Like many hospitality business owners in Sydney, husband and wife restaurateurs Daero Lee and Illa Kim faced an uncertain future during the 2020 shutdown. Forced to close the doors of their mod-Korean eatery, Soul Dining, the pair kept the lights on by offering freshly made take-home rice bowls. The huge success of this pivot not only protected their existing business from the temporary hiatus on in-house dining, but also gave Kim and Lee the confidence that Sydney had an even bigger appetite for Korean cuisine and culture.
Opened in early 2021, their second Surry Hills venue – Sydney's first Korean deli, complete with a kimchi bar – offers the full spectrum of Korea’s culinary identity, from traditional dishes like tofu salad, soybean stew and their signature rice bowls, to more contemporary favourites like KFC (Korean fried chicken). You'll also find ‘Koreanised’ Australian classics, such as smashed avo with kimchi and bacon and egg rolls with bulgogi sauce. In addition to the deli section, which stocks a range of freshly made goods as well as imported products from Korea, there's also a sit-down café area, where diners can enjoy brunch or a coffee. While the influences on the menu are strongly Korean, the produce is locally sourced, with coffee from Dan Kim’s Primary Coffee Roasters, a Potts Point-based Korean-Australian micro-roaster using only ethically sourced beans.
The kimchi bar – the first of its type in Sydney – offers various kinds of the popular fermented cabbage dish, at different stages of the ageing process, all made in-house. There are also house-made pickles, tofu, seaweed crackle and the deli’s signature trio of Korean sauces: vegan bulgogi sauce; the ‘goes with anything’ fermented chilli sauce; and the fire chilli sauce. More ambitious home cooks can even pick up customisable barbecue kits, which come with chef-prepared ingredients and detailed instructions for the most authentic results.
And its not only Korean eats you’ll find here. Soul Deli also proudly showcases a range of products by designers and artists from the local Korean community in Sydney. Current collaborations include a series of fashion items by Australian-Korean designer Stella Sin and ceramics by respected pottery artist Woochang Kim.