Plates of food don’t come much more vibrant than those served at Souk Kitchen, which has succeeded in its aim to bring authentic Middle Eastern market dishes to Bristol.
Dishes come from across the Middle East and North Africa: there’s Israeli couscous salad (£4.50); Iranian cucumbers; Turkish beans and peppers; Tunisian mechouia (grilled vegetable salad, £3.95), and shakshuka (poached eggs, peppers, tomatoes and onions on grilled flat bread, £5.10) also from Tunisia.
However, it’s not just exotic ingredients from warmer climes on offer here. The sausages are from Gloucester old spot pigs, and most of the bread is made by Mark’s Bread, only a few hundred yards away in North Street.
Meze sharing platters (£12.95) are a popular selection, with a choice of hot or cold meze. Among the mains, try the Anatolian sweet and sour lamb yahni (£12.50) or the chicken, ginger and prune tagine with almond and herb tarator, couscous and onion confit.
Brunch, served only at the weekend, includes a particularly good bloody Mary for £3.95 and a veggie fry-up for £6.80. Try to leave room for one of the delicious puddings on display, the pick of which is the Persian Love Cake, served with yoghurt and rhubarb (£4.50).
The success of the original led to the opening of a Souk Kitchen café and deli in Apsley Road in Clifton at the end of 2014, with a similar menu and the addition of a small shop selling many of Souk Kitchen’s own blends and spices.