I said this the last time I was at Broadway: I don’t usually review chain cafes. But there are a few reasons this particular Soul Origin bears mentioning.
- This Soul Origin is better than others. In terms of barista skill, the freshness of their products and the way their food items have been prepared, I’m always impressed. I come expecting sub-par food/coffee, and I end up with something that is actually pretty tasty.
- It’s by no means the worst cafe at Broadway. In fact, its uniform consistency actually ensures some standards that are better than many shopping mall “cafes”. Three Beans (granted, also a chain) is much worse. The Little Duck is not much better. If you’re at Broadway, and you’re looking for a coffee/BB, Soul Origin is safely average.
- Given that this Soul Origin branch is a good representation of their brand, I figure I’ll review this one and let it stand for all the others.
Their coffee, albeit consistently well-executed, is not tasty. For a long time, I considered their BB to be not great, but the definition of my average “0”, i.e. more or less what you’d expect. However, since starting this blog and really sampling a wide range of BBs, I’ve downgraded the Soul Origin BB to sub-par. It’s thin, not very dense and slightly artificial in flavour. Come here if you’re in a rush or you’re already in the food court for something else, otherwise go to Merchants of Ultimo instead.
Coffee: 0
BB: -1