing. The broccoli soup was ok. A few bites is enough, the bowl was way to big to want to finish. The dinners consisted of lamb, swordfish, ribeye & duck. The swordfish was ok, nothing memorable. The lamb was lamb. It was in desperate need of a sauce. The duck was very good but the skin was not crispy, it was fatty so it did not accompany the flavors of the breast well. My favorite dish was the ribeye. Great flavor. Cooked perfectly and the sides served with it accompanied beef very well. We also got a side of "made fresh to order" applesauce. It was puréed and tasted like apple butter. Good flavor but I would of liked it to be chunky. So overall I give it a 3/5. Beautiful location. Fresh ingredients but they were not executed as well as they could be. A tad overpriced. My suggestion would be to hire a saucier. read more

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We had a dinner party for New Years Eve for 10 of us in the big dining room. The food was to die for! Chef Tim does a awesome job! Not only does he greet and welcome us on a busy evening ( a full house no less!), but he is fun, funny, genuine, and an amazing chef. By far the best restaurant in the area! Thank you for the yummy appetizers. We can't wait to celebrate at the Valley Kitchen throughout 2017! Cheers to you, Chef Tim! read more

We are staying at Carmel Valley Ranch for our honeymoon, and we had an amazing dinner at the Valley Kitchen tonight! From the moment we sat down at our table (with a beautiful view of the vineyard on property), we had memorable service. Jose was our waiter, and he was so informative about all of the ways in which the hotel prepares its own cheese, honey, etc. We ordered the crab cake as an appetizer, and it had such great flavor! My husband had the short rib, which he loved, and I had the veggie curry, which was wonderful. We will remember this dinner forever, and our experience with Jose was a great way to start our week here. Thank you Jose and Valley Kitchen! read more

I don't know if this place just opened since I'm new to the area, but I don't understand why this place isn't packed for weekend brunch! Or why it only has 15 reviews! Is it an undiscovered gem? It is so damn perfect for brunch! Huuuge place but they still managed to keep things cozy. Big, beautiful marble bar. Large, sweeping windows and plenty of sunlight. Fireplace. Roomy tables and comfortable seats. The menu is familiar and service is attentive. Go! read more

The food was amazing from start to finish, the crab cakes are the best I have ever had. The salad was made of the most freshest of ingredients we both enjoyed it very much. The filet was cooked to perfection, I would definitely recommend read more

We had not eaten at CV Ranch for a while so we were blown away by the new comfy, cozy decor and out of this world food. Can't wait to go back. read more

While in town for a conference, myself and several friends decided to try Valley Kitchen and were not disappointed! The decor is very welcoming and the staff even more so.The entire property (Carmel Valley Ranch) is beautiful. Our server, Luis, was attentive, knowledgeable and made some great suggestions. The food is as fresh as it gets. We enjoyed Ceviche, Charcuterie, wings, Poke,Grilled Treviso & Burrata as well as a Ceaser and Winter Harvest Soup. Chef Greg came out and introduced himself and made some further suggestions for the main course.You can't go wrong with the Tomahawk Rib Eye and the seafood was outstanding as well! The service was as good as the food. Valley Kitchen is a must when visiting this area! read more

As always, CVR and the Valley Kitchen deliver. Just had an incredible dinner with the newly released menu. Some great new items including brussel sprouts, their steaks and desserts. Start to finish- quality product! Luis, our server was outstanding. Carlos the restaurant manager leads by example and is on top of all that is going on. Side note - Heather in customer relations sets the gold standard. read more

Always love Chef Tim's cookin'! Great vibe, attentive service and always fresh & delicious. Highly recommend for breakfast, lunch, dinner and/or cocktails! read more

This is one of my favorite restaurants in the Valley! Almost everything I have had here was amazing. My favorites are the ceviche & chicken wings for appetizers and for entree's i've had the rib eye (perfectly cooked, I like medium rare and huge, in fact so huge it could be shared easily with 2-3 people) and the duck-out of this world. This is a top of the line place and you really can't go wrong here. Great for special occasions and celebrations or just a date night. read more

Really enjoy the food as with many places in the area. However it's not consistent, each time we've been the food, sides and presentation changes based on who's working that night. It's still good, and we'd return again. read more

I wish I could leave a dinner review and a breakfast review separately. Dinner was very good. The service was also great. I couldn't decide between the cauliflower soup and another appetizer. I went with the latter and the server brought me a small sample of the soup at no charge anyway so I could taste it. Very nice. This will sound funny, but the bread and butter is awesome! I would love to slather that herb butter on everything! Breakfast on the other hand I would skip. It was okay, but overpriced for what it is and the service was meh. read more

We had hoped to eat subsequent meals at this restaurant during our stay at The Carmel Valley Ranch and were looking forward to, what we thought would be, a terrific dining experience. Yes, the food was good, great even, but the wait staff was so poorly trained and unresponsive that our experience was ruined. I started a list of missed or forgotten items requested but this review would have been too lengthy It became a joke at the table about the service, or lack thereof. We will not return. read more

