December Digest: Bristol food and drink news
It ain't over 'till it's over
Here it is — the last post of 2025. Despite the holidays, it’s still been a busy month in Bristol hospitality. We’ve got ten new openings to visit in 2026, so plenty to look forward to. Wishing you all a very happy new year — enjoy the celebrations and see you on the other side!
The news
It’s been a fiery end to the year. Bombil, an Indian restaurant on East Street, had to be evacuated on Saturday 20 December due to an alleged arson attack, originating in a toilet cubicle. In a statement on Instagram, Nutmeg group co-founder Raja Munuswamy shared suspicions that the fire had been started as a means of avoiding paying a bill by getting the whole restaurant evacuated — arguably even worse than asking for a collab. Fortunately nobody was hurt. Fingers crossed the arsonist will be caught and this horrible, destructive idea doesn’t catch on.
The award-winning Korean restaurant on Stokes Croft, Bokman, also suffered a fire caused by an electrical fault on Monday 22 December. No one was on-site and there were no injuries, but the damage caused by the fire is being assessed and as of yet the team do not know when the restaurant will reopen.
Our thoughts are with both restaurants as they rebuild.
After making statements in the summer expressing support for the Israeli military and blasting Glastonbury attendees for pro-Palestinian chants, Moor Beer founder Justin Hawke has left the Bristol-based brewery. Since his statements, many have boycotted Moor Beer leading to the company becoming financially unsustainable. Hawke has now been removed as a director and shareholder and has not made any financial gain from the transfer. The new directors are both also on the leadership team at neighbouring brewery Left Handed Giant — though they have stressed that their involvement with Moor is as individuals and not as part of the other brewery. Hopefully the company will be able to move forward in a much more positive light. Well done Bristol for showing that boycotting works! Next stop: Gail’s.
Press
Both Ragù and Lapin were lauded in The Guardian restaurant critic Grace Dent’s best restaurants of 2025. What a way to end the year!
Read The Bristol Sauce review of Ragù
Read The Bristol Sauce review of Lapin
Closures
Many University of Bristol students will be in mourning in January when they return to the city to find that St Michael’s Hill pizza joint Saint’s Deli has served its last slice. I was always quite impressed by Saint’s Deli (though I still don’t think apple belongs on pizza) and they were the only place in Bristol serving rarer forms of the dough-based goods such as Sicilian slices alongside Detroit and New York. I hope this won’t be the last we see of them.
East Bristol Bakery has closed the doors to all three of its sites after the company went into administration in early December. In a statement on Instagram, the company blamed rising costs, national insurance increases, a recent rodent infestation and difficulty recruiting for the closures. Staff who had been made redundant expressed their frustration in the comments; citing an apparent lack of notice periods and unpaid wages. An industry source, who wishes to remain anonymous, also alleged that the bakery was ‘covered in black mould’. East Bristol was my local bakery and in my opinion, one of the city’s finest — so I am saddened to hear of these allegations and hope that another bakery can take up the mantle; maintaining my bread supply and many livelihoods.
Gloucester Road’s Hungarian cafe Deck also sadly closed at the end of November; though refreshingly the owners are moving on for positive reasons. Egyelőre viszlát!
New openings
2026 is already looking promising on the food front. My sadness about the closure of Saint’s Deli would be much greater if it weren’t for Jirarat Reis, the patron saint of Bristol’s best Thai food, taking over the site. Je Jeans will be the third site in Jirarat (more frequently known as Jean)’s empire, following the excellent Jean’s Bistro at the top of Gloucester Road and Jinzu, a takeaway focusing on Japanese cuisine. Jean is planning to open Je Jeans at the beginning of February as a takeaway only site.
Two world class bartenders have teamed up to open a whisky and champagne-focused bar in Finzel’s Reach this January. Same Again is being opened by Sebastiano Fileccia (until recently the head bartender at Milk Thistle) and co-owner Pippa Guy who worked at the American Bar at The Savoy, which was named the World’s Best Bar in 2017. Safe to say we’re expecting excellent things. Dry January is officially postponed.
In other bar news, fans of Psychopomp will be pleased to hear that the distillery’s onsite bar is back open on St Michael’s Hill. The bar will be serving classic cocktails such as negronis and martinis all made with locally produced spirits. The bar is in the same site as Interlude Coffee, and will be open from Thursday-Saturday from 5-10pm. All cocktails served between 5-7pm are a bargain at only £6.50. Happy hour indeed!
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