The food at Tyler Place is excellent. Everything we tasted was fresh and delicious, and we especially appreciated the large variety of healthy and vegetarian options. Much of the produce comes from local farms, and you can tell much care goes into the menu and its preparation. Dishes include butternut squash salad, roast prime rib of beef, thyme chicken, lobster and sweet-potato curry. And for the kids, there are pancakes, hamburgers, macaroni and cheese, pizza and fruit kebobs.
All meals are served buffet-style in the main dining room of the inn, a room which, as previously mentioned, is off-limits to children. There are three separate sitting areas in the main dining room and an outside deck that overlooks the lake. You'll need to put your name in to reserve a table outside, and you should definitely do so. We enjoyed watching brave souls riding the zip line the day we ate on the deck.
Kids will eat all three meals with their groups, an arrangement which we quickly discovered appeals to pretty much all families visiting Tyler Place and makes for a leisurely, quiet, elegant dining experience, particularly at dinnertime. Kids are permitted in a separate back area of the dining room during breakfast, but we rarely saw people take advantage of this.
If you prefer dining as a family all together, or if your children are on the fence about being in group until 8:30 p.m., this arrangement has the potential to pose a major problem for your family. You can request a carry-out dinner, which they pack neatly into a picnic basket for you to eat in your room -- but doing this every night would get old pretty quickly. We did it one night, but you really miss the flavor of the dining room in every sense.
As is the case with most all-inclusive resorts, dining is communal. There are tables for two, but if you do not request them, chances are you will be seated at a table with other families. This is all part of the Tyler Place experience: Intimate dinners, a warm and cozy inn and the quiet seclusion of the place all combine to create a sense of camaraderie and friendship among guests. For first-timers like us, the staff go out of their way to make sure you are comfortable, making introductions among guests and joining in conversations.
All meals are included in the all-inclusive rates at Tyler Place. Alcoholic beverages are not, with the exception of a welcome cocktail.
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