When you order delivery from most restaurants, the food arrives cold, flat, diminished—a shadow of what left the kitchen. Twisted Soul near Vassar College in Poughkeepsie breaks this rule so thoroughly it becomes the ultimate proof of culinary excellence. When food tastes the same after a DoorDash journey as it would inside the cafe, you know something extraordinary is happening in that kitchen.

If you do choose to dine in house, the unmarked storefront offers no neon signs, no flashy flags announcing its presence. This is the kind of place locals guard like a personal secret. For years, families with kids at the nearby fencing studio (now closed) would make Twisted Soul their post-practice ritual—a running joke about who went without telling the others, because everyone always wanted in. And with the restaurant’s business being 70% takeout, it would be easy to miss this gem.

Step inside the inauspicious glass doors that lead to a few cafe tables and featuring an always-changing art gallery of local artists on the walls, and you’ll recognize by the eager energy of the staff and customers alike, something special is happening here. 

Owner and head chef Ira Lee started Twisted Soul in 2007, built around a simple but ambitious concept: bring the soul cuisine of every country to Poughkeepsie, all for under $15. Lee travels extensively, hitting the open air markets, alleys, and food stalls of different countries, then translating what he discovers into dishes that honor their origins while making them accessible to the Poughkeepsie community. The result is a menu that reads like a passport—Colombian arepas beside Vietnamese banh mi, Malaysian curry meeting Argentine empanadas, each dish executed with the kind of precision that makes world fusion actually work instead of becoming a confused mess.

The Vassar Noodle Bowl ($14.75) demonstrates exactly why this place has become legendary among college students and townies alike. Barbecue pulled pork meets Malaysian curry coconut sauce—spicy, rich, complex—topped with sour cream, peanuts, green onions, and fresh mint. It’s the restaurant’s most popular dish, and one bite explains the fanfare. The pulled pork alone deserves recognition: smoky, tender, the kind of barbecue that makes you forget every mediocre version you’ve ever encountered. But swap that pork for their grilled tofu, and the dish transforms without losing any appeal—the tofu takes on the same barbecue treatment—or sometimes an Ethiopian sauce—proving Lee’s commitment to making every option genuinely delicious rather than treating vegetarian dishes as afterthoughts.

That philosophy extends across the menu. The banh mi injects the flavors of Vietnamese street food into daily Hudson Valley life: your choice of barbecue pulled pork or grilled tofu topped with pickled carrots and daikon, jalapeños, cucumbers, spicy mayo, and cilantro on bread that holds its structure through the sauce ($14.25). The KOOL Noodles #85 features lo mein noodles in spicy hoisin peanut sauce with barbecue grilled tofu, available gluten-free with glass noodles or sweet potato noodles ($7.75).

Then there are the empanadas—Argentine-style with an Asian twist—with traditional fillings like chicken and beef, as well as not-so-trad options like corn and goat cheese and sweet potato samosa (one for $3.95 or a dozen for $45). The Colombian arepas, made using a naturally gluten-free corn flour, come stuffed with your pick of the four barbecue offerings (all $14.50). The chickpea fries ($7.50) arrive light and crispy, unlike anything else masquerading as fries, served with tamarind-medjool date chutney that sounds unlikely but tastes inevitable.

The Bad Ass Rice ($12.95) remains Lee’s original creation and personal favorite, though he  is also partial to the recently created Fried Chicken Katsu Noodle Bowl ($14.75), particularly popular with Vassar students who make up 60 to 70 percent of the restaurant’s clientele. Lee credits the college community with shaping the menu, saying, “We didn’t start out with so many vegetarian or vegan options, but that developed over tim, as we came to understand their needs.”

The salad bar offers globally inspired combinations: North African ($9.25) features carrots, toasted almonds, dried apricots, kalamata olives, and chickpeas with carrot-ginger vinaigrette. The Mexican ($9.25) brings black beans, corn, tomato, red onions, and feta with sweet chipotle vinaigrette. Each salad tells a story about a different region’s approach to fresh ingredients.

Then there are the cupcakes ($4.50 each)—award-winning creations so popular that Lee and his wife Brenda Black opened a dedicated operation across the street. “The cupcakes are all Brenda,” Lee credits. “The secret is vigorous tasting of each element—the cake, the icing, the dulce de leche.” Follow their Instagram for hours; they announce openings there.

The lavender lemonade ($4.50)—inspired by infusion experimentation during a trip to Ireland 12 years ago visiting Black’s family—provides unexpected refreshment alongside bubble tea ($5.50) and fresh fruit smoothies ($6.50), making Twisted Soul a complete destination for any time of day rather than just a lunch stop.

What makes this all work—beyond the flavor combinations and accessible prices—is the team Lee has built. “I love that this business is a success because I have the most phenomenal all-women team supporting the vision and the work, and they are loyal,” Lee explains. “I have very little turnover. Sometimes someone will leave, but they come back. I’ve been doing this for 18 years, and I love my team.”

When asked why his food survives delivery when most doesn’t, Lee’s answer is refreshingly simple: “Everything is fresh and made on demand. There’s nothing sitting around waiting. That’s the secret.”

That commitment to freshness pairs with constant innovation. Lee, a Culinary Institute of America graduate, just returned from four days in Italy. “When the restaurant is having a slow time, I will travel just for inspiration,” he says. Recent menu additions include bibimbap ($13.95) and chicken katsu ($14.25) from trips to Korea and Japan. “I believe in always learning,” he says. “A carrot is a carrot, and everyone knows carrots, but surround it with peppers from one country or region, and now the dish is something new.”

Twisted Soul is street food elevated without losing its soul—accessible, affordable, genuinely global. In a city that often gets overlooked, Twisted Soul proves Poughkeepsie can hold its own against any dining destination in the Valley.

Twisted Soul is open Monday, Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday 11am-8pm and Saturday, 12-8pm; closed Tuesday and Sunday.

Twisted Soul
47 Raymond Avenue, Poughkeepsie
(845) 454-2770

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Written by
Susan Brearly