Souk Kitchen

277 North Street, Southville, Bristol, BS3 1JP. Tel: 0117 966 6880

The advertising campaign for Souk Kitchen actually started five months ago but after a number of delays it was officially launched last week.

On the site formerly occupied by the Ceiturica restaurant, on the opposite corner to the Tobacco Factory, it has been taken over by Ella and Darren Lovell, who ran Rucola in Clifton for several years.

Ella's father, Ghullam Narimani, used to run Ceiturica and also owns the Fishminster fish and chip shop nearby.

Souk Kitchen is a new concept for Bristol in that it concentrates on Middle Eastern market food.

This means a menu that tries to capture the flavours and fragrances of street food in Marrakesh, Cairo and Damascus.

To add to the market feel of the place, there are shelves of couscous, rosewater and other ingredients people can buy after their meal to recreate the food at home. There are even recipe cards for dishes on the menu, which is a generous touch.

On the huge chalkboard above a low sofa strewn with colourful cushions, there is a specials board and an explanation of souk – "a commercial quarter in an Arab on Berber city".

Souk Kitchen is open all day, starting with breakfast. As well as a full English, you could also kick-start the day with a plate of that wonderful Middle Eastern dish shakshouka (poached eggs cooked in a sauce of tomatoes, peppers, onions and spices served in the pan with flatbread).

The lunch and dinner menu is the same and takes in hot and cold mezze, tagines and dishes cooked on the grill.

And what an enticing menu it is. It is packed with interesting dishes full of Middle Eastern promise: chicken, preserved lemon, olive and fennel tagine; Southern Persian fish curry with coriander, fenugreek and tamarind; char-grilled lamb burger, kashkaval and hoummus … there wasn't a dish on there we weren't tempted by.

We shared four mezze starters but it still didn't feel like we had scratched the surface. We will have to go back for the likes of duck and sweet potato briouat, spiced aubergine chutney, not to mention salmon and prawn kibbe, fennel and dill.

What we did plump for was excellent. A dish of hummous (£2.60) was a silky smooth, creamy chickpea purée as good as any I have ever tasted. We mopped it up with triangles of hot, blistered flatbreads.

A never-ending bowl of whitebait (£3.95) had been seasoned with cumin salt and served with a mayonnaise-like tarator sauce.

Two plump harissa chicken drumsticks (£3.95) were juicy, succulent and had a hint of nutty sweetness from their honey and tahini marinade.

Best of all was the char-grilled beef kofta (£3.95) – spicy, well seasoned balls of beef topped with crushed pistachios and coriander yoghurt for dipping.

Between starters and main courses, we tucked into a brilliant feta, watermelon fatoush salad (£7.50) – a huge mountain of cubed feta, watermelon, toasted flatbreads, mint, cucumber, gherkins, radishes, beetroot, tomatoes, little gem lettuce drizzled with a sweet, sticky pomegranate dressing and a scattering of toasted pumpkin seeds. It was dangerously moreish.

A mixed grill (£12.95) of chicken, lamb cutlet and lamb kofta was a spot-on platter of excellent, smoky meat cooked to perfection and beautifully seasoned.

Lamb cutlets with pomegranate molasses (£10.50) were juicy, pink and tender and served with a dome of superb tabouleh packed with bulgur wheat, red onion, tomato, mint, parsley, radish and olives. It was the essence of fragrant Middle Eastern cooking brought to the Southville and Ashton border.

Desserts continued the form. A flourless dark chocolate, almond and Turkish coffee cake (£3.95) was light and not as rich as it looked. It was served with a dollop of rosewater-scented mascarpone.

A glass of muhallabia (£3.50) was a smooth, milky dessert made with rice flour flavoured with rosewater and topped with raspberries and blueberries. On the side, there were two warm, nutty pistachio and cardamom biscuits.

This was confident cooking of vibrant Middle Eastern dishes packed with interesting flavours and ingredients.

The launch of Souk Kitchen may have been delayed but it was well worth the wait. It is the best new restaurant to open in the city so far this year.

Wheelchair access: Yes

Prices: Starters from £1.95; main courses from £7.50; desserts from £3.50

Food: 9/10

Service: 8/10

Value: 9/10

Atmosphere: 8/10

Overall: 9/10