I've been wanting to try Soufend Cafe for so long even before they opened - ever since I saw their sign outside the door while visiting the deli next door with my girlfriend. Finally we got the chance to try them out when they were open during Christmas Eve.
It was a little busy so we waited at the door for a while but eventually the waitress sat us down. After looking at the menu, we decided to order the Canh Ga Chien (Fried Chicken) with fish sauce, the Bun Bo Hue Tacos, and the Banh Uot Tower. We also ordered two drinks, the Tamarind Mango Black Tea and the Banana Cookie Coffee.
Banh Uot Tower - One of the first dishes brought out to us, I love banh uoc it's one of my favourite Vietnamese dishes. Seeing this served in a tower was very unique, first of its kind and an awesome presentation! It also comes with some veggies and you get two protein options to choose from for this dish, so we got it with heo quay (crispy pork) and thit heo nuong (grilled pork). I was really looking forward to trying their heo quay since it's a meat you don't find too often served at most Vietnamese eateries, but unfortunately it wasn't all that good. The thit heo nuong was valid though, flavourful and matched well with the banh uot. Overall the tower was just okay, we didn't end up finishing this unfortunately.
Bun Bo Hue Tacos - Another unique fusion dish that I thought would be cool to try. My girlfriend was more excited for this one. It's basically BBH beef and other related toppings inside a taco with a side of BBH soup you can dip the tacos in. We really wanted to like this dish, but it just wasn't doing it for us. The tortilla definitely tasted store bought and the texture was too moist. Soup was good though!
BONUS ITEM!! - Us alongside other patrons got a little dessert, it was a banana sticky rice dish with a sweet coating of coconut syrup. Honestly one of the best things we had while we were there.
Canh Ca Chien - Well... we never ended up receiving the fish sauce fried chicken. Bummer, but it's okay since we ended up becoming full after the other dishes. We let the guy that brought out the dessert (who I believe is the owner, as I've seen him at the sister establishment Boba Gem) know about it and to just scrap it out ticket.
Drinks - Both the Tamarind Mango Black Tea and the Banana Cookie Coffee were SO GOOD. It makes sense that they've got it down since Soufend Cafe also operates another place that serves these kinds of drinks. I finished the tea so fast, and the coffee really got the banana cookie flavor down - worth every sip!
Speaking of drinks, there was a whole entire glass bottle of water, but they never decided to bring us any cups until we finally asked for it.
My girlfriend and I were really looking forward to trying Soufend Cafe & Eatery, but we left feeling dismayed. Don't get me wrong, I'm so glad they opened as we've been needing a cafe like this in South Seattle. But before they opened, we thought it was going to be more like a cafe that mainly served delicious drinks alongside just few other items. So we weren't expecting this to become a full-fledged restaurant.
If I were able to recommend any changes based on our experiences, I would reduce the amount of dishes on the menu and try to perfect the few, while also focusing the cafe more on the drink menu rather than the eat menu. We already have a lot of great restaurants in the South End, but not enough cafes that serve as a great "Third Place" to casually meet up and mingle. I love Soufend Cafe for what it represents, but I'm likely only coming back for the drinks. read more