Category: Lifestyle

I’ve always heard of Antonio’s Garden Restaurant & secretly, I’ve wished that someone would bring me there.  It took 32 years before that secret wish came true! hahaha!  Anyhow, friends have been raving that this place is romantic but expensive.  Usually guys bring their special someone there to propose their love.  Well some, just want to eat good food too.

When our car was entering the gate, it felt like we were in a very secluded place.  It felt so different, I felt special..  The way the servers warmly greeted us, guided us to our seat, patiently explaining to us the menu items, WOW was all I could say at that time.  The service is top notch, I just can’t believe how every need and expectation is met and exceeded!

We were first served bread while waiting for our orders.  I spent most of the time admiring the wonderful scenery of Antonio’s Garden Restaurant.  The dinner tasted as if it was baked fresh that day, which it probably was.  And the spread was a black olive tapenade which is a fine spread of black olives, anchovies, capers, and olive oil.  Apparently this spread is common in the south of France… This is definitely a great start to a very well executed and delicious meal.  The taste of the spread is that of a very rich saltiness that combines the flavors of the black olives the most with the hints of the capers and the anchovies, enveloped in a such delicious olive oil.  This dish, to prepare, must be expensive to make in the Philippines since the ingredients, must be of high quality for it to taste just as good as it did at Antonios.

While we were seated, with the tapenade and roll in front of us, we focused more and admired the ambiance of the place.  It’s actually a very well designed place.  As you enter the doors.. you are immediately immersed in the history of the place.  The lighting is just so romantic, with lights strategically placed so that it could give enough lighting without being too bright.  The room that you immediately walk into as you enter is their staging area with photos on the wall.  The maitre d’ escorted us down a few steps to one level of Antonios, then down another short step to where we would dine.  We were seated just above their main banquet area that they use for parties and big events.  It was an amazing sight from everywhere we looked.  Beside our table was a fish pond & we could also had a view of the entrance where all the memorable photos of Antonio were displayed.  Seems like Antonio is a very sentimental person hehehe (a romantic too, I suppose) 😛

Here are the drinks & appetizer that what we ordered:

• Scallop Tasting (Php 250)

The scallop appetizer was actually a scallops tempura in mango orange sauce with lampfish caviar.  It was perfect.  To say that this is the most perfect scallop dish that I have ever tasted is an understatement.  The scallops tempura, as with any tempura was lightly battered and fried.  But it wasn’t battered too much, just enough, so that it added that texture and that slight crispness to the dish.  It maintained the tenderness of the scallops too, and most importantly it retained that most important fresh scallop taste.

The mango sauce is just amazing, and is probably what made the dish just oh so appetizing.  Imagine having that perfectly seasoned cream sauce, with the perfect seasoning and just enough salt to taste.  Add on to that the brightness and fruitiness of mango in an ever so slightly amount, and you have one of the best cream sauce you will ever have in your life.

As if the layers of flavor weren’t enough.  To balance out the slight sweetness of the mango and cut through the richness of the cream, it was topped with lampfish caviar.  A very high quality caviar that didn’t bring too much saltiness, but just enough to balance out the whole scallop appetizer.

Perfect scallops, as in perfect!!  I wished we had a refillable version of this.  I actually noticed both of us wanting to eat more but opted to just be happy with what we ordered hahaha!  I was lucky as the seafood risotto had the same scallops included in the dish.

• Limoncello (Php 140)

• Triplum Orange Dry (Php 140)

While, the entree that we ordered were:

• Seafood Risotto (Php 1,300)

I dare say that this is the most delicious risotto I have ever eaten so far in my life.  It’s different from other risottos because it’s made with seafood in mind.  So, the base of the risotto is tomato basil with crab fat, goes perfectly with the shrimp, scallops, and the  mussels.  The scallops are wayy more than perfect!  The other seafoods were so delicious too.

The creaminess of the risotto was really like heaven.  The crab fat just added to that richness, and the tomato basil, once again, gave it that all important balance of taste.  The reason why this dish is just so excellent too, because the seafood really was so fresh, you could really taste it.  And the way the scallops and fish was pan seared, gave it that extra bit of flavor.

It was just an amazing experience eating such great food!  I really wished we had met the chef coz he/she definitely creates excellent recipes & executes them very well.  It made me feel that the price, though it looked expensive, is worth every penny.

