Located just a ten minute walk away from campus, and next to St. James' Park, SOHO is a great location for a quick bite at dinner-time or a sit down meal for tea. The overall tone of the restaurant felt very cool and trendy, and they had BTS music videos playing on the telly if that piques your interest! I visited for a quick dinner with my two friends and took advantage of their lunchtime (2-4pm) £10.50 bento box deal where you had the choice of a starter and main, and side dishes of kimchi and rice.
Having always been interested in trying Korean food (which has been painfully rare to find in Newcastle up until a few years ago), I opted for chicken mandu (dumplings) for my starter, and pork bulgogi for my main. I was not disappointed! Both the chicken and pork were incredibly tender, and paired beautifully in taste with the kimchi side and sesame-sprinkled rice. Kimchi (a spiced fermented cabbage), whilst scary to people not used to distinct Korean flavours, was not as odd as I had expected and actually complemented the rest of the meal as a refreshing side to pick at during your meal and pair into layered bites of rice, bulgogi, and kimchi. When paired with a sweet soy sauce, the chicken mandu were equally scrumptious, and very different to other Asian dumplings like gyoza and dim sum - if you're interested in trying Korean takes on dumplings, mandu are a great start! Of course however, there are plenty of other food to try, including lots of Japanese dishes like sushi and different styles of ramen if that is more interesting to you! I was told the chicken katsu curry was also really great!
I didn't have massive expectations for the restaurant, with it being relatively new and only going for lunch (having been let down by other restaurants variety in selection for their lunch deals), but I was so pleased with my meal. Overall I spent £13.50 for the meal and a drink, and left feeling very full and completely satisfied. If you're looking for a bit more of an adventurous bite to eat than Eat4Less or the Co-Op, and have the pennies to spare, I definitely recommend trying SOHO Street Food and Bar.
Image Credits: Beth Robson
Check out SOHO Street Food and Bar on Instagram
Feature Image Credit: SOHO from sohoncl on Instagram