It's a lovely setting and the bar looks great with the honey jars in a tower. The sommelier, Dave, know his stuff and made great recommendations. The promise of a big garden on the property created expectations of amazing farm-to-table produce but it was not to be. Wings were tasty, enjoyed the poached eggs and bacon, but somehow everything was good but not amazing. read more

Went here to celebrate a one year anniversary with the boyfriend. When I made the reservation they asked if we were celebrating anything and I said anniversary. They asked if it was a wedding anniversary (not sure why relevant) and I laughed a little and said no and the host laughed a little too so I have low expectations for anything special. Boy was I completely wrong. We were sat right away and our server, Jackie, greeted us with a smile and mentioned our anniversary right away which I thought was cute. Got our food right away before the bread was even sent out (literally 10 min!) despite the fact that I ordered a steak. Everything tasted amazing for a fair price. At the end of our meal Jackie offered us a complementary dessert to celebrate and even offered that we could take it with us if we were full! Not sure if we were offered the full dessert menu but there were plenty of options, we chose the chocolate cookies. Overall have nothing but good things to say about our overall dinner experience here at valley kitchen! read more

Disappointed... Yes, the food was good, and the server tried hard, but the noise level was almost intolerable! A lot of families with children, many of them yelling and screaming. It did not make for a pleasant nor relaxing dinner with friends. read more

Had the best fall dinner last night...the butternut squash raviolis with vegetables special was incredible. I really hope that menu item makes it to the regular menu for the winter...so good!! read more

Made a reservation for dinner one week in advance and requested a distanced table. Reservation confirmed by restaurant staff on day of dinner. Upon arrival for dinner Sat., Oct. 17th hostess escorts us to a table in the corner of the building with two surrounding walls and behind a large fire pit with many people, children and dogs nearby. Requested another table....there were empty tables. Hostess said well you can get "takeout". She said she would check with her manager re: another table. Returns again and said "you can get takeout". Husband and I said no thank you we will be leaving instead. We are local people and enjoy dining out often. We are older and safety comes first during the pandemic. Even if they could not seat us at another table the comments by the hostess for "takeout" were inappropriate. They could have been more accommodating. We will not be returning to this restaurant. read more

We took our kids here tonight for the second time this week and had a great meal (again). The options for kids are pretty basic, but there are lots of interesting items for adults. My wife and I shared the Tomahawk steak (and all the sides and sauces) and it was very good. The wine list by the glass is ok, but the bottle offerings were strong. Service was very good and we like the atmosphere - not just adults, not all families with small (loud) kids. Of course, the whole CVR is a family-friendly place, with s'mores every night (in the summer) for the kids outside the restaurant. We will be back. read more

A bit pricey but great ceviche. Good atmosphere but the service wasn't amazing, which was what we would have expected from a restaurant at the Carmel Valley Ranch. read more

Both the food and service at Valley Kitchen were amazing. We shared a few small plates for dinner (the wings, goat cheese salad, and the tomato pizza), and all tasted exceptionally fresh and delicious. On top of that, the staff was so friendly and attentive. I never had an empty glass of water, I had a clean plate every time the next course came out, and they were all just so pleasant and nice to deal with. Highly recommend! read more

Just really good. It is pricey, but their selection of locally grown foods is awesome, organic, and prepared superb. We ate breakfast there three times and had one dinner. All 3 breakfasts were excellent, and the steak I had for dinner was cooked perfectly. It was hard to convince ourselves to explore and go off-property for food when this was right beneath our feet. read more

Food was delicious!! But that's about it. We came in as a large party and it was a disaster from the start. First of all, when i made my reservation, they told me earliest was 7:30pm for dinner. When we showed up at 7, expecting to wait, they sat us right away. Which is great, except half of us left young children at home thinking it would be a late night. So why tell me 7:30 when 7 really worked? Once seated, the disaster started. Our drink order was taken three times by two different people before anything was brought out. We were never checked on again for drink refills, etc. Whenever we needed something, all 13 of us, we had to flag down bus boys who seemed super confused and irritated. The food was awesome, but the service was so terrible. They really need to step their game up! read more

This place used to be amazing. The food is generally fresh and tastes great with local sourced products. However the innovation it once had is gone. The service, which was impeccable has also completely disappeared. Service is, sadly, slow, lagging and dumb. read more

We ate dinner at the Valley Kitchen twice while we stayed at Carmel Valley Ranch. The food was excellent and the cocktails were terrific. They have an amazing dog policy and our dog was able to come to dinner with us. The prices are a bit high for what you get, but it is totally consistent with other hotels/ranches/resorts. And at least you get terrific food for the price. The service was a little hit or miss. We had a wonderful server one night and a less knowledgeable one the next. Everyone was super friendly though. read more

