Chez Sonia — Restaurant in Nairobi

Today I had an extremely disappointing experience in Chez Sonia… I had heard a lot about the place, and I was super excited to go. Unfortunately, the restaurant did not live up to the expectations.

The service: The service killed our vibe; waiters actively ignored our table. It took them twenty minutes to bring us the menu (which we had to ask for). Then our food took took another forty-five minutes to arrive (we only asked for a sharing platter of cold cuts, which shouldn’t take that long) - after half an hour waiting, we had to call the waiter to check on the food status. The worst part is when we tried to ask for the bill: We literally spent half an hour waiving and no one would come to our table. I had to stand up, leave the table and look for a waiter not only once but twice to finally get the bill (it took so long that our Uber left and we had to call another cab). When the bill arrived, the waiter looked frustrated and did not even say goodbye.

The food: We had a cheese and charcuterie platter and a homemade burrata. Both were overpriced (considering almost everything was from Brown’s and other local brands) and the taste was just okay [update: most of the items we ordered were from the “d’’ici” section of the menu]. The menu also does not clearly state that certain cuts are more expensive than others [update: the most expensive items have an asterisk, which is something easily overlooked; also, the headings indicating the origin of the products are in French]. We ended spending 35 dollars each (for the food, two glasses of wine per person and a bottle of water).

The wine: The wine list is also overpriced compared to other restaurants in NBO (at least 800KES for a small glass of wine). On top of that, my glass was dirty.

The music: There was a problem with the amplifier and the band had to stop playing earlier than expected. [Update: I do understand that this goes beyond management’s control].

All in all, I am only giving Chez Sonia two stars because the ambience is really nice and they managed to get us a table outside. All in all, and I would not recommend this place to anyone (and I see that the service issue was also raised in other comments).

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Update: The manager replied to my review, and I just want to clarify that we did have a reservation. Our reservation was for the restaurant (not the garden) and they managed to accommodate us outside as a table freed up when...

Worst experience!! We were a group of 8 people, started with the drinks and starters which were ok - only amazing thing was the samosas! Then we ordered mains! Firstly it took them 1 hour to get the mains out, when the mains were served is when someone thought to clean the table, at that point they took the cutlery so mains were sitting getting cold, and to top it off I didn’t even get my meal because apparently the chef forgot to make it?! The waiters didn’t seem to care or notice and from the comments of our group, the food came cold, was ok nothing amazing! After a lot of back and forth on my main I just cancelled it (but was still added to the bill) and we decided to order desert. We ordered The tiramisu which was ok, I ordered the lemon tart, which was picked up by the server to place on the table (with no gloves or servingware!! Just straight up picked up the tart with his bare hands! EW) was really bad, and tasted off! Finally asked for the bill, noticed some items added that never had come - paid a very large sum and then as we walked out were being watched because we didn’t leave a tip. Poor service, lack of common sense, chaotic and food was so average! Not worth going if you’ve never been to be honest! There are better places out there with...

Let me start by saying the place is good and a must visit. The wine and cheese selection is decent. What could have been better stories and details about wine, their origin, segregation into sweet, full bodied, aged, acidity, and even description of hints one can expect of fruits or berries etc staff, atleast the one we interacted with didn't have any clue of any wine when we asked questions to narrow down the selection. He also broke the cork while removing it. Use of hands to hold the cork was too much for one's comfort. Decanter and other wine accessories including a glass stopper for the bottle etc were not provided, especially if someone is picking an aged wine plastic glass on the table to hold tissues was a put off. Some things don't go with the overall wine experience. Cheese platter can have smaller portion size of cheese, but can have more varieties of cheese to it. I am not sure if anyone sees the amount of uncomsumed cheese coming back into the kitchen Vegetarians options in food are limited (though am not a vegetarian)

Overall energy of the place is positive and...