Chances are you’ll see some familiar faces in the dining room of Bar Soul, the new contemporary Korean wine bar located on the corner of Denham and Campbell streets, Surry Hills. In fact, it’s highly likely that the inner westies you saw at the award-winning Soul Deli for breakfast or lunch are here to enjoy Korean-style tapas and a glass of wine for dinner.

The more casual Soul sister cafe-cum-deli run by Illa Kim and her husband Daero Lee recently relocated down the road to Riley St. In its place, the 30-seater bar has a warmer, more intimate feel than the deli-cafe iteration that originally occupied the site. 

Bar Soul has, dare I say it, a lot of soul. Take the tactile timber tables. The kewl K-pop playlist. The sheer curtains, linen napkins, fat pillows and warm toast, tan, turmeric and mustard tones. There are also framed hwa-jo-do (flower and bird paintings) on the walls, which are designed to bring balance and prosperity to the space. These traditional brush-ink paintings are doing a great job with the bar bustling with a mix of local walk-ins and members of the Korean- Australian community.

Related story: The new wave of Korean restaurants taking over Sydney 

Make no mistake, this is first and foremost a bar, with a list of more than 126 wines and a roster of craft brews and clever cocktails. But diners should also expect a contemporary offering of “Seoul” food with chef Sunny Ryu (ex-Quay, Bennelong and Michelin-starred Seoul restaurant Ryunique) at the helm.

Korean ingredients are in the spotlight here. Gang-doenjang is a fermented soybean paste that is used as a topping for bibimbap. In this instance, Sunny has whipped it into a dip and topped it with batons of roasted carrot and pumpkin and a dusting of chilli powder, which we scoop up with house-made barley crackers. 

Next, scallop crudo arrives on a bed of rich ajo blanco (whipped garlic and almond) made bright and fresh with crisp circles of radish and the occasional pop of pink finger lime. Next on our Korean tapas journey is the pork jowl, which has been slow-cooked until caramelised and sticky and is served within a witlof leaf with the welcome addition of crispy black rice for crunch and jalapenos for heat. 

A silence settles over the table with the arrival of the insanely delicious wagyu rump cap with a 9+ marbling score which is seared on the hibachi grill over a fierce heat and sent out in a rich and complex Korean beef consomme containing shimeji mushrooms and a savoury square of crispy rice. 

Illa and Daero started the Soul Group because they believed Korean food was under- represented in Sydney. They made up for that with Soul Dining, which pivoted to include Soul Deli during the pandemic. And now, this tiny unassuming little wine bar has made its mark, filling a gap Sydney didn’t know it had for wine that pairs with Korean flavours and fermentation techniques.

Finish with the chestnut and chocolate tiramisu constructed from layers of light-as-air sponge. The dessert is soaked in whisky, a fitting finish for Sydney’s fave new Korean-style drinking den.

Related story: 11 recipes using gochujang for a taste of Korea