PPP: Soul Bistro

Time for another PPP! This time starring H., C., L., and myself. We were tossing up between a few places but we ultimately chose Soul Bistro because the breakfast menu at another place we were looking at wasn't as interesting as this place's menu.That being said, we ended up going out for lunch so that didn't really matter.

Soul Bistro is not difficult to find but it isn't too easily visible from the road. It's on the intersection of Baroona and Milton Road, but you can't see it as you're driving along. So when you pull into Baroona Road off Milton, take the next left into the shopping centre, find a park, and start walking back towards Milton Road! Then you'll see this shiny brown sign and realise where you have to go. H., and L., both said that they had to pull out their GPS to find this place.

Aha!

It was an open, cheery looking meeting place with lots of table arrangements and green plants everywhere.

Lots of places to sit

Here is their online menu! They have a lot of promotions going on such as a cheap $10-13 dollar lunch special that comes with a can of soft drink, iced lemon tea or a coffee, 10% off student discount and a 10% discount if you're going to something at Suncorp Stadium afterwards. These were the specials that were on the day that we went.

Drinks!

Even more drinks!

They have menus everywhere

Seriously

Not even joking

I got an apple berry crush, super bright red, lots of floating seeds and a strong berry flavour with a nice balance between sweet and sour flavours. It was quite thick with a tangy berry sorbet chunk floating in the centre. My only complaint was that it was full of seeds, and I had to chew a bit after every sip. H., tried some and kept sipping my drink when she thought I wasn't looking.

Mmm berry and apple

C., and L., decided to get lunch specials and after enquiring, decided not to upgrade to a fancy lemonade like H., did. So they just got plain lemon iced teas, it was sweet with a lemony tang. The tea flavour was nicely balanced, and not overly tannic or bitter in flavour.

Pretty tea

H., upgraded her iced tea/house lemonade to the fancy lychee and mint lemonade. It was actually a fizzy lemonade with lychee and mint pieces floating around! I was really surprised as for some reason whenever lemonade is mentioned, I always think they mean a lemon juice, sugar and water combo rather than fizzy lemonade.

Lychees, lychees, lychees!

I ordered these chorizo tater tots with blue cheese sauce to share between us, there were seven to a serve which is a bit of an odd number. Everyone else dutifully tried a piece and remarked that it was good although no one had a second piece, so I happily had it all to myself. It had a crunchy crumbed exterior and was full of creamy mashed potato as well as big chunks of a garlicky chorizo. I would've preferred a spicier chorizo but this was still pretty good, the blue cheese sauce was a mild blue cheese but still had a very noticeable flavour.

Chorizo tater tots!

I decided to get the buffalo chicken wrap which were two unevenly cut wraps containing baby spinach, battered chicken breast pieces, seasoned rice and apparently blue cheese sauce with a small side salad and drizzle of balsamic vinegar. I didn't really notice much of a buffalo chicken flavour, I was expecting a crunchy chicken piece with a hot and sour sauce tempered by a thick blue cheese dressing. That being said, it wasn't an unpleasant combination of flavours, just not what I was expecting. The rice was odd, but it reminded me of Mexican burritos I've had in the past.

Hmm

H, ordered the grilled haloumi and mushrooms, which came with a tortilla toast, charred eggplant and herb aioli. Once again, we were surprised by the presentation, there was a stack of golden brown haloumi slices, a little mixed garden salad and then these little wraps with all the grilled eggplant and mushrooms inside. H., was happy with her meal for once and said it was tasty if unexpected.

So many bits

C., got the special of the day, chicken fritters with a potato salad and lemon iced tea. She enjoyed it but I was somehow suspicious of the appearance of the fritters. We exchanged bites and came to the same conclusion, the chicken fritters were the exact same as the ones I had in my buffalo chicken wrap.

Dun dun dun

L., got the fish of the day, succulent grilled barramundi on top of pumpkin, with a lightly dressed salad and a glass of lemon iced tea. She said the fish was quite good and finished her meal before the rest of us.

Soul Bistro:
Atmosphere: 7, airy little shopping centre cafe. Lots of greenery surrounding us and lots of little tables for people to sit at.
Service: 10, super cheerful guy serving us who knew the menu intimately, he was very good with recommendations and seemed very happy to serve us. He also kindly split the bill for us.
Food: 7, the food was a bit hit and miss, with similar elements despite the interesting descriptions. The food was all polished off though and for the price, including a drink, I'd be more than happy to come here again. I really wish there was something cheap and cheerful like this near where I work.