Where to start? I love this place. The food is well thought out and impeccably executed. The drinks are original and bold with surprising flavor combinations and served in ceramic buddha and tiki glassware with metal straws. They have not one but two sake flights featuring a traditional selection and more modern brews. I guess I would recommend the Drunken Noodles to start with, but you really can’t go wrong with the food. The noodles are fresh made right in front of you. The raw bar takes a little different approach to nigiri and sashimi than you are used to seeing in Baton Rouge and again, the execution is flawless and the freshness and quality top of the line. But what really stands out is the exquisite care the owners took in creating an environment and ambiance that works so well with the food and drink menus. The architectural layout, the unique wall planters, the back to back raw and noodle bars, and the brilliant juxtaposition of old Eastern monochromatic prints on canvas and new Eastern neon creates a mood that encourages the experimentation the whole place is built on. If you are into Asian cuisine at all, you will be surprised and delighted with what you can discover at Soji.
I could go on and on about the wagyu beef dumplings, the brilliant cauliflower side, either of which could be a light lunch by themselves. I’ve tried all the ramens and would not be able to pick a favorite, they are all so good but that is the point. I’ve never been disappointed and don’t expect to be and that is a remarkable achievement for such a young restaurant concept. The integration of food and drink and style at Soji is a wonderful example of what a restaurant can be, and also of why so many restaurants fail. You can have a perfectly cooked, high quality prime ribeye with a delightfully fluffy loaded baked potato slapped down in front of you by a surly server in a crusty apron who takes forever to replace the original silverware at your table with something marginally cleaner while the steak and potato dinner cools and you try to talk to your guest above the overly loud pop music playing with commercials in the brightly lit dining room where the crumbs and worse on the floor are all too obvious–I know you follow me on this one. A restaurant is an enterprise that has to get everything right, not eighty percent right or ninety percent right. For the night to be perfect, the management and staff need to perform perfectly or apologize profusely when they fail to achieve their goals. That, I think, is what you will pick up on pretty quickly at Soji. The staff and exhibition cooks seem relaxed and happy to be there and happy to serve you and as you all know, that is not universal. The physical space is immaculate, you can tell someone cares about the lighting, someone cares about the volume, someone cares whether you have a good experience or not. Again, not universal. So my advice, freely given, is to give Soji a try, and when you do, try something you’ve never had before. That will be easy to accomplish with these food and drink menus.