It’s hard to pigeonhole restaurants as chefs increasingly reach into the global pantry and deliver dishes of different traditions in a contemporary context. And we’re all the better for it.

Where chefs dabbling in fusion once spawned confusion, now cuisines are being successfully merged in a more harmonious way. Which brings us to Soul Dining, set in the shell of  The Devonshire. Owners Illa Kim and Daero Lee are both Korean-Australians, though Kim grew up in Germany and Lee in Korea, and on the plate Korean, German and Mediterranean flavours are rendered as fresh and contemporary Australian. It might sound like a mouthful, but we’re not talking pork knuckle and kimchi pies.

Rather, slices of raw kingfish and avocado are enlivened with white kimchi and miso, making for a fresh dish of surprising depth. Slender Japanese eggplant is coated in tomato jam and anchovy paste and showered in shaved parmesan. Black sesame and pickled cucumber add earthy and vinegar accents in equal measure to juicy ashed chicken, while al-dente pork jowl – a nice change from the usually wobbly flesh – partners traditional German red cabbage given a Korean twang with powdered soybean. It’s all enjoyable without knocking your socks off.

Even cinnamon doughnuts to finish, a spin on the traditional Korean street food, here partnered with braised apple, vanilla ice-cream and thyme, feel like a familiar comfort food.

The dining room has a late-night wine bar feel with its moody lighting and plush blue-velvet banquette running the length of one of the stripped-back concrete walls, the cocktail list invites exploration and the service is enthusiastic. If Soul can survive the ongoing construction of Sydney’s light rail outside the front door, it will become a local to rely on.