Special nine-grid creative cuisine | Spacious space with delicate and small portions

Text & Photos /Ahmon

A few days ago, I saw a friend check in and dine at this SOUL KITCHEN place, and it seemed pretty good, so I came to try it out a few days later. The restaurant is located on Darong West Street, where there are quite a few other restaurants nearby—it could even be called a food battleground. When I got to the front of the store, I realized that its previous occupant was actually Yitai Thai. In just a few years’ time, several different restaurants have come and gone here, which goes to show how tough the F&B business can be.

It’s supposed to be creative Italian cuisine—so I’m guessing it’s a mix of creativity and Italian flavors, but whether it tastes good or not is still up in the air.

The interior space is about the same as when it was Yitai Thai, but the decor has changed a lot. There are a lot more graffiti and murals on the walls, and wine bottles are visible all over the restaurant. It seems they’ve also incorporated wine into the menu.

It seems to still be in its trial operation phase, so diners get a 10% discount no matter what time they come. I feel pretty lucky to have caught it during a discounted period.

There are a lot of seating options inside, including even long communal tables, making it very suitable for group dining. Perhaps because it was a weekday lunch, there weren’t many customers, and most of the tables were empty.

At the very back of the restaurant, there’s also a set of sofa chairs. But because the table is quite low, I felt it wasn’t very convenient for eating—you kind of have to hunch over—so I didn’t choose that spot.

Let’s take a look at the menu. It looks like a thin booklet, but once you open it, you’ll find there are actually quite a few dishes available.

Early Bird Special Meal: You can choose your main dish, eggs, and drink as you like. The drink part is all-you-can-drink, and it’s regularly priced at $180.

Brunch: Comes with a nine-grid meal combination, choose-your-drink + all-you-can-drink.

Pasta + meat platter: A rather unique combo. First, you choose your desired main dish, then your preferred pasta flavor. Additionally, you can pay an extra $50 or $100 to upgrade to a set meal.

Lunch/Dinner: Set meal style, choose your main dish, and select your drink with all-you-can-drink.

All-you-can-drink beverages for 120 minutes: Only available in the afternoon, charged per person.

Sandwiches, salads, and pancakes: Only available in the afternoon—not in the morning or evening.

Nowadays, it seems using tablets for ordering is all the rage. I noticed the staff quickly tapping away on the tablets to take orders for each table. The restaurant offers free Wi-Fi, and the connection is pretty stable too.

Side – Soup: My friend’s pasta came with a $50 upgrade to a set meal, which included a daily soup and a special drink. That day’s soup was creamy corn chowder. My friend didn’t say much after drinking it, so I guess it was just okay.

Brunch – Freshly baked bread brick: Included in the brunch set, the bread brick looks a bit like a honey toast stack—pieces of toasted bread piled up, very eye-catching. There’s also kiwi-flavored butter on the side. The bread is somewhat soft, but it probably wasn’t freshly baked because it was cold when it reached the table. The taste is quite ordinary, and if it were warm, it would probably be better.

Garden-style lettuce salad: Served together with the bread brick. It was just okay, but the salad dressing was tasty—sweet and tangy. I forgot to ask what flavor it was.

Nine-grid creative cuisine Brunch $280: This is the dish I came specifically to try. Eating lunch using the same glass plate as afternoon tea’s nine-grid feels quite luxurious and refined. In Taichung, only a few restaurants use these kinds of plates. The price is also a bit steep. When ordering, the staff asked whether I preferred more meat or more vegetables. As someone who loves meat, I went for more meat—so out of the 9 squares, 6 were meat-based. Nice.

Lemon-flavored chicken thigh: Has a slight citrus aroma, tender and delicious. Pan-seared pork belly used a leaner cut, so the aroma wasn’t as strong, and it was just okay. Pork jelly and seafood jelly had little flavor on their own, with a bouncy texture, needing sauces to enhance the taste. French-style scrambled eggs were smooth and rich in egg flavor, delicious. German sausage had a slight spice to it, and compared to traditional Taiwanese sausages, it had a bit more chew, which I really liked. Potato cubes were just simple potato flavor, braised until very soft, almost melting in your mouth. Tuna salad roll wrapped tuna and lettuce in Vietnamese spring roll wrappers—first time trying this style, it was decent, though the portion was small, gone in one bite.

Rosemary chicken thigh steak with spicy pasta $220
Next, my friend’s dish arrived. The chicken thigh steak and pasta were served separately, but the plate seemed a bit large, so the portions looked a bit small. It seemed to be stir-fried with chili and soy sauce, and it was genuinely a bit spicy. The pasta was on the firmer side, but overall it was quite tasty. The rosemary chicken thigh steak was marinated, pan-seared to golden brown, then drizzled with mushroom sauce. This was more like a Western-style dish. The chicken was tender and juicy.

Special Drinks – Earl Grey Tea, Fresh Milk Tea
For brunch, drinks are all-you-can-drink from 6 special options. If you order pasta, you can only get drinks by upgrading to a set meal, and those aren’t refillable. I tried two drinks this time and found the Earl Grey Tea to be better than the fresh milk tea—the tea flavor was more pronounced.

Overall, having brunch with a nine-grid setup is really quite unique. The dishes are refined, with many small portions—more suited to female diners. Guys might get hungry pretty quickly. Also, I think the pricing for brunch is a bit high. On the other hand, the pasta and meat platters are better value than the brunch. Most dishes come with unlimited refills on drinks, and with the large seating capacity and free Wi-Fi, this place is great for hanging out with friends, chatting and sipping drinks. Just my two cents, for reference only.

【Soul Kitchen Creative Cuisine】
Phone: 04-23265870
Address: No. 59, Darong West Street, Xitun District, Taichung City
Price: $80 and up
Dining Date: August 2014

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