Soda Sun Lounge - North Beach

A work function brought me to Soda Sun Lounge in North Beach for shared Tapas and lunch.

Situated on the beachfront, I felt as if we were floating on a cruise ship as the glistening blue ocean stretched out from the window overlooking the beach.

 For entrée we shared:

salt & pepper calamari, chilli, green onion $16

The calamari was fried nicely so the white meat had a nice springy texture to the bite yet was not rubbery. A mild spice accompanied the calamari, yet a slight oil residual was left on my palate… I like it when fried food does not leave that overly oily taste on your tongue.

caramelized duck tacos, sichuan pepper $16

The duck in this taco dish was cooked to perfection. Soft flakes of dark, red meat fell apart at the touch of the fork and the sweet, sticky caramalised sauce accompanying the duck was ever-so-morish! Fresh bean shoots and spring onion added a nice crunch-element to the dish along with the crispy hard taco shells.

baba ganoush, olives, red pepper & crostini $12

This baba ganoush dish was slightly underwhelming as the unseasoned and mild-tasting baba ganoush to crostini ratio was heavily unbalanced. The large scoop of baba ganoush overtook the flavour of the dish and the crostini was left drowned...I felt disappointed that we were given what felt like a crostini from a Coles packet with a big scoop of flavourless dip.

real chips, aioli $9

To accompany my mains I had crispy chips, rusticly cut and served with a creamy aioli. No complaints here, this dish was lovely as the chips were well seasoned and I enjoyed the skins being left on the potatoes.

I also had an ‘asparagus, pear, onion, cos & roquefort salad’ ($16) with my main. 

Unfortunately I devoured the lightly crunchy asparagus on this salad before remembering to take a photo. I omitted the blue cheese from this dish due to my lactose intolerance but do admit this was ameture of me as the strong blue cheese flavour was the hero of this dish. Without it, I was left with a lot of lettuce and no strong flavour.

For mains I had the ‘chermoula barramundi, peas, parsnip, tomato’ ($34). 

This dish was exquisite. Presented wonderfully on the plate, the large barramundi fillet sat on top of roasted parsnips that were rustic and spiced. The skin of the barramundi was not crispy but salty none-the-less and upon first touch of my knife, the white flesh fell apart on my plate. The barramundi was cooked to perfection and the sweet white meat complimented the sweet cherry tomatoes that popped in my mouth. The chermoula spice could have been more prominent if I was to be overly picky, but I thoroughly enjoyed this main. The wilted spinach leaves and peas added a bright colour contrast that certainly made the dish more appealing to the eye.

 Overall my experience at Soda Sun Lounge was a very enjoyable experience. The ambiance of the restaurant is lovely and the food was very impressive.

I would definitely return in the future (maybe next time with a fuller wallet!).