rev:text
| - Soul Gastrolounge can get really busy - so expect to wait outside or on the stairs for a table.
Because of the exciting choices on the menu, I was pumped to try out this place. Armed with a Corporate card and a coworker, we arrived at Soul on a Wednesday evening and hardly had to wait. We both got a table outside, which was actually really nice on an early fall evening.
Service was great - our server was very nice and our plates were cleared quickly and waters always full.
For food, we ordered the following:
Asian Glazed Pork Belly Tacos - ain't nothin' "Asian-glazed" about these tacos... unless something like five spice qualifies as "Asian". However, these were my favorite out of the bunch we ordered. The pork belly was nicely cooked, really flavorful with the "Asian Glaze" and the watermelon salsa (really just marinated watermelon) added a nice flavor to the bite as a whole. I would probably rather have this without the tortilla.
Ramen bowl - very large serving! The first 5 bites of this was really good, but then it just really became way too salty. The ramen noodles were nice and chewy and reminded me of the kind that comes in American instant ramen (Top Ramen). What really stood out here were the veal cheeks that basically melted in your mouth and the amazing goat cheese fried mushrooms. YUM.
Bone marrow - pass. This hardly tasted like anything and was basically a ton of butter on some crostini.
Flatbread - truffle whipped goat cheese, pistachio pesto, honey braised garlic and fresh arugula - actually quite tasty, but hard to eat. It was very soggy, but had really good flavor from the mix of ingredients.
Korean BBQ wings - I live in NYC... where Korean chicken wings are a real thing and really delicious.... unfortunately these do not compare. Chicken wings need to be more crispy, in my opinion.
For dessert, we got the banana chocolate phyllo turnovers - such a good decision and at $5, it was very reasonably priced. However the star of this show was the banana pudding ice cream - SO GOOD. Too bad they don't sell it by itself.
I'm not really sure what to call this place... like an American/Asian "fusion" or what, but it's a decent place for drinks and tapas with a good environment. I'm pretty picky when it comes to food, only because I've had far better in NYC. Bottom line - decent food, great atmosphere.
|