Valentine’s Randy-vous in Tagaytay Part 3

 

continued from Valentine’s Randy-vous in Tagaytay Part 2

…and off we went to Sonya’s for lunch.

And just after a few minutes, here we were!

Sonya’s by the way is not exactly in Tagaytay City but in Alfonso, Cavite.

After parking, we entered and…LO and BEHOLD!  My pulse quickened and my pupils dilated…was I seeing an apparition, or were those really designer bags being sold by the entrance of Sonya’s?

I was not crazy and I was not seeing things!  There was a designer bags sale!!!  Of course, Randy knew I had to make a not-so-quick stopover there.  That was such an unexpected surprise.  I learned that the owner of this designer bags tiangge is Sonya’s friend.  The saleslady swore to me that the bags they’re selling are authentic.  I checked the Louis Vuitton Neverfull GM, and as far as the stitching was concerned, it checked (so unlike the LV Neverfull GM I saw being sold somewhere near which was so obviously fake…)  I exchanged numbers with the saleslady, and then I returned to my handsome date.

Before heading into Sonya’s “indoor garden” restaurants, we first went around to take pictures.  Actually, this was our second time at Sonya’s.  The first one was about four years ago when Randy and I were looking for a wedding venue.  I don’t remember being impressed with Sonya’s then, that was why I did not even consider it despite that we could have easily saved a hundred grand had we chosen Sonya’s over Fernbrook, because at that time a wedding package (venue + food + accommodations) at Sonya’s only cost around P100,000+ for 150 guests (whereas at Fernbrook the venue alone cost us P100,000+ plus another P100,000+ for an independent catering).  But on V-Day 2012, I fell in love with Sonya’s.

The thing with Sonya’s is that it is a German garden*, which is something we rarely see.  What we often see in tourist spots (Baguio City included) are garden à la française that, to me, look rather stiff.  German gardens* are whimsical, soft, and romantic.

Looking at this picture, I feel like I was transported to a far, far away land centuries ago.

 

Perfect garden brunch!

And this just took my breath away!  I could just imagine having tea parties with other ladies here, with, of course, flamboyant hats.  And dresses with heavy petticoats.  I so belong to the Victorian era in  Europe!

Anyway, we got hungry and proceeded to the indoor garden restau.

I just loved, loved it inside!

Enough about the scenery.  Let’s get down to the food.

The thing with Sonya’s is that you need not choose from a menu.  This might be bad for some but we liked that did not have to spend time poring over the menu and betting on a food.  At Sonya’s, they will just serve you what they prepared for the day.

For V-Day 2012, this was what they served (and I think on other days too):

For starters, we were served pumpkin soup.

Randy said that this was the only meal that made him consume pumpkin (yep, he does not eat even squash–my favorite veggie!)  I was happy he liked it, and made a mental note to learn how to make “pumpkin” (wushu, tingin ko squash naman ang ginamit eh!) soup.

Next, we were served fresh baked whole wheat sesame bread.  The bread was wrapped in a dainty cloth, and served with homemade dips and toppings which were all yummy!  My favorite was the anchovies dip.

Then came the garden salad.  Honestly, I thought I was going to force myself to eat some, as I was not a healthy-healthy-han, sosyal-sosyalan eater.  But despite that, I honestly and actually enjoyed the salad!  I swear, it’s the highlight of our V-Day meal!  I loved, loved, loved it!  The combo of freshly harvested lettuce and arugula topped with papaya slices, broad beans (ay the best ito!), eggs, turnip, and cucumber with Sonya’s Secret Salad Dressing was AMAZING!  Too bad we did not buy the dressing–it was so yummy!

Randy and I were both raving that we never thought eating healthy would ever taste this good.  I could not stop myself from munching the leaves like crazy, but I knew I have to leave room in my stomach to make room for the next course, which was pasta.

Our pasta came with two kinds of sauces: sun dried tomato and chicken cream with mango.

And of course, an array of toppings: ratatouille, salmon belly, Shitake mushrooms, black olives, capers, and Parmesan cheese (cheese was on our table from the very beginning).

I want to rave about the pasta, but I can’t.  Blame it either on the fact that I am no pasta fan ever since I could remember or I was too blown away by the garden salad that anything else paled by comparison.  Or p’wede ring bland talaga ‘yung pasta, no other excuses.  Randy, who loves my traditional tomato sauce with beef spaghetti, judged the pasta as, “OK lang.”

Oh before we go to dessert, another thing that is worth raving about was the bottomless fresh dalandan juice with peppermint leaves.

See the pulp from the pitcher?  Fresh na fresh with just the right sweetness!  Bonus:  the peppermint leaves!  Since we were provided with a freshly-picked peppermint plant stalks on our table, I kept on getting leaves and putting them into the pitcher.  I told Randy to chew–he didn’t want to at first–and when he did he liked the burst of freshness that seeped into our mouths.

After the pasta, Randy said he wished no dessert would be served.  But alas, then came our dessert: glazed sweet potato, banana rolls (that’s turon for us) and chocolate cake.

Full as he may be, Randy could not resist eating the glazed sweet potato (that’s kamoteng may asukal for us).  We were told to eat it with mint leaves–a leaf for each.  And what do you know, it complemented with the kamote!  Well, their glazed kamote was already tasty to begin with.  By the way, I hate matamis na kamote!  As a child, I rather did not have merienda kung yun lang din.  But at Sonya’s it was delicioso that I still ate some despite eating two slices (I ate Randy’s!  Shame on me!) of their “smashingly sinful homemade chocolate cake” (their adverbs and adjectives, not mine.  The adjective I’d use for the chocolate cake would be…well, delicious is enough).

Our stomachs were so full and all our senses were very, very satisfied.  I kept on telling Randy that this was our best Valentine’s ever:  excellent food (both here at Sonya’s and at Verbana), excellent ambiance (rainy Tagaytay, bay-beh!), and excellent relationship (not even bickering!  Hooray!).  I also told Randy I want something like this restaurant at our place–indoor garden fine dining.  Some day…yes, some day. 😉

Before we finally left Sonya’s, we went around and took more pictures for us to remember this moment.

Babe, thanks for this Valentine’s getaway.  Definitely meaningful and we went home feeling so blessed that we have each other.  Thank you too for, after this getaway, you couldn’t get enough hugging me and telling me you love me so.  The feeling’s mutual Babe. 🙂

Until next year!

*Sonya’s is often described as an English garden but IMHO, it looks more like a German garden (which for me looks even better).

 

Tell me what you think!

comments

Powered by Facebook Comments