Chips at 9am on a weekday? I can’t say I’ve started my day like this before but when in Stockwood, it would be rude not to do as the locals do.
Sandwiched between the Crazy Angels hairdressing salon and John’s Off-Licence (with its window sign announcing that the shop pre-fills its own helium balloons, presumably aimed at any bored local yoofs who might have alternative uses for small silver canisters of nitrous oxide), Mario’s Cafe is very much the hub of Stockwood. Mario himself also has a second business a few doors down in this rank of 1960s-built shops where he serves sandwiches and Sunday roasts.
At 9am, Mario’s Cafe was doing a brisk trade. There were a few school-run mums having a breather over strong coffee and bacon sandwiches, a few hi-vis workmen refuelling before their next job and a solitary chap with his nose buried in a Tom Bradby paperback.
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With its original 60s speckled concrete floor, leather banquette seating and bright strip lighting, it has a classic greasy spoon look but it’s much more than that. For starters, it’s spotlessly clean and the counter where you order and pay also has whirring slushie machines and takeaway treats such as packets of Lovehearts and Cadbury Creme Eggs.
In the background, a bassy stereo pumped out Adele and Olly Murs on Heart Breakfast. Jamie Theakston and Amanda Holden have certainly become the greasy spoon jocks of choice since Nick Grimshaw left Radio One’s breakfast slot.
Mario’s Cafe serves food all day and the laminated menu is extensive. There are sandwiches, baguettes and paninis made to order and a full range of meals including a £5.95 ‘Chicken delight’ (a tender chicken breast fillet seasoned with a hint of garlic served with a hot buttered jacket potato, crunchy coleslaw and salad garnish) and a £3.95 ‘MC Special’ - that’s a burger comprising a smoked frankfurter, beef patty, cheese, tomato and lettuce.
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And if you’re still feeling peckish after these generous meals, there are desserts, too. Apple pie and knickerbocker glory are two sweet options but you can also ask staff to wheel out the cake display.
Of course, the all day breakfasts are why many locals flock here. They start at £3.95 for the Early Starter (scrambled eggs, slice of toast, tomato, one rasher of bacon, beans and two hash browns) and rise to £5.95 for the Mega Mixed Grill.
Described as one ‘for the hearty eater’, the Mega Mixed Grill is a veritable mountain of food that might easily feed a small family in one sitting. It comprises two griddled eggs, two sausages, a beefburger, a rasher of bacon, tomato, beans, golden onion rings and chips - at £5.95, nobody can accuse Mario’s Cafe of not feeding the masses for a fair price.
I went for the more modest ‘Traditional Breakfast’ (£4.20) and it was still a generous plate of food for the modest price. It arrived piping hot on a huge white plate that was as warm and spotlessly clean as you’d get in a posh restaurant.
The griddled egg was perfectly cooked with a runny yolk, the two rashers of back bacon were crisp and fatless, the sausage plump and juicy and the beans glossy and probably Heinz rather than the cheaper alternatives. The chips were golden, crunchy and greaseless - they were a perfect vehicle for dunking into the egg yolk and mopping up the beans.
I washed it down with a cup of decent filter coffee that was only 90p. A cup of tea is only 80p - both prices that put other places around the city to shame.
Served by chatty, friendly staff in a comfortable and clean environment, this was a cracking breakfast. Compared to many parts of Bristol, Stockwood might not be a place that appears on the radar when it comes to good food worth a detour but Mario’s Cafe is the exception to the rule - it serves one of the best quality and cheapest cooked breakfasts in the city and the locals are very lucky to have it.
Mario’s Cafe, 66 Hollway Road, Stockwood, Bristol, BS14 8PG. Tel: 01275 892959.
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