• Duck Leg Confit (Php 1,400)

The duck according to my friend is challenging to cook.  He said that the chef did an excellent job as he was able to make the duck skin crispy.  The duck leg confit was drizzled with a juniper berry and Gran Marnier Beurre Blanc sauce.  The sauce is such an important part of this dish and describing the taste, you will need to know a couple of things.  Beurre Blanc is a reduction sauce of wine and vinegar, with butter to add the richness and thickness.  In our case, the wine or liquor used is Gran Marnier, which when reduced through cooking, gives off a bitter orange taste.  The Juniper berry on the other hand has a very tart taste, very much more so than a blueberry.  So with the combination of flavors, you get an almost buttery, very very slight sour, slight fruity sauce, and seasoned to perfection.

The bed of gratin potatos that the duck rests on is simple, yet, perfectly seasoned.  The gratin are layers of potato in butter, cheese, with a light crust to it too.

I saw how my friend enjoyed each & every bite of the dish.  Well, not really much to envy as I enjoyed eating my order too!

Each entree included coffee or tea & the following:

• House Salad

Antonio’s House Salad is fresh mesclun salad of bleu d’ auvergne crumble, glazed walnuts, dried currants, dried cranberries with raspberry vinaigrette.  I’m not fan of this salad.  I guess it was too bitter for me.  Antonio’s did a great job incorporating fruits into their dish to make that complex taste to it.  But this salad’s fruits and nuts just did not add a good combination of flavors.  And the bitterness of the lettuce really just was not good.

• Soup of the Day

The soup of the day was cream of oven roasted capsicum soup.  This soup was just heaven.  I keep saying that the dishes at Antonios are perfectly seasoned, but this soup is by far the perfect description of what I mean.  Capsicum is actually just peppers or bell pepper.  I’m not sure what kind are used here, but the fact that the pepper taste is not overpowering, the cream is not too much.  I could eat so much of this soup!

• Dessert

We get to choose which one we would like to get for dessert.  The choices were Felchlin Maracaibo Chocolate Terrine w/ Double Cream & Roasted Pistachio, Dark Chocolate Souffle w/ Cardamom Creme Anglaise, Earl Grey Flourless Chocolate Cake, Chocolate Mint Parfait, Panna Cotta w/ Vanilla, Caramel & Chocolate Notes, Profiteroles w/ Vanilla Ice Cream, Chocolate Sauce or Caramel Sauce, Chocolate, Lemon & Pumpkin Seed Madeleines w/ Vanilla Ice Cream, Tartufo Nero w/ Grand Mamier, Assorted Berries w/ Creamed Chantilly and lastly, Assorted Sorbet.

I have opted for the Assorted Sorbet as sherbet has always been my only choice for ice cream.  I’m picky that way.  Antonio’s version didn’t disappoint, I’ve loved how tasty each of the flavors are.  You can really distinguish the major ingredient in each scoop.  Truly delightful.

While my friend went with Panna Cotta w/ Vanilla, Caramel & Chocolate Notes.  It was very rich and blended carefully to make that perfect taste.

This is just one of the many places that my friend & I went to while he was on vacation early this year.  Such a nice place to dine in, very cozy & romantic.

It’s also good to note that both Antonio’s Garden Restaurant‘s service & food are of top notch!  Kudos to the owners and the staff!  They really did a great job on the place.  Will definitely be back next time!

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Antonio’s Garden Restaurant
Bgy. Neogan, Tagaytay City, Cavite, Philippines
+639188992866

I used to go to Sonya’s Garden a lot when my mom was still based here in the Philippines.  She loved the food at Sonya’s Garden, we would go like 3-4 times a year or whenever we had friends visiting Manila.

When I went back to Sonya’s Garden a few weeks ago, I had the same feeling.  It’s really growing on me.  The food is really good & service is superb!  Being able to drink bottomless dalandan juice & sample the freshest ingredients, along with their yummy salad & pasta is definitely unforgettable.

The set menu is available for lunch or dinner and costs Php 610 per person.  Aside from the awesome food, the ambiance is great too!  Very romantic and it’s pretty obvious as there are a lot of couples that date there too.

The all you can eat meal consists of the following:

• Garden Salad Greens

You get to choose which ingredients you want with the fresh harvested lettuce & arugula.  Salads usually come in either iceberg lettuce, or romaine lettuce, but with Sonya’s Garden, their salad is just way above par than the regular salads out there.  You can really taste the freshness of the lettuce and the arugula.  With arugula, it just gave the salad more fresh green leafy taste, which really complimented the condiments well.  I can actually eat a lot because not only did it taste so light and good, but it’s oh sooo healthy, I loved it!  The available ingredients are mango, broad beans, eggs, cucumber, jackfruit.  Top it off with Sonya’s Garden very own salad dressing and you get your perfect salad.

