Soul Kitchen — Restaurant in Sal

Our first impression of Soul Kitchen was of pleasure, beautiful restaurant with a exciting promise of a great evening & we felt we received a warm welcome! Chef’s complimentary amuse-bouche was delicious & very cleverly presented, our only disappointment was that it was more or less the same as the tuna starter that we had ordered from the menu! The tuna starter was on point, the tiniest hint of wasabi dressing complimented the fresh sashimi perfectly! We varied our main! The Tuna steak was seared just right & was delicious, the teriyaki sauce was over powered by the same sauce used in the chef’s welcome dish & in our starter, it was dotted in 1cm dots covering half the plate! The veal cheek was very rich, with an awful crunchy topping, the mushroom foam just did not balance the richness. The biggest upset was the grouper, instead of a beautiful white fish freshly cooked we were simply served a “fish stew” with very little fish No sides are offered -so our hope of enjoying fresh vegetables or salad was not an option! Admittedly -we went just by the menu which did not communicate in detail what to expect! As well as forming our assumptions & therefore we take responsibility for our disappointment, choosing to use this as our insight & without complaining asked for our bill. Everything went wrong when the manager charged 2 of us 500€ each on our cards instead of 52€! Despite us querying the amount looked wrong he went on to charging a second card! After further query he finally realised he had made a very costly mistake! This was our first time paying in local currency & even though we were unsure, we believed the manager was familiar with currency he used everyday! My card was cancelled - but, they did not know how to carry out a refund on the first card! Instead offered 470€ in cash with a further cost to us converting back to sterling as well as risk to carry. What upset us more was their inability to show any compassion apart from a simple sorry & feel they had rectified the situation & we now needed to clear the bill! As 3 business women, aged between 45 & 51, we have travelled independently worldwide & are accustomed to eating in fine establishments this was a great let down!

Updated review From 1 to 5 stars

Last night we were invited to return to the Soul Kitchen by Marco Scatigna, the Owner of the restaurant. He graciously wanted to apologise & rectify the experience we had undergone on our previous visit! For me personally it was the first time I was in such a situation where by someone was so humble & sincerely felt upset that they needed to make amends instead of being reactive & defensive as most people tend to become! Marco personally welcomed us & informed us that the Chef had arranged a special 4 course tasting menu, each course having been planned whilst taken on board our previous feedback! The manager explained each course as it was served! The food was simply delicious, all well presented & the flavours perfectly balanced! The whole team at Soul Kitchen delivered an evening to the highest standard & could not have been more welcoming! The initial awkwardness we felt on arrival & from the team showed vanished straightaway, enabling all to relax! I can’t remove my earlier review because sadly that was what we had then experienced, however for an owner to personally reach out to us, showing us his passion whilst being so humble & free of any ego made our night. Any previous upset was totally forgotten & we saw what makes Soul Kitchen very special! Marco worked with his very capable team to fully show us their vision, awesome abilities & the focus to delivering the most delicious food! Everything was simply faultless & as a group we enjoyed the best of fine dining experience in very welcoming surroundings! Marco - I personally thank you for having the heart & passion to want to rectify our previous experience & I know 100% I look forward to returning on my next visit! You all easily delivered far above the highest rating! I wish you the...

It’s good to find a restaurant that aspires to fine dining in a tourist resort like this, but at a busy time like Xmas week, they set themselves up to fail. Either the kitchen is mismanaged and works too slowly, or the management (invisible, if it existed, when we visited) overbooks through an optimism that the kitchen and staff can cope with all tables occupied. The result is that food takes so long to arrive that clients (well, us) are so irritated and hungry by then that it’s impossible to appreciate it. The starters (tuna sashimi and vegetable delight) were tasty and well presented, but of course tiny, which just makes waiting another 39 minutes for the main course more frustrating. We both ate pasta with lobster; sadly almost flavourless. The waiter took over 5 minutes searching for a pepper mill to improve it, by which time it was cold. And of course the pasta portions are Italian size, based on then having a main course – one would lose the will to live waiting for that. It’s a lovely venue on the beach, and they clearly mean well, but it would be better if they either hired some serious management or accepted the type of market they are in and offered a slightly less ambitious menu comprised of dishes the kitchen can deliver quicker, with bigger...

Great food (except dessert). Not sure what the service was about; either plain incompetent or intentionally unfriendly for families. In case of the latter please advertise upfront. We arrived at 7.30pm. Party of 6. We could not order immediately because not enough menu's were available (was this a first hint?). We all ordered a cocktail. 2 of us a starter. The main course for everybody arrived at 9.30pm. By then, most tables, even the ones arriving later were at dessert and coffee. The wine ordered with the main course arrived after we finished the main course. Desserts arrived staggered, after a gentle reminder. We left the restaurant at 22.30. The restaurant was almost empty by then. Only one employees pretended he felt a bit uncomfortable with the situation. Again, please put a sign if you prefer not to host families. This makes life easier for everybody. (This is a short summary of things that went wrong. But I am not willing to spend more time and energy on...