Soonta Sides Guide: Sweet Potato Chips, Spring Rolls and Edamame for a Better Order
A bowl or a banh mi by itself is a meal. Add a side and it becomes a tray that shares well, eats slower, and feels like an actual lunch instead of a quick refuel. Soonta’s three sides — Sweet Potato Chips, Spring Rolls, and Edamame — each cover a different need. Knowing which one to add takes the order from fine to good.
This guide walks through what each side is, who it suits, and how to pair it with the main. Use it whether you’re ordering for yourself, picking up for the office, or trying Soonta for the first time and don’t want to under-order.
Why Soonta Bothers With Sides at All
Sides exist because mains can’t do everything. A Salad Bowl is fresh and crunchy but light on the kind of warm, textural contrast that makes a meal feel finished. A Bun Bowl is cool herb-and-noodle satisfying but doesn’t bring fried texture. A Banh Mi is portable but eats fast.
Sides fill those gaps. They add a different cooking method (fried, steamed, raw), a different flavour register (salty, savoury, herby), and a different format (shareable, snackable, single-serve). Skipping the side is fine. Adding one usually makes the meal you actually wanted.
Sweet Potato Chips — The Crowd-Friendly Default
Soonta’s Sweet Potato Chips are positioned on-menu as a healthier alternative to traditional white potato. They’re vegetarian, vegan, and gluten free, with garlic mayo or no dressing as the dressing choice. The fry is what people come back for: the outside crunches, the inside is sweet without tipping into dessert territory.
When to add them:
- You’re ordering for someone who wants something fried but doesn’t want to skip the “healthy lunch” framing.
- The table is mixed-diet — they cover vegan, vegetarian, and gluten-free guests in one order.
- You’re picking up for a group and need one easy item that nearly everyone will eat.
When to skip them:
- The main is already fried (e.g., Karaage Chicken Rice Bowl) — too much fried texture in one tray.
- You’re ordering Banh Mi to-go and won’t be eating immediately. Hot chips don’t travel well past about 15 minutes.
If you want the side to read as more “healthy” than “indulgent”, order them with no dressing. The garlic mayo lifts them into a lunch-treat register.
Spring Rolls — The Texture Anchor
Spring Rolls at Soonta are house-made and fried in the kitchen for a fresh crunch. They come in chicken or vegetarian options, and the standard pairing is sweet chilli sauce. They’re the side most people associate with Vietnamese food generally, but at Soonta they’re treated like a real side — not an afterthought.
When to add them:
- The main is a cold or room-temperature dish (Salad Bowl, Bun Bowl, Cold Rolls). The hot fried texture pulls the meal together.
- You want a clear “Asian fried” flavour without the heaviness of chips.
- You’re ordering to share. Cut into halves, a few rolls feed two or three people as a starter.
When to skip them:
- You’ve already ordered Cold Rolls. Both are roll-shaped and one of the two will end up neglected on the tray.
- The whole order is meant to be vegan-only and the chicken option is on the table. Mixing creates a tray-organisation problem at the office.
A practical pattern: vegetarian Spring Rolls in any office order with one or more vegan colleagues. They eat the same as the chicken ones for most palates and avoid the meat/no-meat confusion at the table.
Edamame — The Protein Snack Side
Edamame on Soonta’s menu is described as a high-protein, low-fat side coated in a black pepper seasoning. It’s vegetarian, vegan, and gluten free. Dressing options are salt pepper or no dressing — already pre-seasoned, so the choice is whether you want extra punch.
When to add them:
- You want a side that won’t compete with the main on flavour. The black pepper edamame sits next to almost any bowl without clashing.
- The lunch is meant to feel like a “real” meal but the main is light (e.g., Salad Bowl). Edamame adds plant protein and chewy texture without piling on calories.
- You’re snacking between meetings or want something to graze on while working — easier to pick at than chips or rolls.
