Chinwaggery at Soul

Have been a few times and I swear the owner of Soul must also be heavily invested in the light fitting business as there are at least 10 different types of lights in the quirky but slightly overdone venue, which probably served as an inspiration for Tribecca at the other end of JBR.

The Bar area is quite elegant and slightly less contrived than the open dining area which features a large scale if un-inventive mural which doesn't quite serve as the perfect compliment to the overall New Your inspired space.

The outdoor section promises sheisha, beverages and a songstress, who can be heard from the restaurant to provide a nice little background to your meal.

On to the food; The amuse bouche was excellent combining a chilled pumpkin puree with some candied walnuts and excited the palette immediately.

The Classic New York Burger was good as far a burgers go without being spectacular. The beef pattie was clearly the star as it should be. The braised Beef Cheeks while really well presented was probably a little on the small side, it ate well and combined some lovely soft slow cooked meat with beetroot, although being picky, the jus could have been a little more acidic for a perfect balance.

With friendly and efficient service the only let down was a near empty dining room, clearly reducing the ambiance that a true Manhattan eatery would provide in spades. It's hard to decide if this is really, really good pub grub or middle of the road bistro / brasserie fare.  If they fine tune the offering it might be able to establish a firm identity one way of the other and pull more people in as the food is quite nice. 

Bottom Line:

Overall it's probably worth a visit on a Thursday night when there's a little more action.