Sonya's Garden

Velu Acabado

1.0

Went back to Sonya's after a long while and was very surprised that their serving style is now a communal buffet (stand-up and get your own food from the buffet table) instead of dishes being served to your table which is what they have done for more than a decade.Here's my breakdown on why this is bad:Quality and PresentationLike any typical buffet, food are only refilled when they run low. Unlike before wherein pasta, salmon, sauces, and toppings are prepared when you're ready to eat, they're now out in the open for potentially more than an hour.Salad components such as mangoes looked unappetizing, pasta was gummy, and fried salmon was inedible since what's left were cold pieces that were already too hard to chew.Before, each dish and ingredients were freshly prepared and beautifully plated upon arriving to your table. Now, they look unattractive with degraded quality in the buffet table. AmbienceStill in the same garden-style tent as before but people are now walking all over the place. It's noisier and the relaxing atmosphere that I used to know is gone.ServiceThey seem to have reduced their staff immensely. Getting a refill of water or dalandan took ages with several follow-ups.OverallI would have given the old Sonya's a 4 but now, they're just a regular buffet place which has a very limited selection of items. Gone is the service, class, and ambience that people like me go here for. Such a disappointment.

Charmaine Mabasa

3.0

The place and ambiance is good. Food in there ala carte menu are limited. They need to add coffee to their menu for people who does not like tea. Service needs to be improved.

Carolina Fx

5.0

It was famous but if you’re a first timer and can’t read maps, It would be hard to find the place since it was not in the highway. It’s like a haven close to nature as there are lots of plants that surrounds the place. The place is instagrammable with all the artistic and nature-friendly designs all over the place. We had a massage and it was a really good feeling being massaged while looking at pretty flowers in the water. The ambience is very relaxing and different aroma emanates everywhere. They offer citrus tea after the massage that tasted so sweet. You may also buy stuffs and souvenir from their apothecary, sort of country store and preloved shops for bags. Their comfort rooms smells like tea and plant. We tried their buffet that serves all healthy dishes such as salad, pasta and fruits. All the veggies and fruits were harvested from their place making their food organic and healthy. I love the white pasta and juice and the thought that even flowers can be eaten with salad. After eating, they offer tea and chocolate bite size cake. The salad dressing is really flavorful and matches the greens. It was a refreshing feeling.

Enotmr29

2.0

Food is very so-so (almost below subpar) for the price of PHP600++ for a lunch buffet. If the ambience was not nice, we would have left but as first timers, we stayed to try the food and service. Food spread is also very average - they served pasta with options of white cream sauce and puttanesca, cold and unseasoned salmon belly, cold Turon (I assume they left the food there for hours and unsure of its HACCP safety but again this is what I feel and I am basing this on the temperature of the food). Salad spread is not that great. I was looking for the dressing but unbeknownst to me they were on the table (servers should have informed us when we were seated). They served a bread basket but did not offer bread plates (I asked and the server shrugged) so we had to fit our bread on our already full main plates which was quite unappetising. Dessert was served last - they served us a small brownie/chocolate cube cut (tasted average) and a cup of tarragon tea (the tea was the only highlight of my meal and nothing more). VERDICT - would we come back? No. Not to eat at the main restaurant but probably only to shop for flowers or something. My recommendation for the establishment is to offer a la carte - maybe the shoppers in the garden would want to stop by for a coffee/tea or dessert or just a sandwich. Not everyone wants to dine for 600++ for a below subpar spread. Improve your food quality and maybe we would come back.

Joseph De Vera

4.0

If you want healthy food with amazing garden ambiance, there’s no other place to go but Sonya’s Garden. Vegetables are freshly harvested from the farm and they offer italian pasta buffet style so its up to you how you want your pasta. Service is respectable and ambiance is truly awesome. It feels like you want to checkin at their hotel and have a lazy day...a must stop when in Tagaytay!