When to skip them:
- The main already brings strong protein (Roast Pork Rice Bowl, BBQ Pork Banh Mi). The pod-by-pod nature of edamame is satisfying alongside salads, less so next to a hearty meat dish.
- You’re eating at speed and don’t want to deal with shells. Edamame eats slow by design.
The black pepper seasoning is what makes Soonta’s version distinct from generic supermarket edamame. If a guest hasn’t tried it before, mention the seasoning — it changes their expectation and the side does its job.
How to Pair Sides With Mains
A simple framework that works:
- With a Salad Bowl — Spring Rolls or Edamame. The salad is cool and crunchy already; both sides add either warm fried texture (rolls) or chewy plant protein (edamame) without doubling up on raw vegetables.
- With a [Bun Bowl](https://soonta.com.au/food/bun-bowl) — Spring Rolls. The Bun Bowl is cold vermicelli, herbs, and protein; hot fried rolls give the contrast you’d lose otherwise. Sweet Potato Chips also work but Spring Rolls fit the cuisine register more cleanly.
- With a [Rice Bowl](https://soonta.com.au/food/rice-bowls) — Edamame or Sweet Potato Chips. Rice Bowls are warm and protein-heavy; edamame keeps the plate balanced, chips lean into “comfort lunch” if that’s what you’re after.
- With a [Banh Mi](https://soonta.com.au/food/banh-mi) — Sweet Potato Chips. The sandwich is a lunch on its own. Add chips when you want the meal to last longer or you’re sharing the banh mi as a half.
- With [Cold Rolls](https://soonta.com.au/food/cold-rolls) — Edamame, not Spring Rolls. Two rolled items on one tray is a presentation problem.
The pattern most regulars settle into: pair fried sides with cool mains, plant-protein sides with warm mains. It’s not a rule. It just works.
Sides for Sharing and Take-Away
Sides earn extra value when you’re not eating alone. A few practical notes for office or family orders:
- Sweet Potato Chips — order 1 portion per 2-3 people if it’s a side, 1 portion per person if it’s the snack. They cool quickly, so plan to eat within 15 minutes of pickup.
- Spring Rolls — typically eat 2-3 per person for a side. Soonta’s catering platters list 10 per platter, which feeds a small office well as a shared item.
- Edamame — slowest-eating of the three. One portion stretches further than chips do because shell-by-shell pacing slows the table down. Good for meetings where lunch needs to last longer than the food.
For take-away from any of the SA, VIC or QLD locations, the order of operations matters. Pick up Sweet Potato Chips last so they ride home hot. Edamame and Spring Rolls hold up better between counter and desk.
FAQ
Are all three sides vegetarian? Yes. Edamame and Sweet Potato Chips are vegan and gluten free. Spring Rolls have a vegetarian option that is also vegan. The chicken Spring Rolls are not vegetarian.
Which side is the lowest calorie? The on-menu nutritional information is the most accurate source — calories vary by store and dressing choice. As a rough ordering: Edamame is the lightest, Spring Rolls sit in the middle, Sweet Potato Chips are the most indulgent of the three.
Can I order sides on their own without a main? Yes. Edamame works particularly well as a between-meal snack and is sold for that purpose. The other two sides are designed to pair with mains but nothing stops a counter order of just chips or rolls.
Is the black pepper seasoning on the edamame spicy? The Soonta menu description calls it a “secret black pepper seasoning” — it’s seasoned-savoury rather than chilli-hot. Most palates handle it without the dressing change.
Do all locations have all three sides? The Soonta menu items are consistent across SA, VIC and QLD stores. Specific availability on a given day can vary — call ahead if you’re ordering for a group and need confirmation.
Sides are the easiest way to push a Soonta order from “lunch” to “a meal that holds”. Sweet Potato Chips when you want fried satisfaction, Spring Rolls when the main is cool, Edamame when the main is heavy or you want plant protein. Three sides, three different jobs, one tray that actually finishes well.
Browse the full menu at soonta.com.au/food and add your side of choice on the next order.
