Bristol is full of foodies, restaurant entrepreneurs, chefs, cooks, pub owners, and the weird and wonderful venues that come from the imaginations of a quirky local or, well, several. Recently we’ve seen crisp tasting championships announced by a local pub, the opening of Bristol’s first alcoholic bubble tea place, ‘Oscars’ for curry, and an abundance of other imaginative and downright delicious spots to visit.
But if you’ve been wandering around the City Centre recently, you may have noticed a street corner that has been slowly and steadily evolving into the home of many a foodie hotspot. As if being awoken from a deep sleep, the corner of Baldwin Street and Broad Quay has recently welcomed that very same alcoholic bubble tea place, Tipsy Tapioca, as well as a new ramen bar, Tonkotsu, an award-winning Thai restaurant, Rosa’s Thai, and an Asian supermarket.
It also houses one of Bristol’s favourite coffee shops, Society Cafe, which is ‘perfect for people watching‘, as well as a local florist, convenience store and big Italian chain Bella Italia. Further along, you’ll discover the NQ64 arcade bar and recently opened Turkish restaurant, Cappadocia. This is all in addition to those already established Broad Quay names, like Caribbean restaurant chain Turtle Bay, Greek venue Taka Taka and the incredibly popular Pieminister.
What’s more, it’s close to the venues on Clare Street, like Hatter House Cafe, Caffe Mokka, Indian restaurant Dhamaka, Vietnamese Pho, Cosy Club, Flight Club, The Commercial Rooms, and popular pizza place Franco Manca. Walk a little further onto Colston Avenue and you’ll find another Indian restaurant, 4,500 Miles From Delhi, while back on Baldwin Street there’s an O’Neills Irish bar and Domino’s Pizza.
And all of this is quite literally over the road from the Bristol Hippodrome and the route up to Park Street, and a little ways from the Bristol Beacon, O2 Academy and Bristol Old Vic, as well as the lively King Street – just a four-minute walk away at most.
The thing about this corner of Baldwin Street and Broad Quay, is that it’s seen a lot of change over the years. The buildings that now have some of Bristol’s most desirable and popular restaurants (bookings for Rosa’s Thai, for example, have been extremely busy in the weeks since its opening in late September and Tonkotsu has seen queues outside since its doors first opened) housed very different businesses previously.
Back in 2019, just five years ago, Society Cafe sat empty having previously been home to a branch of Santander. New ramen bar Tonkotsu sits in what had previously been a London Camera Exchange store and hairdressers.
Asian supermarket Nihow, which boasts its bright orange storefront in 2024, was formerly the Centre Cafe Lounge, whose store front was an olive green and acted as a backdrop against specials boards and outdoor tables people would sit on to enjoy a spot of lunch.
And, while Bella Italia remains, Rosa’s Thai now takes the space in a building which sat empty for the best part of 11 years, and which was formerly a Co-op and Post Office branch. Meanwhile, on Broad Quay, the brand new Tipsy Tapioca venue was a former printers – in 2018 it was still empty with signage in the window dating back to 2014 to say the printing business had moved.
Even during this week’s relentless rainy weather, and beyond a working lunchtime rush, this tiny spot of the city was abuzz with people and awash with the brand spanking new stylish and colourful shop fronts, which seemed to be welcoming in a whole new era for this part of town.
Some of the recently-opened new additions to Baldwin Street and Broad Quay
Rosa’s Thai
Rosa’s Thai was founded by Saiphin and Alex Moore back in 2008, born from Saiphin’s passion for the food she grew up eating. There are now around 40 branches of this award-winning restaurant name across the UK, with more in the pipeline.
Inside, the restaurant is more spacious than it may look from the outside, with an L-shaped dining room that wraps around a central bar and partly-open kitchen. The signature dish on the menu is the famous Pad Thai, however other main dishes includes an array of salads, noodles, stir-fries and curries – all given a chilli warning on the menu to indicate how hot they are, spice wise. You can find out more about what we thought of Rosa’s Thai during our recent visit here.
Tonkotsu
Dubbed a ‘ramen specialist’, ramen bar Tonkotsu was founded by Ken Yamada and Emma Reynolds back in 2012 and now boasts a number of restaurants in London, Birmingham and Brighton. They’ve been waiting to open the doors of their first Bristol restaurant for three years.
Fellow Bristol Live reporter Zoe visited Tonkotsu not long after its opening, describing it as serving up “the best ramen I have ever had”. Inside, Tonkotsu boasts an open kitchen and ‘hubbub of music and chatter’.
Some of the restaurant’s ‘little quirks’ include a mural by Bristol artist Molly Hawkins, a picture of Tonkotsu’s mid-century design noodle machine, brightly coloured bottle displays and a stylish industrial kitchen.
Tipsy Tapioca
Tipsy Tapioca is a brand new bubble tea bar which, in a first for Bristol, is serving up alcoholic bubble tea drinks. Through the window of the building during our wander along Broad Quay and Baldwin Street this week, we could see stunningly decorated ceilings, warm lighting, foliage, and a ‘sneak peek’ of some of the drinks on offer.
These include the ‘Pink Picasso’ (Tequila Rose, rose syrup, milk and pearl), ‘Jungle Juice’ (Matcha, gin, mango jam, chia seeds and mango jelly), the ‘Bobastar Martini’ (mango, passionfruit tea, vodka, and mango boba/jelly), ‘Sexy Peach’ (peach Soju, peach black tea and peach boba), the ‘Drunkberry Matcha’ (boozy matcha, fresh milk, strawberry jam and pearls) and the ‘Mezcal Mango’ (mango passion Tequila, mango passion green tea and aloe vera).