Also, the nuts really were just perfect with the salad.  It had that crunch that gave the salad more texture, not to mention that it seemed it was almost as if they were fried.  It was crisp and airy, but the taste, it’s even so good that I believe they even sell these at their gift shop.

The combination that seemed best was the nuts, along with their house dressing which was more of an italian and herb type of dressing, then adding some of that cucumber and eggs balanced it out quite nicely.

• Bread

Freshly baked whole wheat sesame bread from Sonya’s Garden’s panaderia.  I prefer dinner rolls more but what the heck, this was still delicious.  Wow, the selection of dips to go with the bread was just too many.  It makes you feel like you have tried 8 different breads in one sitting.  The homemade dips & toppings given to us were basil pesto, white cheese, anchovies, bruschetta tomato toppings, mushroom pate, black olive tapinade & fresh green peppercorn in olive oil.  The white cheese was actually pretty good, along with the black olive tapinade, these would probably be the ones to go for, also try the basil pesto if you like that cheesy, nutty, and herb taste to dips.

If your palate is more wide ranging, you may want to try out the anchovies which weren’t as salty as you might think, and actually had more saltiness and sea taste to it, than it did any sort of fish taste.  Wasn’t really fond of the bruschetta tomato topping since I honestly didn’t think it went well with the bread, and the herbs that were combined with the tomato didn’t seem to also match the bread.

The green peppercorn in olive oil reminded me a bit of capers, only it wasn’t as salty, but it definitely had that strong olive taste to it too.

• Pasta

It is quite ironic that I’m not fond of salads, pasta & bread but I’m so willing to eat large amounts of it when I’m dining at Sonya’s Garden Restaurant.  This just proves that they really do serve yummy food.  For their pasta, we were given 2 kinds of sauces: red sauce (sun dried tomato) & white sauce (chicken cream w/ mango).  The toppings available were the ff.: ratatouille, salmon belly, shitake mushrooms, black olives, capers & grated parmesan cheese.  I loved the red sauce more and had about 4 servings of pasta with it as I remember!  I know I eat a lot hahaha!

To my surprise, their salmon belly wasn’t as bad with the pasta as I thought it would be.  It was seasoned well a little bit on the oily side though, it seemed it had more fat than the usual salmon, so it didn’t have the same texture that the usual salmon has.  Being that it was the bellly portion, it definitely had more taste to it.  Consider the belly portion the dark meat part of a fish, and you get the point of why it usually has more taste as compared to the rest of the parts.

And indeed, the red sauce was just the better of the two sauces.  I think this sauce was probably slowly cooked, and considering the abundance of herbs available at Sonya’s this sauce was not only fresh, but it was made with fresh ingredients that make the tomato really stand out.  Again, with parmesan cheese, pasta is just a great and simple dish for any lunch.

• Dessert

Banana rolls w/ sesame & jackfruit.  I do remember someone loving bananas too much so I gave all my share to him hahaha!  He thoroughly enjoyed it too.  And I do remember him saying that the jackfruit also gave it that nice extra flavor.

Glazed sweet potato.  We were given advice that it’s best eaten with mint leaves.  I was too full already so tried just one piece.  Just a tad bit too sweet, this is a dish for those with a good sweet tooth.  I think having this with something light, some cream maybe, would help counter all that sweetness.  Sweet potato by itself is already good, so the glaze need not be too sweet.

Chocolate cake, I wish I can enjoy this but I’m not fond of chocolates especially dark chocolate.  This was good though according to other guests.  For chocolate lovers, this is always a good way to end any meal.  And if you have a sweet tooth then you may actually want a second serving, because the richness of the chocolate cake almost made it as rich as a brownie, but the texture was extremely moist and a bit more dense than usual cakes.  The icing was just as sweet, or even more.  With chocolates like these, I would prefer a lighter and airy type of icing, and not too sweet.  Overall description — very very rich chocolate taste.

• Beverages

My favorite drink of all time!  Freshly squeezed dalandan juice, I never get tired of it.  We probably asked for refill a countless number of times.  It really is that good.  Especially when we get to the pasta portion of the meal, this drink really has a way of cleaning the palate, and refreshing you at the same time.

Tarragon tea, this is different & yummy.  Don’t know what it’s made of though but this is best to take while you finish your meal at Sonya’s Garden.  Tarragon tea is really different, because compared to other herbs, this isn’t really the more popular herb to use with teas.  But it works perfectly when in the context of the whole meal.  Very clean taste, with a hint of licorice and even a little cinnamon too.   I can see why it’s a perfect ending to a perfect meal.

We also have the option to order braised chicken w/ potatoes (Php 650) and Roast chicken (Php 495).  We didn’t order it though coz it was just the 2 of us and the set meal is already more than enough.  You might want to order this if you’re in a big group.