I really enjoy the meals and service at dinner because everything has always been outstanding. However, the service and food at lunch does not reach the same quality. I will definitely be back for dinner. My personal favorite is the rib eye and my soon really likes the duck. I've been there several times for dinner and it's been outstanding every time. Unfortunately the service at lunch tends to be very slow and the food is not my favorite. read more

Excellent food, locally sourced and thoughtfully and creatively prepared, in an attractive setting. Concise, but thoughtful (and very fairly priced) wine and beer list. But: Our table wasn't clean; there were crumbs (a lot of them) in my chair left behind by previous guests; we had to flag down a waitress to ask her to find our server; we asked the hostess, the busboy and our waiter for the missing salt shaker before getting up and taking one from another (unoccupied) table; and I had to get up and go to the bar to order an after-dinner drink because I couldn't get our waiter's attention. It's a shame, because it detracts from what is otherwise a very good restaurant. (We also had breakfast there. We're guests at the hotel. The food was delicious - I had an omelette with smoked salmon, spinach, capers and crême fraiche - and the service was stellar, but something was definitely wrong at dinner later that day.) read more

It was going well and then the wheels came off. It was apparently a busy night so we opted to eat at the bar. Service was prompt and we ordered drinks and dinner. The food was very good. I ordered a second drink. We had noted that the bar was kind of a mess. Glasses still sitting where people were long gone. Then I saw the bartender take a glas and do a single solution dip on it. There are typically three solutions for the process. She did only the last one. Then for the drink shaker only the first. How they could not have clean glasses was beyond me. Anyway when she brought the drink, I called her on it and refused it. I later watched another bartender hurriedly doing the dip process to get two champagne flutes clean. Amazing that they had no clean glassware. And very disappointing and nasty. Would not recommend. read more

Got here for lunch at 12:45, place isn't busy but it took 15 mins for a server to take our drink order. When he finally made it to the table, he mumbled something about being sorry and took our meal and drink orders. Ordered a kids mac and cheese, a cheese pizza and the pizza of the month pizza..nothing too fancy, but it still took 30 mins to make it to our table. Food was ok, but the service just....takes....forever. The last thing you want to do on vacation is wait on staff! Waited 20 mins for dessert to arrive (kids sundae and kids cupcake.). He comes with the ice cream and says they are out of cupcakes!!! Uhhh would have been nice to know that earlier so one kid didn't have to go without dessert? I've worked in restaurants before so it takes a lot to write a bad review, but there are only 4 tables filled here and there are 5 servers that we can see? An hour and half is way too long! read more

The service is slow. I've never had to wait 60 min for a soup, let alone 25 min just to be asked if I'm ready to order. Very disappointed for the location and the money we spent. read more

Waited 1/2 hour to be seated in a half-empty restaurant. When I asked the hostess why, she explained that it was because she wanted to give us a good table. We sat in the last table in the restaurant by the servers station. Basically, every empty table we passed was 10 times better than where we sat. read more

Ate there two nights while on a family vacation at the hotel. This place is amazing, two of our favorite meals during our trip that included SF, Santa Barbara and LA. The freshness of the food is second to none. I had the fish special each night and both were amazing. My wife had the salmon one night and she loved it. The kids said the pizza was one of the best they every had. And they have their own Pinor Noir that they make on property that is amazing. So much so I bought a bottle to bring along on our trip. Can't recommend this place enough. read more

My boyfriend and I stayed at the hotel last night to celebrate our anniversary and dined at Valley Kitchen. I have to say I was very disappointed in the service and on a Sunday night when it didn't seem very busy. Lots of open tables. We ordered a charcuterie platter and the waiter asked if we'd like to do cheese as well (which wasn't listed on the menu) and we said yes but when it came there was no cheese and we asked the waiter and he acted as if he had never offered that and actually told us there is no cheese platter. Bizarre. I also ordered a sparkling water with a lemon, after about ten minutes when he never brought it I asked again- another 10 minutes go by and he finally brings it but with no lemon so I ask to for lemon- another 10 minutes he hasn't come back- someone brings out our food and I ask her for a lemon and she goes and brings it back. Oh and he opens the water pours it and it wasn't even sparkling water it was over priced bottled water. Our wine glasses were empty for a while and he never asked if we wanted another. When we asked for a second round- again waited and waited and I again had to ask a second time for the wine. When It finally came out he said "sorry it took longer the bartender was in a heated conversation with a patriots fan (the patriots had just lost ) and was 15 tickets behind" Like are you kidding me? For a restaurant that certainly isn't cheap I was very disappointed. There was no one busing tables, dirty empty plates sat on our table until the end of the meal. The food wasn't anything spectacular either- the beet Salad was mostly a pile of lettuce with a few beets around the edge. Wish we would've celebrated somewhere else. read more