De Soul Cafe

Not expensive but very good food.  Not greasy as you would think of soul food is what I will say.  Come try it out if you are near Xscape theaters or just in Brandywine and want something besides Mexican, Seafood, etc.  THe price is very good and service was great.  Be aware this is a non-alcoholic place of business in case you need to satisfy your meal with an adult beverage as well.

I was disappointed after reading the glowing reviews and having some friends mention this place.
The good:
1. Nice facility, clean (new building), nice ambiance.
2. Have a very nice bar area but not serving alcoholic beverages yet. (Perhaps waiting on a liquor license approval)
3. Energetic & attentive servers but inexperienced. (This could be good or bad).

Not so good (the bad):
1. My fried chicken breast was so dry I had to spit in back onto the plate (after chewing a long time). I ordered 1/2 of chicken which is small in this place (definitely not a Purdue size chicken). A quarter would not have been enough meat and I am not a big meat eater.
2. The Mac & Cheese is 2nd rate. I've had much better lots of places. Of course my expectations were high. I figure if you label yourself a soul food restaurant, you have to get a stable like Mac & Cheese done right. NOT!

The place has potential. I hope they shake off the newbie jitters and get the basics right. The Mac& Cheese and fried chicken has to be "tight" or I stay home. I will retry this place in 1-2 months. We need an attractive, none franchise, not fast-food place in this area Therefore, I am truly sorry that I can not HONESTLY give this place more than 2 stars.

My wife has eaten there once, and we did take out as a family another time. She had the pork chop the first time, and thought it was very bland. The second time she had the catfish and thought it was okay. On that same trip I had the short ribs, and  they were incredibly bland. My dad had the meatloaf, and said it was okay but (guess what?) bland. That word comes up a lot in this review.

However, my green beans were awesome, seasoned and cooked perfectly. They weren't too salty like a lot of places make them, but not in the least bland. - I just wish there were more of them. My dad said the cabbage was very, very good as well. I didn't like the yams, they tasted boiled or something; I've never had yams or sweet potatoes that watery.  My wife said the whipped potatoes were kind of bland too. Oh, and the gravy was also tasteless. I usually sop up gravy with bread, but there was no point this time. How do you mess up gravy?

So, I don't know what the deal with this place is. They clearly know how to make some items packed with flavor, but others are just tasteless. It's weird. Short ribs are hard to mess up - I'm no master chef but mine taste a lot better than that out of the pressure cooker.