Metta Sol Specialty Coffee — Restaurant in Adelaide

Disclaimer alert: I am not a vegan.

Good: Easy parking The waiting staff were friendly and nice.

Bad: Website and Google reviews mislead you to think this is a major, popular vegan restaurant. On Saturday we walked in after 6:30pm there were only 2 customers. Very tiny restaurant. Table for less than 20 people inside and tables placed side by side, so close you could smell next person's breath.

There is no phone number to book. Just an online booking system which forces you to pay $25 per head so if you cancel after 24 hours your money is gone.

If you book for 6 or more, their online system forces you to book their $66 per head banquet.

There is a weekend 10% surcharge, which you only know about from a tiny fine print hidden amongst other fine print at bottom of menu.

The laksa (sold as lemongrass coconut curry) is totally tasteless without any lemongrass or spiced fragrance typical of laksa.

The golden dumplings, main course $30 plus 10% surcharge, was small entree sized. Just half a dozen less than bite sized pieces of gnocchi like spongy, soggy tasteless mess.

The Vietnamese Banh Xeo (sold as Turmeric crepe) was not at all crispy but was passable.

The mushroom chilli noodle was too salty, and without any wok smokiness nor umami complex flavour of seasonings of Oriental stirfried rice noodles.

The sang choy bao (sold as Tofu larb) was okay.

The mushroom ceviche entrée was possibly the ONLY dish that was a touch special and better than bad home cooking.

I was charged just under $15 for bringing a birthday cake even though I had called ahead and was told it was perfectly fine, go ahead. This was refunded after I protested.

Summary: I may not be a vegetarian but there are 2 vegetarians in our group and like me, neither of them was impressed...

I love what you do and what you stand for and your food is seriously delicious, the physical space is lovely! All very much let down by the service.

I'm pretty casual, pretty forgiving, happy to take a good long time chatting while we wait for good food. Seriously, love chatting! In no hurry to be anywhere! This however was verging on laughable on such a quiet day. Staff happily leaning on benches polishing cutlery while chatting in the kitchen. No one in any hurry, no need to be of course, we didn't ask for anything particularly tricky and there were only four of us. Eventually some food came out for two of us, No cutlery for hot meals. That's okay, we figured it would come out when the next two meals came, 4 or 5 minutes later no meals had come and no cutlery had appeared so I went to ask for some. No "Oh sorry!" with a smile, more like a "Yeah, I was bringing it to you". Odd, anyway, it appeared the other meals weren't arriving any time soon so I suggested they start while their meals were still warm. They were finished by the time I got mine, the other arrived randomly some time in between.

I don't write bad reviews, 'If you don't have anything nice to say don't say anything at all' is pretty much my policy. However, after two such experiences here (The first one must have just been an anomaly, right? Just not their best day, everyone has those) I thought it might be worth mentioning that the food really is delicious... And the rest is, at it's very best (at least in my limited experience) inconsistent. It's not an inexpensive place to eat and yet we come because we are more than happy to pay for good food and good service, it's worth it. It was not worth it on the particular day we visited. I hope...

Can’t believe I haven’t stopped in here before! Have been inside before when Husik was here as a pop up at night, but not during the day until now . It right on the tramline near Wayville on Goodwood Road, and it looked like a local hangout as I stepped through the door . It’s a little squishy but somehow they make the atmosphere work - and the hanging plants make it seem light and airy . They take their coffee seriously here and the brew has its own separate menu . I ordered a seasonal pourover from Columbia and it had a lovely watermelon aroma - it was clean and very easily drinkable . I also ordered the Calabaza Tostada , and opted for a gluten free salad . There are nine options which you can either have on panini , sourdough , a gluten free bagel or salad , or a loaded croissant - a little like choosing bread at Subway but so much better . And the fillings were well thought out and so delicious. There are loads of plant based options here . My salad was divine and the flavours married so well together- and the sweet soy aioli was on another level . I was told they make the sauces in house , so they are a clever creative bunch ! Also had the good fortune coming in on their birthday and got a small almond latte for $2 , to which I couldn’t resist adding a gluten free lemon raspberry cookie - it was a chewy type and had a wonderful citrus flavour. Their sweet treats comes for a place in Lobethal called Clara’s cakes - and they are all vegan and beautifully made. Defiantly a go to spot if you’re...