Island Soul Bistro (Lemon Grove)

Island Soul Bistro opened up late last year, you know, in 2014. That sounds soooo long ago. It is situated in a dark strip mall in Lemon Grove. Our love of island food brought us here, hoping to uncover a hidden gem. They stood out because of their “unique fusion of Chamorro and Southern cuisine,” according to their website.
If you dine in their sweet tea is on the house. It wasn’t overly sweet, but seemed a little watered down to my taste. Anh thought it was just right. When I walked inside I pictured them serving some form of Southern fried chicken kelaguen or maybe ribs with a soy sauce/vinegar glaze. Perhaps my definition of fusion is different because there are separate sections for “Island Cuisine” and “Soul Cuisine.” When we went they didn’t have anyone dish that had the elements of both cuisines on one plate. Looking at their menu now it looks like they have a Best of Both Worlds Platter that offers just that. Regardless, we ordered one entree from each section so we could taste the Chamorro and Georgia style Southern plates side by side. If you order from the Southern section you get a choice of two sides. We went with mac and cheese and country greens. The mac and cheese was smooth and cheesy. The greens had shaved turkey in them and were super flavorful. Reminiscent of the collard greens at Coop’s but with healthier turkey. It seemed a little bit less dense or packed in, but just as delicious.  We’ve had grits a number of times now and it hasn’t ever been a go to item for us. I personally just get tired of eating it after a few bites. And after the initial, “wow, these are actually pretty good” thoughts, it happened again like déjà vu. I got tired of them. Maybe it is the texture, or maybe I just want more things to chew on. I’m not sure. These were a little bit cheesy and buttery and had maybe eight to ten cut up pieces of shrimp hiding underneath. Hopefully one day I will have a transformative bowl of grits and be changed forever.    
For our Island plate we got the Chamorro Chicken. It also comes with two sides. We had to go with red rice and chicken kelaguen. The actual pieces of chicken were a little dry on the outside. The ends of it we could almost pull apart like jerky. We enjoyed the red rice and chicken kelaguen, although we like our accompanying sauce to be heavier on the vinegar or lemon for extra tanginess. Everything was okay, just not as good as we had hoped. They have since added a few different menu items like oxtails and scallops, which are things I usually would order. I do want to try Island Soul Bistro again to see if we enjoy some of their other items better. The baby back ribs probably would get the nod when we visit again.

Island Soul Bistro
6937 Federal Blvd.
Lemon Grove, CA 91945
http://www.island-soul-bistro.com/

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