Tuesday, May 27, 2008

Sonya's Garden

There are few places my family visits again and again. Sonya's Garden is one of them.

One of my favorite spots in Sonya's Garden.





We first found out about this secret place in Tagaytay through my sister's in-laws. They brought us there for lunch, and the rest is history. We've been there countless of times bringing families and friends with us. The menu is simple and it never changes. At lunch time, the guests are served with Fresh Dalandan Juice, Salad with various add-ons and their famous Sonya's Dressing (which I tried to replicate, and succeeded!). The salad greens are fresh from their garden and it is an interesting mix, not your normal all-lettuce salad. This is followed by their Home-baked Bread served with Pesto, Kesong Puti, Veggies, Anchovies, Olive Pate, etc. You can mix and match these to suit your taste. Then, the pasta. It is served with two kinds of sauce you can choose from. My favorite is the Cream and Chicken. It is very rich and creamy, a little sweet and definitely filling. I normally add some sauteed shitake mushroom with it. The other sauce looks like it is tomato based. I think I only tried it once so I can't really be sure. They also serve Salmon Belly with the pasta. Yummy!!! The meal is topped off with a slice of Chocolate Cake, Banana Turon, Sweetened Kamote and Tarragon Tea.

Sonya has a beautiful collection of plates. Unfortunately, they don't use them now because some of them got damaged.


One of the things I love most about Sonya's Garden is that on a sunny day, you can take really good pictures there. I love the natural lighting in their dining area. It makes everyone look good!

A small garden inside the dining area.


2 comments:

Unknown said...

Is it ok to share your own sonya's salad dressing recipe that you succeeded to copy? Can you send me a copy?

Thanks
Chino Santos

imasize6 said...

Sorry it took me ages before replying.

About the recipe...a warning first - I did not measure. I just eyeballed it, consulted my taste buds, memory and family.

I used a Honey-mustard salad dressing as my base and just tinkered with it. I started with about a cup of the dressing, then added extra-virgin olive oil (go easy on this one as too much of it will make you gag. Start with 1 tbsp. then go from there.) I also added mustard and honey (the good kind) then adjusted the taste with salt and pepper. Mix this very well. I really wish I could be more specific with the measurements but this is the best I can do.

I hope your dressing turns up well!