Wednesday, June 8, 2011

Restaurant Review: Soul

 If it seems like we're going out on the town and eating out a lot more lately, it's because we are!


 The first year we lived here we hardly ever left the apartment. No exaggeration.

 And now, I am happy to say we are making up for lost time! Charlotte has so many little hidden jewels, and so many vegan and vegetarian options. Once we actually ventured out the front door, we were pleasantly surprised to learn how delicious and modern this city really is!

 Enter Soul, one of the cutest restaurants I have ever been to. The inside is small, with your choice of either huge booths or low, swanky couches to sit on. There's a small bar connected to the visible kitchen, and although it was small, they even had a live DJ spinning records in the corner. The atmosphere was amazing!  The first time we went there we met friends for a light dinner and some drinks.

"Saki and Brazilian Rum, Please."

And then we went downstairs to the "pirate bar" for a little dancing.


  The Boyfriend and I liked it so much that we went back just three days later for a lovely little date.

My favorite thing about this place is that they serve cucumber slices with their water instead of lemon. It's weird how refreshing the cucumber tastes, and how great! 

  We started with a small plate, or tapa, for our appetizer. I love a good tapas restaurant because I've always been a "taster" and would rather have two or three small plates rather than one big plate. On this night we chose the small plate of dolmades: kalamata olives, hummus and pita bread, and grape leaves.

We love stuffed grape leaves!

 Keeping with the mediterranean theme, The Boyfriend got the falafel, which was to die for

 while I rolled with something a little more asian and got the seaweed salad.

The seaweed salad was really interesting. And by interesting, I mean strangely addicting. I could have ate another cup of it! My friends had recommended it to me, and I was definitely not dissapointed! I've always loved rice noodles, and these were just delicious. Since seeing it on the menu there, I've seen it at two other places as well. Seaweed salad is taking over! 

The sesame seeds on top really add to the flavor, too.

 Soul sits on a corner just outside of Uptown, so we were able to sit outside and enjoy the sun. If you look closely through the sun and haze, you can see the skyline :) 

 In summary, Soul is a modern bar/eatery with a great atmosphere and menu selection. They offer two pages of sushi to choose from, tapas, (small plates), mediterranean dishes, and at least one vegan or vegetarian option on each page!  We would love to go back again and again, but our goal is to experience a different restaurant each time we go out so we can see as much of Charlotte as possible!

 Is your city vegan/vegetarian friendly? I never thought Charlotte was overly veg-friendly, but then I went to Denver! The whole time I was there I kept being reminded how friendly Charlotte really is to vegans and vegetarians, because in Denver it was perfectly normal and acceptable to not have a single plate on the menu that didn't have meat on it or in it!

 Do you go out to eat a lot? Like I mentioned, the first year we lived here we never, and I mean never went out. Thankfully, times have changed, and we couldn't be happier! I am so glad we made it through our rough patch, because we have been enjoying our new life in the city like we never thought possible!
 


"We all have our own life to pursue, our own kind of dream to be weaving. And we all have some power to make wishes come true, as long as we keep believing." - louisa may alcott

10 comments:

Kate Kedziora said...

cucumber slice in your water?! I need to try that! soo summery!

kelli said...

i love going out to eat. there aren't many veg options where i am but a few if i venture across the bridge to philadelphia.

glad you're enjoying yourselves!=)

Alessandra said...

In my city most restaurants would have a vegan and/or a vegetarian option, and I mean one: one starter and one main, so everybody else can read the menu and go "mmmmh what should I have???" I can usually only pick one item.

There are very few vegetarian restaurants, but since I prefer to cook at home I am ok. Pity though, sometimes for work or just for fun, it is really nice to go out!

Anyway, come and see my Vegan Bolognese Sauce
:-)

Ciao
Alessandra

Allysia said...

I tend to complain about Regina (Saskatchewan) as not being vegan friendly as well, but it's actually pretty decent for being Hicksville. :) We have a few restaurants that are all or mostly vegetarian, where we actually have choices on the menu! I can actually think of 5 or 6 off the top of my head. Not bad for a little 200,000 population city.

I have never eaten those grape leave things. Definitely on my to-try list!

Michele said...

Kate - it is surprisingly potent, ive started doing it with my water at home and love it!

Kelli - me too! i didnt know you lived by philly!

alessandra - i love your recipe and wrote a comment on it ;)

Allysia - Grape leaves are the best! Do you live in canada? Ive never heard of that city!

Get Skinny, Go Vegan. said...

Hey, are the green noodles here seaweed? If so, what type?? Cool.

Michele said...

The noodles I believe are rice noodles, and the seaweed gives it the green color and there are little pieces of seaweed in it. at least thats what i thought..cuz ive had rice noodles before and they taste about the same. it was so good!

Divya @ Saved By The Behl said...

I cant wait to get tips from you!

Elisabeth said...

What a lovely presentation of Mediterranean theme yummies! Atlanta is somewhat vegan friendly, we have few really nice vegan and vegetarian restaurants and fast foods. I mostly cook everything at home so I do not eat out that often.

L.A. Berlyn said...

Soul is an awesome place to eat, and the cucumber is a nice touch (I'm not much of a lemon person anyway) it's one of my fave places in charlotte to eat. Hvae you tried any of the other restaraunts in that area? A lot of hte have veg options or are veg only.