Wednesday, May 30, 2012

Tagaytay Food Trip: Sonya's Garden

Next stop in my food trip was Sonya's Garden. A lot of people I know have eaten here and they generally have positive things to say. It is known for its organic food and ambience so given the rich and heavy food I was expecting to eat while I was in Tagaytay and the fact that I wanted to know and experience what other people were talking about, I decided to have lunch here.


When I got there, I felt lost for a few minutes as I didn't know what the set-up was haha. I knew it was some kind of buffet but I wasn't sure how the food would be served. I wasn't in any rush so I just sat there until someone brought some clarity on the process. Apparently, the wait staff bring you each of the three courses one by one and you can tell them if you want more of that course or if you wanted to be served the next one.


To start things off, I got served a pitcher of dalandan juice that was very light and refreshing. They also served you bread along with a few "dips" - basil pesto, white cheese, tomato, and black olive tapinade.


The first course was a salad that came with a variety of ingredients such as mangoes, cucumbers, boiled egg, and nuts.


Second course was pasta. I got served a bowl of fettucini and a couple of sauces - sun dried tomato and chicken cream. They also served you a few options of other food items, such as ratatouille, shitake mushrooms, olives, and crispy salmon belly to mix in with the pasta sauce.


Finally, dessert. I got served three items - turon, chocolate cake, and sweetened camote - along with some tarragon tea. I think this was my favorite course. :)


While the chocolate cake was very rich and chocolate-y which matched perfectly with the tea, I was pleasantly surprised by the camote with mint leaves. There's a bunch of mint leaves in a small glass on the table, and one of the waiters suggested that I pick off one of these mint leaves and eat it along with the camote. This was truly a revelation!


The wait staff are very friendly and provide excellent service. I'd say the food is normal but a meal here is more about the ambience and overall dining experience than just the food. I mean, there's something quite charming and comforting about eating in a garden setting and knowing that the food you got served was picked from the backyard.


It is recommended to reserve a table since Sonya's Garden does tend to get packed. Most of the tables were occupied when I had lunch there at 1pm on a Tuesday.

*****

Sonya's Garden
Barangay Buck Estate, Alfonso, Cavite, Philippines (near the vicinity of Tagaytay City, Philippines)
http://www.sonyasgarden.com/
+63-9175329097 / +63-9175335140 / +63-9175231080

How to get there: From the Tagaytay-Sta. Rosa Road, turn right into Tagaytay-Calamba road. Go past the rotonda along Aguinaldo highway. The Sonya's Garden directions say that you should drive for about 10km past the rotonda, but I think it was more like 11-12km (I remember going past 11km and wondering if I already missed my exit.) After Splendido Golf Course and Sunrise Hill, make a right turn on Buck State. Drive about 2km. Sonya's Garden is on the left.

2 comments:

Unknown said...

How much was it? :)

Xtn said...

I just checked their website http://www.sonyasgarden.com and it says that their set menu for lunch and dinner costs P610 per person. (I do remember paying over P600.)