Sona — Restaurant in Leipzig

I'm a happy returning customer. Here's my honest review after many deliveries.

Sashimi: Very fresh. The cut isn't particularly aesthetic but the size is reasonably good, albeit a bit smaller than some other places. It usually comes with some fresh herbs that have a delicious fragrance, and a good amount of wasabi and ginger. I personally order a portion of sushi rice with it. Btw, the sushi rice here is quite good. Not too sweet, not too sour, and it seems they use a good quality vinegar for it.

Soups: One of the main reasons why I became a regular is the Tom Kha soup, it's the best I've ever tried. The choice of vegetables could be improved, and I'd definitely prefer if it didn't have corn, but otherwise it's fantastic, with a good thickness, and really tasty. You can't miss it! For this reason I've never tried the miso soup until today. Well, today I did and I was pleased. Well balanced taste, nice amount of seaweed, the tofu is nicely sized. From what I could taste it was dry tofu which has a firmer texture than silken tofu. Some people swear that miso soup must have silken tofu but I like both solutions.

Nigiri: Usually appropriately sized, a bit smaller than in most places but after all sushi should be of a size that's possible to eat in one bite. And whereas the amount of rice here is less than other places, the fish is usually thicker, long and nicely cut. Unfortunately today they were really small, the fish was quite thin, and the tuna wasn't very fresh. The freshness might be because it's holiday. But the rest wasn't up to the quality that I've experienced so far. I guess it was a bad day. It can happen. If it happens again I'll update the review. If I don't, it means it was an exception to the rule.

Maki and Rolls: Smaller than in most places, I'd prefer them a bit bigger (at least the Maki) but it's still ok. I'm particularly fond of the Crispy roll. Other places (where it's usually called crunchy) make it way too big and with a too thick layer of breading. Here it's the perfect size for a bite, the breading is thin and dry, and it tastes more elegant than in other places. They probably put some spices in the breading, anyway you should try them. Also, I usually don't digest fried food well, but I've no issue with this.

Appetizers: I've tried the two varieties Gyoza. At first when I've read Parmesan in one and truffles in the other I was skeptical. But it was very tasty in a positively subtle way. I've also tried the giant tiger shrimps. The breading is different than in the crispy roll, thicker, yet dry and I suggested it well. The chilly mayo was a nice combo.

Service: My experience at the phone was honestly not very pleasant. I didn't feel that my needs were understood and taken seriously, nor was the tone particularly friendly and respectful. Tbh I stopped ordering here for a while because of that. On the contrary, the guy who usually does the deliveries in the evening is amazing. He always smiles and never plays dirty tricks to get tips. In the morning it's mostly one of the kitchen personal who does the delivery. They can't hold a candle to the young man, but it's not their real job so it's acceptable, although it would still be nice if they'd deliver with the same care as when they prepare the food.

Overall, it's one of the two best sushi deliveries in Leipzig. I've tried them all and I'm very picky, so trust me. Sona is my official sushi place in Leipzig, and I got used to thanking them by sending a 5 euro tip to the kitchen. For several reasons I rarely give tips to delivery people, but the friendly young man here is so outstanding that I make an exception for him.

I hope...

0/5. Very disappointed. Avoid this place if you can.

First of all, the flavors were totally bland but only sweet. covered in sugar. Dishes are not representative of the original flavors of the Asian dishes. Extremely over priced for what they offer.

VERY slow and inefficient service. We asked for a bill for 5 times. It took nearly 20 minutes to get a bill. Overall, they seemed to be really understaffed which made their service slow and impersonal. When I’m paying this much money for a meal, I expect better service. You’ll get friendlier service at McDonald’s.

Cash only?! Who does that in 2021. Only ones who are trying to avoid paying tax...

We ordered two Vietnamese dishes. On the menu, mine(lo lat) supposed to have hot tepanyaki noodle as a base and beef rolls on top, where as my friend’s dish (Bun Nam bo) supposed to have cold rice noodle as base and chicken on top. They mixed up the two dishes and gave both of us the wrong base.

We ordered a half liter of bottled water(we specifically said to the waiter “bottle water”) but the water came in a jar (without a bottle) which they charge 4 euros for it. When asked, the waiter said it’s ‘filtered water’, not bottle. How do we know if they fill up the jar with tap water and charge us the excruciatingly expensive amount? I felt very cheated with this move.

Overall, nothing good came out from this restaurant. Failed food, service, and pricing....

Myself and my partner had an excellent meal at Sona, we had a few dishes to share and all were lovely, we would’ve loved to see a few more options for gyoza as this was the only thing we felt lacking more flavour. Our server Minh, was really welcoming and spoke to us in English as well as German, which helped for me since I do not speak German. He also was very engaging and helped recommend dishes. My only critique would be how it was quite busy, so I did feel the servers were a bit pressured time wise (at least outside) and couldn’t check on us often enough, at no fault of their own. I would also suggest maybe having homemade mochi or change it for something else, as an avid mochi lover I knew it was the supermarket stuff! Highly recommend the...