The café is called Soul Deli and is in Surry hills. Soul Deli is run by the same team behind Soul Dining (specifically by husband and wife Daero Lee and Illa Kim). The space has a minimal and welcoming vibe. I also really like the touches of Seoul pixel artwork and the fact that they show case products of local designers and artists in the Korean community. The coffee is sourced from one of my current favourite roasters in Sydney, Primary Coffee. I went with Chocolatesuze and Noods a few weekends ago.
This is the first café to showcase a variety of kimchi choices from umami packed kimchi to vegan kimchi. They have mentioned that no fish product is used for the vegan kimchi, hence why it’s vegan.
If my memory serves me right, the Primary Coffee I had was from Bolivia. I ordered 2 cold brews because it was that good. It had notes of stone fruits and apple. It went down really well.
One of my favourite items was their pork belly kimchi cheese sandwich ($18), which has provolone & American cheese, fried kimchi, pork belly and served with house made pickles. Technically, it’s a toastie and a damn amazing one! Fried or grilled kimchi is the best guys! Try it if you haven’t, its life changing. It added smoky notes and extra umami to the toastie. The cheese was nicely melted and the pork was buttery.
The sweet corn kimchi pizza ($22) was not too bad but it came across more like a corn fritter than a kimchi pizza/pancake. I was expecting more of kimchi cheese pancakes you can get from Korean restaurants. I feel like it needed more kimchi and instead of feta, I would have preferred a combo of melted provolone and American cheese (like what was used for the toastie).
The Korean schnitzel ($26) was another winner! It was crumbed pork loin with Korean mushroom sauce and served with kimchi and rice. The coating was so crisped, and the meat was quite tender and juicy. The sauce was creamy with notes of umami and some sweet & sour hints.
My absolute favourite here was their buttermilk hotcakes ($16) that came with maple syrup and Tasmanian salted cultured butter. We also ordered KFC (Korean Fried Chicken) on top for an extra $8 since they recommend it and we love KCF. So why not right? The pancakes were so damn good and fluffy! The KFC was smothered in yangnyeom sauce (Korean sweet chilli sauce) and I would also recommended for y’all to order this with your hotcakes. The sauce was caramel-y and had notes of umami. The fried chicken has rippled crisped coating and was so juicy in the inside.
We ended out brunch with a massive scone that was sent to us by the kitchen on the house. It was nice and fluffy. We were also provided with cream that they wouldn’t normally serve with the scone.
Overall, we were quite happy with the experience. Coffee was amazing and most of the food were amazing, I would definitely come back here for more.
Soul Deli
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