When your weekend is busy, you need sustenance or have yum cha with friends. 
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Soju girl re-run

When some friends and I were catching up we didn’t want to be disappointed so we went to an old favourite, Soju girl in Civic. I tried to order modestly and we were all happily full and pleased with the overall meal.

Some of us were driving so we opted for the delightfully sweet mocktails: designated driver yuzu juice, apple juice, sugar syrup orange bitters, ginger beer and the healthy option lychee juice, peach juice, green tea syrup, rhubarb bitters ($12.00 each).Duck bao, peking duck, pickled cucumber, cabbage slaw, hoisin mayo ($6.00 each). Wow, a soft fluffy bun of a decent size found in a Canberra restaurant for less than $9, other restaurants please take note. A great combination of savoury meat mixed with crunchy fresh flavours of the vegetables.Small share plates~

Tempura vegetables, ginger soy dressing, paprika foam ($14.00). I was worried that it would be too meat heavy if I ordered the way I wanted to, so I threw in this plate for good measure; fried vegetables still count. Nice and crispy without being oily, I preferred the ginger soy dressing but I did appreciate the lovely whipped consistency of the paprika foam.Crispy pork belly, chilli salt, apple puree, bacon candy ($19.00 5 pieces). I have never been disappointed with Soju girl’s pork belly, it is always crispy with the perfect amount of meat to fat ratio to not feel like you’re just eating something really fatty.Pulled pork roti, melted cheese, chilli mayo, soft herb salad ($18.00 4 pieces). The roti was nice and flaky while the pork was tender and the cheese glued it all together. I would consider this a heavier dish if you weren’t sharing it with three or more people.Medium and large share plates~

We shared rice with our mains ($4.00)

Wok tossed crispy honey chicken, chickpeas, banana ($35.00). Just looking at the photo of the receipt now, we were apparently charged $38.00 for this dish. I wasn’t the biggest fan of this as I felt that it was too sweet and the addition of banana really threw me off. It was like a bizarre take on sweet and sour pork, but the sweetness and banana made me think it almost belongs in the dessert category.Beef cheek, pickled cabbage salad, Penang cashew curry ($44.00). A beautiful rich curry with tender beef. A bit steep in price for a curry, but it adequately fed us all.Dessert~

Mango pudding, passionfruit granita, mango jelly, pomelo, strawberry ($16.00). I’ve eaten a fair few mango puddings in my time but this one trumps them all. The pudding texture was very soft and delicate (unlike the stiff gelatinous ones you get from yum cha), while the mango jelly provided some chewy texture. The combination of fruit really made this dessert a clean and light way to finish the meal, this was my favourite dessert of the night.How pretty is this dessert?!Cinnamon waffle sundae, chocolate sauce, honeycomb, crushed nuts, raspberry puree ($16.00). “One of these things is not like the others, one of these things just doesn’t belong”, this song came to mind as I tasted this dessert. The other desserts were so visually stunning and delicious, while this dessert looked like an 5 year old got to choose what was for dessert and slapped it all together with OTT condiments. I took a big spoonful, digging up from the bottom and between the nuts, raspberry puree and ice cream, it just tasted like I was eating granola soaked in ice cream. I dared not try the waffle as it was limp and bendy and a friend told me the honeycomb was burnt and the taste was very strong. I quickly flicked back to one of the other desserts.Chocolate fondant, spiced chocolate anglaise, white chocolate soil, blackforrest ice cream ($19.00). I was surprised to read that this ice cream was blackforrest flavoured as my friend and I thought it tasted very artificial and sweet, almost bubble gum-esque. As far as chocolate fondants go, this wasn’t ridiculously sweet and rich which made it quite the perfect dessert. If you share this dessert with chocolate lovers, be prepared to eat fast or you’ll get nothing at all (yes TimmyC I’m referring to when I share desserts with you).As usual, the staff were very friendly and food came out pretty promptly. Even though I didn’t love all the dishes, I was pretty impressed with the overall meal.