SOUL Dining — Restaurant in Sydney

The food was pretty nice and the service was good by everyone except one person - the manager. Firstly, when we asked if the winter set menu was on discount, his response was ‘this is already the discounted price, we are not McDonalds’. Honestly even though it was a joke it was a bit rude but we ignored it as it was a special night and we were celebrating a birthday.

Before we got sat down, another server had already told us to put our clothes and bags away. We had some remaining bags we placed next to us or on the ground. The manager then came up to us and said: ‘Move the bags’ ‘dont put the cake bag on the seats’. Of course we have no problem moving our stuff but his tone was honestly a bit rude and there was no ‘please’ or ‘thank you’. He also didn’t give an explanation why we were the ones picked out to move these things when other people clearly had bags on the sofa. Only when my partner asked him why he was being quite rude to us, he then said ‘I’m not being rude I’m just telling you to move your bags. We have other customers. And what if your cake leaks on our fabric sofa’. he even told us to move our stuff ourselves, not offering to help.

Okay fine, we did what we were told, we understood the reasons, but the way it was conveyed was just not good customer service. And he doubled down and kept saying things like ‘Im sorry if you feel upset but I wasn’t being rude’. There was no real accountability or retrospect. It really ruined the night for everyone.

I will be fair and say the other staff were extra nice to us and treated us well. The manager only ‘tried’ to be nicer to us once he realised how upset my partner was by his behaviour by offering to put our cake in the fridge etc, but honestly the fact he couldn’t just apologise straight out and still said he wasn’t being rude and being defensive with a loud voice was disappointing till the end.

We have patronised this place many times before and has never received such behaviour from other staff. The manager needs to be trained properly on how to convey things to customers and not act defensive when customers are simply asking questions.

UPDATE: The general manager called my partner and apologised on behalf of their staff, offering complimentary drinks for next visit. We appreciate the apology and offer but I think it will be difficult for us to come back again after that experience. We do hope the staff treats future patrons better than we...

Really looked forward to dining at Soul Dining. Strong hit and miss on the food we had. Dark ambience - dark that a table had to use their mobile torch for the menu, could also barely see much in the bathroom 😂.

Anyway, for the food, we started with the complimentary rice bread with the anchovy butter and sea salt. Very different texture (sticky - like rice cakes), paired with the butter 👌🏼 - could have a few more of these. Next, we had the wagyu truffle tartlet ($15/piece) which was amazing as well - tartlet was made with dumpling skins and were thin and really crunchy. Tartare was so balanced from the sweetness of the pear.

Corn riblets ($16) were a miss for me, purely because it was really sweet (though good). Just didn’t think it was followed well after 2 really savoury dishes. Felt more like it belonged in a cantina.

Kyu-a-sang ($32) was also a miss for me. Brown butter sauce was amazing but wasn’t a fan of the mandu itself. Didn’t think the ratio of dough to filling was right and felt like every bite had a different taste to it. If I’m right with the herb, had some parsley too course which just took over most of the flavour in some bites.

Prawn tteokbokki ($36) was decent - pretty much a ‘chilli crab’ sauce tteokbokki with prawns. The sauce was amazing - cleaned the plate. Prawns was slightly over cooked. Tteokbokki was slightly chewier and didn’t soak up as much of the sauce. Definitely need a spoon for this dish to scoop the sauce together with the tteokbokki.

Claypot rice with Glacier 51 toothfish ($68) was dish of the night for us. Loved the flavours. Literally an umami bomb with the truffle oil, ikura and the fish itself. Rice was a tad bit moist for our liking. Fish was slightly overcooked - felt like the fish was a tad bit dry and lost its natural oiliness. But still a great dish nonetheless. Also loved the crispy bits at the bottom!

Finished with the truffle makgeoli bingsu ($25). Loved it! No complains at all - probably one of the best desserts we’ve had in awhile. Really balanced on the sweetness...

Soul Dining has moved location and refined its offering in the five years since my first visit. The swankier and more spacious CBD restaurant sits next to Maydanoz on Carrington Street, both an easy walk from City Recital Hall if you happen to be seeing a gig. The degustation menu ($120/person) gives you a good overview of the one-page menu, plus a range of ways you can pimp your meal. The chilli tuna tartlet ($9/each)—a play on yukhoe—is worth including. For an opening cocktail, amaretto moderated by rum and sesame oil makes the sesame sour ($28) a safe bet.

Transition to wine with your opening flurry of snacks. The signature cubes of rice bread ($7/2) made the jump from the Surry Hills 30-seater unchanged. Caviar and salmon roe topped devilled eggs ($10/each) suit something linear, like the 2023 Corymbia Chenin Blanc ($98/bottle) from the lower end of the pricy wine list. The standout ox tongue doughnut ($9/each), with chewy mochi-like texture, wants something richer. The 2024 Stargazer Riesling ($110) is a good option.

What the menu does well is balance hero proteins, like the menu’s pinnacle, Riverine beef short rib ($72), with vegetables. There’s a soondae croquette ($7/each) in the snacks, and a collection of summer vegetables draped over the pearl barley and black rice-based bori bibimbap ($23). The latter arrives with prawn tteokbokki ($42) where chewy bisque-coated rice cakes sit under a creamy Yamba prawn. Kingfish in kimchi water ($35) is your must-eat, and a more refined version of a dish I ate on my initial visit. The chunky diced raw fish and delicate fermented dressing makes a nice change from the ubiquitous sauce-dominated slabs of too-cold kingfish elsewhere. Even the daily dessert—a silky chocolate cake with doenjang caramel and rice ice...