SoCo Kitchen & Bar Wollongong — Restaurant in Wollongong City Council

The bottom end of Crown street is not just a place for seedy bars and weekend revellers anymore. There are lots of little gems opening up that are serving up thoughtfully designed menus and amazing food.

Soco Kitchen is the brain child of Sean Jones and Amy Bennett. Sean works his magic in the kitchen and Amy takes care of everything else front of house.

The venue is cozy and intimate with a bar at one end and tables lining either side of the modest dining room. They decor is super cool and kitschy. The original gaudy depictions of Roman goddesses and cherubs still adorn the walls; remnants of the locations former life as an Italian restaurant. Overlaying the old is southern/ creole American paraphernalia such as skulls, beads and the like. It’s weird, but hey, it works!

The thing that really makes your evening memorable at Soco is the amazing service delivered southern hospitality style. Amy is a sensational host and you really feel like she is inviting you into her home to settle in for some amazing home style cooking.

We had the smoked fish dip and Cuban pork bites for entree. The fish dip is light and creamy. The fish flavour isn’t overwhelming and topped with beautiful popping row there is lots of good things going on with this dish.

The pork bites look like a small serve but they are decadent and rich and more than satisfied our group of three.

For mains we ordered the Soco Gumbo, Fried Chicken & Waffle and the Slow Roasted Beef Brisket. All the dishes were great. The chicken and waffles has some very unique flavours with sweet meets sour and juicy chicken meets crunchy batter and fluffy waffles.

The brisket melts in your mouth and is served with baked potatoes and wilted spinach. The dish is tasty but very very rich and perhaps a little heavy for some. Bring your appetite because it’s going to fill you up!

The gumbo is probably not the same as you would find in the US but it holds its own as a complex and satisfying dish. It’s comfort food that will have you licking the bowl… if you can get through the serving. And don’t forget the corn bread, it’s delicious.

We didn’t get a chance to sample the extensive drinks and cocktail menu but it looked really interesting.

We had a great...

Wollongong's Culinary Constellation has a new star in SoCo Kitchen. Chef Sean and Amy have announced themselves with a bang. This dynamic 2 person team delivers an incredulous output of fabulous food and services including in-house corn bread. From light snacks through to the exquisite duck's breast (on the specials menu) pictured and to the container with our take away Jerky at the end of the evening, the love shines through in every dish and everything they do. It's BYO (wine only) and in house there's some funky New Orleans' beers and a small but very adequate bar. Check this place out, and it definitely won't be a one off affair. Wollongong is blessed at present with an amazing array of talented young chefs /eateries - Sean and Amy have just helped raise that bar yet...

I do love this place, I always make time to visit when I'm in the gong. Great atmosphere, the food is amazing and they provide a cuisine that is very much few and far between in Australia.

The Margherita was outstanding tonight and the buffalo chicken tenders things pretty good too.

I was let down by the gumbo tonight though, so much so I only had a few spoonfulls of it, just way too much salt, and the sausage was mush. I suppose because i was comparing it to past servings there. I get there may be variation, but was a bit miffed that I had just spent $39 on a dish, didn't really eat it, mentioned it was too salty and no real concern generated. I know, I'm being precious, but walked away feeling very ... bummed.

Still gave them 5 stars, well cause they...