Restaurants / Reviews
Lona
Fully grown adults drinking soft drinks with a colourful curly straw is something that only really should be allowed to happen on holiday in a hot country, preferably while sitting on a beach.
But in a restaurant on the Gloucester Road that doesn’t serve alcohol, this is how all drinks are served.
Lona is a Lebanese grill house and juice bar that occupies premises so large that I didn’t realise there was a children’s play area inside until making my way to the toilets – which bizarrely have built-in showers.
The terrace alone also has room for some 30 people, more than the total number of covers in a small restaurant like Birch.
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A rather overwhelming menu has almost 100 items of food and 45 different juices, smoothies and milkshakes.
The drinks are all made in a juice bar which is the focal point at the centre of the room, with bunches of grapes hanging off it and terracotta-coloured drapes covering the whole ceiling converging upon it from all four corners.
My ‘sour lemon’ was made from lemon, mint and crushed ice. It was similar to the taste of a caipirinha and was deliciously refreshing.
Other drinks have names like ‘bunny fiesta’ (carrot), ‘nude kisses’ (orange, banana and strawberry) and ‘exam time’ (carrot, apple, orange and ginger).
A problem here, however, is that all the drinks are made to order, which means that the noise of a very loud juicer fills the room at regular intervals, even drowning out the not quiet music.
Lona is situated opposite a kebab shop called Charcoal Grill, and that is one of the subdivided categories on a menu that also includes hot and cold mezzas, steaks, shawarmas (kebab meat), burgers and wraps.
I wasn’t particularly tempted by the kebab meat spinning on a stick in the open kitchen, and as it was a hot day I chose the mixed mezza (£7.95) with hummus, tzatziki, baba ganoush, tabbouleh, vine leaves and olives.
“If you’re hungry, I can recommend to you other items on the menu,” a waiter rather unhelpfully said after I had ordered.
This was a more than adequate lunchtime meal which came out of the kitchen in less than a minute, with generous dollops of the hummus, tzatziki and baba ganoush, with a satisfyingly fresh tabbouleh made with tomatoes, parsley, mint and onion.
A piece of flatbread served as an accompaniment was crispy and bubbly from being baked on a hot stone in the traditional fashion.
Above my head was a mural of a few camels that won’t be winning any prizes for artistic merit, while dotted around the restaurant are mosaic lampshades, tiles, and a few plants here and there.
There’s no need to go on holiday this year. Just head for a meal in Lona.
Lona, 281-283 Gloucester Road, Bishopston, Bristol, BS7 8NY
0117 942 6100
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