Reviews

Tuk Tuck - Food Review in Bristol

Posted on: 2016-03-31

Tuk Tuck is an awesome city centre pit-stop offering delicious, authentic Asian street food packing a powerful punch in the flavour department and at a price that won't break the bank.

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If you're desperately clamouring for a tasty alternative to the usually predictable, drab lunchtime sarnie then look no further than Tuk Tuck on St Stephen's Street in Bristol.

Although it has only been trading for three months, there was an impressively steady flow of hungry punters coming through the door during the midweek lunch hour my brother and I visited. And with food as delicious and portions as generous as the ones served up here, it's easy to see why.

Tuk Tuck - actually the name of the open-ended, three-wheeled taxis which zip through the bustling streets of Thailand - is the brainchild of Alex Slatter and Quan Cui, who met whilst they were working at the now-closed Tampopo in Cabot Circus. With the threat of impending redundancy looming, the two of them put their heads together and cranked up their gastronomic gears to come up their new venture, housed in what used to be Cawardines coffee shop and the blink-and-you'd-have-missed-it Wicked Lunch Co.

It's in a fantastic, prime city centre location too, and this Asian fusion restaurant and cafe is a generally unassuming place with its main takeaway, open kitchen set-up at the front and a separate dining area furnished with varnished chipboard tables to the side. 

Recreating authentic Asian street food is the modus operandi here and the menu comprises of side dishes such as Korean pancakes, dumplings and Miso soup, while mains include Bibimbap (Korean rice with seven types of seasoned veg and fried egg, with a choice of chicken, beef or mushroom and tofu), and salad boxes comprising fresh vegetables, Asian style dressing and peanuts.

And with most dishes clocking in under the five quid mark, it also represents outstanding value for money to fill your rumbling tummy during that well-earned lunch hour.

Our starter side dish of vegetable Korean sushi (£4) comprised of eight inch-thick, deep-filled sushi rolls with an outer ring of divine, moist rice and packed inside with fresh, crunchy veg including carrot, cucumber, red cabbage and flecks of tofu. Dipped into a pot of salty, moreish soy sauce it was a sublime, subtle yet invigorating appetizer. 

For my main dish, I made a beeline for the Banh Mi Vietnamese baguette (£5) which was outstanding; the large, fresh white baguette overflowing with tender strips of chicken all ensconced in a refreshingly crunchy salad bed of cucumber, carrot, cabbage and a judicious slathering of eye-wateringly fiery chilli sauce. 

My brother went for the chicken red curry (£5.50), a large bowl of the coconut milk based classic that was a consummate example of the dish, full of amazing flavoursome dynamics that hit you individually, exquisitely cooked rice, a spicy, deep flavoured stock and topped with an artistically colourful garnish of tasty veg.

Tuk Tuck is an awesome city centre pit-stop offering delicious, authentic Asian street food packing a powerful punch in the flavour department and at a price that won't break the bank. Chances are you'll never go back to that limp, bland sandwich again.

5/5

Review for 365Bristol.com by Jamie Caddick with photos by Andrew Caddick

For further info check out their Facebook page and follow them on Twitter. Tuk Tuck is located at: 5 St Stephen's St, Bristol BS1 1EE.

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