As I mentioned earlier in this post, the ambiance is really nice at Sonya’s Garden. Romantic, relaxing, and a soothing environment.   It’s as if you’re in the middle of a wonderful garden during the dining experience, and in a sense, at any point of Sonya’s Garden, you really are in the middle of an actual garden.  That’s what makes it so nice, the natural and calm and peaceful surroundings of the place.  That’s why some celebrate their weddings, birthdays & business meetings there.  Can’t wait to go back there when I can. 🙂

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Sonya’s Garden Restaurant
Buck Estate, Alfonso, Cavite 4123, Cavite, Philipppines
+639175335140

Oh, how I love Sonya’s Garden food!  Aside from their famous lunch, they also serve breakfast!   For just Php 427.00 per person, we’ll be able to eat so much food to help us get energized for the day.  This is available from 8-10AM.

We can choose from 2 different kinds of breakfast:

• Filipino
• Continental

I’ve always been a rice person & was never fond of breads.  That was why I opted for the Filipino breakfast which includes a lot of dishes.  We weren’t able to finish the food because it was too much for the 2 of us.  But man, it was sooo yummy!

Before I share what we had, let me share with you what the continental breakfast consist of  for those who may want to know 🙂  Sonya’s Garden Restaurant’s Continental breakfast includes cereal w/ fresh milk & fruits, bread w/ assorted jam, ham & cheese omelette, fried potato with herbs, fried white cheese w/ honey, hot chocolate or coffee & seasonal fruits.

So now let me share the Filipino Breakfast at Sonya’s.  It was soo good & sooo worth it, believe me!  I believe a lot of people know Sonya’s Garden as a place which serves good lunch but you should definitely also try their breakfast, you won’t regret it.  We definitely had a great eating experience there.

Our yummy Filipino breakfast includes the ff.:

• Fried Rice



The fried rice here is simple yet so delicious.  As with anything at Sonya’s, simplicity but with great flavor, and even their fried rice does not disappoint.  Not salty or oily at all, and the rice is not dry.  Compliments the main dishes just right.

• Pork & Chicken Adobo



The pork and chicken adobo is of the dry kind, which also meant less oil in terms of the sauce, which can sometimes be the case with other adobos.  I liked this adobo only because it had the mixture of chicken and pork which is good because at least there’s variety all in one dish.  The seasoning was good with this dish, nothing fancy, again, I think the basic ingredients in adobo went into this dish and nothing more.  Simple, but delicious.  I’m sensing a theme here.

• Fried Boneless Bangus



Oh fried bangus, what can I say.  Fried bangus is really one of my favorite dishes too.  I especially like the inner portion since i always feel it’s the more tastier portion.  But with this bangus, you wouldn’t mind any part of it.  I believe they marinade this for a while before they fry it, because you can really taste the garlic and a little vinegar taste to it, not to mention some spices that I just can’t figure out what it is.  I guess it’s their secret as to why it taste just so yummy.  This bangus with their rice is a great combination.

• Omelette



Their Omelette was cooked nicely too.  One or two ingredients, cheese, and that’s it.  Did I mention that as with the rest of the menu items, this also wasn’t salty or too much.  At Sonya’s even their omelettes are light and balanced in terms of flavor  and simplicity.

• Hot Chocolate



We can also choose from coffee or hot chocolate.  Since both of us decided to quit drinking coffee, we opted for the hot chocolate.  It was fresh, chocolate lovers would enjoy this drink.  The chocolate drink was rich and think in consistency, and the flavor was just perfect, not too sweet or not too bitter.  You can ask for more too!

And don’t be shy in asking for their Basil Dalandan hot tea too, it’s not offered at breakfast, but if you ask, they will greatly accommodate like they did with us.  We even had two teapots of that tea, even in the mornings, that Basil Dalandan hot tea was just too good to pass up.

• Mango Tomato Mixture



Their mango tomato mixture was just that.. fresh mangoes, fresh tomatoes, fresh herbs, i think just a little olive oil, and that was it.  It’s a sort of chutney and salsa mix which compliments any sort of meat or even bread.  Sonya’s actually also has this during their lunch.  It’s the freshness of the ingredients that bring out the taste in this nice little side dish.

We were also served mangoes after we were done eating the main dishes.  All dishes were healthy too as most if not all ingredients were being taken from Sonya’s Garden.  Herbs on almost all dishes.  Truly a place to go to if you wanted to eat good food and stay healthy.

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Sonya’s Garden Restaurant
Buck Estate, Alfonso, Cavite 4123, Cavite, Philippines
+639175335140