Test Driving Solis, who have taken their chicken & steak combos to Soho

Right beside Dishoom is where you'll find Solis, and yes, their terrace is heated. 

What can you tell us about Solis?

This is the latest restaurant from the team of Ana Gonçalves and Zijun Meng, occasionally better known as TATA Eatery. They've been opening Solis at the various Arcade food halls across London, which has been mainly led by the two main dishes - chicken or steak (both served with chips). Now they've opened Solis in Soho, giving it its own home for the first time, which has also afforded them the opportunity to add a few new things to the menu. 

Where is it?

Solis has taken over a small space close to the Soho Dishoom (which is still the busiest restaurant in the area after all these years) and about a five-minute walk from Oxford Circus. In its previous lives, that's been a Breddos and a Patty&Bun and inside, there's been a light makeover, but the layout seems to have more or less stayed as it was before:

Inside Solis Soho. The best seats are either the booths or a great table by the front window (which is where we were). 

Where should we go for a drink before/after?

It's in Soho, so you're completely spoiled for choice, but in the immediate area, we'd probably say (pubs aside) that the best choices are Antidote wine bar (always very handy in this area), Marjorie's, or Disrepute for cocktails.

And what can we expect at Solis?

Like the original, the menu at Solis Soho takes its inspiration from South America, featuring a mix of snacks, sandwiches and the main choice of chicken and steak. The menu in Soho is slightly expanded from the ones you might have found at Arcade (although not as much as we hoped), particularly in the snacks section, which adds gilda and this grilled corn dish:

Elotes Asados - grilled corn, crema dressing, Tajín (£4) - a definite must-order and really well priced.

The beef and caramelised onion croquetas (£6) from the other Solis restaurants make an appearance here too, but while they are good they don't make for the most enticing picture, frankly. 

There's also a small selection of bocadillos, served in soft white rolls. These are probably intended as alternate mains, but we'd suggest ordering one of these and splitting it in two as an extra starter. Which is another way of saying that's exactly what we did:

Meatball bocadillo - with beef meatballs, tomato salsa and cheddar cheese (£12). There are chicken and steak options too - but if you're looking for something different from your mains, this meatball sub is the way to go. 

Then it's onto the main event, a choice of chicken or steak which you can either have on its own or as a combo with tomato salad and fries. Given that it's only £4 extra to go for the combo, we'd seriously recommend that to be the way to go: 

Grilled steak with the Solis steak sauce (£20 alone, £24 with fries and salad) - a good steak portion, well-cooked and we loved the signature sauce that it comes with. The seasoning on the fries is maybe a little heavy-handed, but overall, this is excellent value. 

Half grilled chicken with aji aji oil (£16 alone, £20 with fries and salad) - fantastic punchy chilli oil and a chicken that was crisp on the outside but still very tender underneath.

One trick we do think they're missing here, and something to differentiate from the Arcade experience (and indeed Flat Iron), is that we'd really like a combo chicken and steak option for those who don't want to choose/share. 

Otherwise, the bulk of the menu is pretty similar to what you'll find in Arcade, with the exception of some extra sauces (the mojo verde is highly recommended) and a Caesar salad on the side. To be frank, we were expecting there to be a few more new dishes that were promised for the menu here, but on our visit, they were nowhere to be seen. That's not to say we didn't very much enjoy what we had, but at the moment it doesn't seem greatly removed from the Arcade experience. 

And dessert?

It's all about the Torta de Queso (essentially a Basque cheesecake), served in chocolate or original versions (we'd say go original) and new to the menu here is an excellent ice cream sundae:

Torta de queso with berry sauce (£8) - with a properly creamy, just-set centre. 

Stracciatella ice cream sundae, with Solis chocolate sauce, cream and cherry (£8) - piled high with whipped cream, this is a great alternative to the cheesecake. 

What about drinks?

The menu is led by their sangrias, with four options available by the glass or jug, South American-inspired cocktails, and a short wine list that splits between South American and Spain (starting at £7/£28 a glass/bottle). We'd say that you definitely need to start in the sangria/cocktail section:

Hibiscus and agave (£9) and Agua de Valencia sangria (£7.50 a glass, £28.50 a jug). 

Overall thoughts

This was actually our first time at Solis. Somehow we'd never managed to make it to their Arcade iterations, and now we see what we were missing. We enjoyed everything we had here and also noted just what great value it all is - £24 for a generous steak and chips is not bad at all for Soho. It is a small menu and we'll be interested to see what they add to it, but at the moment it looks like a highly reliable night out in Soho that isn't going to cost the earth and makes Solis a good competitor to the ever-popular Flat Iron.