Year of the Pig

Last night Mike and I went to a new place right around the block that just opened this week, called “Soul Flavors.” I have been a little excited to try this place since I first saw its awning go up and peeked at the menu, since I have been known to like some soul flavor.

We got there kind of late, around 9pm, and the place was full, although it has a very small seating area. We had to wait a little while for the table and we got to sit on the side and observe a little as we sipped our B.Y.O.Beer. They had renovated the entire place, which used to be a cozy little Moroccan restaurant. It was nice see some of the stuff they did, like opening the space and taking out the drop ceiling, but for a place called Soul Flavors, it is pretty Soul-less. Granted it is a small and tough space to work with, but the place has a Home Depot floor and some bad smooth jazz music playing. The walls are bare and stark and the tables although do not feel inviting.

The staff, however, was very friendly, obviously excited about their new place and ready to show it off, which is nice and refreshing. Before long, we were seat and handed menus, which I have to say has many dishes that made me think twice, but my decision was made before I came in the door, I would have the “Orange Ginger Glazed Slow Cooked Pork Ribs.” We place our order, Mike ordered the Melange “A” Salad, and we also ordered a side of Cornbread and Mac and Cheese.

The food eventually arrived and everything was on its own little square plate. If we had ordered one more small side there would have been no room on the table for any more square plates! They set down the baby back ribs, which were stacked three on top of three, and looked very tempting decorated with the orange and ginger glaze. I was excited about the ribs, and so was the server who let me know that they were delicious. I would say that many people would agree, and don’t get me wrong, they were good, but I would probably not go back there for them. Yes, they were very tender, you could pull the bone right out of them, and sometimes that is nice. However, the rib meat itself was very bland, maybe they were boiled to get them tender like that. I have read that boiling ribs can leach out a lot of flavor. On the top of the ribs was a charred outside, that looked like the sauce that was on them had burned, maybe when reheating. Again, it tasted like char, with no real flavor. On top of all of that the ribs were drizzled with a syrupy sweet orange glaze. It was sweet, and a lot of people would like that, but I think it didn’t offer much for my taste buds.

As for the rest, the Mac and Cheese was creamy and tastey, with a layer of crisped melted cheddar, which was good. The cornbread was Yankee style, somewhere in the spectrum between Southern cornbread and yellow cake. Mike was very happy with his salad, which did look good. We also ordered the Bread Pudding for dessert, which was very sweet, but quite delicious.

All in all I was not that impressed with the place, but as it is right around the corner from my house, and did have a lot of other very interesting sounding choices on the menu, I am sure I will be back to sample more. I will probably not order the ribs again, but I certainly wish the place good luck getting off the ground!

As for Ribs, I ate all 6, no problem. That is 59 ribs in the Year of the Pig. Thanks to the Piggies!

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