Hiro Soneji

4.0

relaxing place to dine. The garden will take all your stress away with all those beautiful flower and their resident golden retriever named Oggo(I hope I got the spelling corretly). though they have a few food selection but the taste is really good. Thank you for the experience Sonya's.

Idham Fachrozi

5.0

its our 2nd time to come here to dine. were surprised with their prices on the menu! we totally forgot how much it cost to eat here because it was a very long time since we last ate here. there are 2 restaurants, one for buffet and one for ala carte.heres what we ordered at for Ala Carte:Fresh Lumpiang Ubod P73.44Green Salad P137.70 (with flower petals)Banana Rolls P45.90plus 10% service chargeTotal Bill was 279.98 good for 1 order in a Restaurant3 of us ate here and it was just enough for us.you would think that it would cost alot to eat here because of how fancy and unique looking this place is. whats also great about it is, it is guaranteed fresh since they harvest their own veggies! nice music, not very much people eat here so its very quiet, with matching water falls. besides dining here you can also enjoy the beauty of the garden with alot of places to take good photos, they have markets, furniture stores, spas, accomodation, wedding events place, souvenir shop, ukay ukay store. alot of places to do in one place!

Cansadik37

4.0

In its twenty-plus years of operation, Sonya's has grown so much, but what's core about its proposition stays - organic, healthy food in gorgeous, English-style garden settings.Nowadays, you've got several function room areas in addition to the original small house, where just a smattering of people would visit to eat from the pasta and salad buffet. Today that buffet costs P683, and it's got good refillable homemade bread and spreads (six, I counted - the ones I like are hummus, anchovy, pesto, and tomato and local white cheese), refillable dalandan (or calamansi juice), and dessert at the end, together with a refreshing hot tarragon tea infusion. One can eat as much salad as one likes, which throws in local fruit in season - like mangoes, and sometimes some jackfruit. Their pasta buffet retains their sundried tomatoes and chicken mango cream pastas, which are a hit any way you look at it.The buffet is usually served in the Morning Glory hall, halfway through the complex, walking past their Plants and Herbs for Sale section, the Apothecary, and their souvenir boutique shop, and a little before their spa. I've come here often for both lunch and dinner. If you come in the evening, come a little before sundown, and the staff will happily tour round their majestic flower gardens and give you a peek into their unique bed and breakfast accommodations.

Bill Barrinuevo

3.0

Sonya's completely lost the whole dining experience they are known for when they decided to serve their food buffet style. Yes the same food is being served but lost its lovely appeal because of the buffet experience. Please return back the sit-down serving.

Scolastica Inez Cassandra

3.0

It won my heart, but not my tummy. The place screams paradise. And we came here at a perfect time, the ride was relatively fast and the weather was cool and breezy. The food here, however was nothing too different to travel far to. I vividly remember the first time I set foot here. It was a quaint and intimate location then. And their meals were more distinct and fresh. We had lots of edible flowers for salad and the rest of our meals were nothing I’ve had elsewhere. Now it’s quantity over quality. Sonya’s Garden got lazy and offered a spread of buffet instead. And again, whatever they have on their very limited offering is nothing new. And worse, they were only good for one round. So they have loads of greasy, deep-fried salmon belly, seasoned likely with only salt and pepper. They also have a super creamy chicken pasta, too rich and thick, lacking flavor. Save this Italian meal by adding some Ratatouille and Mushrooms. The salad station was decent, however, and I found joy in filling up my bowl with all the sweet mango my heart desired.Must try their Roast Chicken, available separate as ala carte. This was tender and marinated well with loads of herbs and spices. I appreciated it more with my cup of garlicky rice and unlimited cups of fresh Dalandan juice. Oh, their Sesame Bread that came with 5 types of spread was also worth binging too. Go ahead and have them serve it warm.This sub par food experience that came with a nice ambiance ends with a moist chocolate fudgy cake, a reminder that at the end of it all, there is a sweet ending.