Review: Sona Classic Indian Cusine

Sona is the first restaurant I’ve ever been kicked out of. Considering my history of occasionally regrettable behavior, it’s a surprise that the purveyors of the upscale Indian restaurant in Maplewood Village were the first restaurateurs to resort to the boot.  But even more surprising is how neither my dining companion nor I did anything outlandish to warrant the old heave-ho; we just started our lunch late and lingered longer than we were allowed.

Let me back up. I first went to Sona on the recommendation of a co-worker, a buffet lover who loves nothing better than a plate stuffed with clashing flavors, and whose highest word of praise is “variety.”  The buffet offered during lunchtimes at Sona, he promised, had “a little bit of everything.”

There was indeed an expansive array of food on hand when I met my friend at Sona at 1:45.  And the opulence and size of the restaurant matched the wealth of food offerings. You step down into Sona, a single cavernous room, elegantly furnished, and you feel like you have stepped out of the suburbs and onto a movie set. This is especially true at lunch, when shafts of afternoon sunlight shine through the restuarant's high windowns, and sitar music plays lightly in the background. Also, it tends to not be very crowded in daylight, despite the buffet; of the four times I've eaten there only once has there been a second party present.

And, as my buffet-loving buddy said, there was a wide variety of food. But, strangely, the flavors didn’t clash with one another. The food was not greasy, the meats were distinguishable from each other. I hungrily ate everything I gathered on my plate on my first trip, promising myself I’d take better notes of what was what on my second.

At my first visit, my friend and I happily chatted away until the waiter approached our table. He spoke softly and politely, and it took a couple of passes for him to get across his message, which was that we had to leave.

Evidently, the luxurious décor and understated ambiance come at a certain cost. Namely, that the restaurant has to be maintained and cleaned, and the staff has to break down the buffet trays between the lunch and dinner rushes.  As late and lingering lunch guests, we were standing in the way of Sona dinner perfection.

So, I highly recommend the lunch buffet (Which costs about $10 and features chicken tikka, tandoori, chicken korma, creamy spinach, pakoras, naan bread and more). I also recommend getting there closer to 11:30, when it is first served, than to 2:30, when it ends.