Ragùis a cool, minimal, romantic ode to Italian cooking that’s housed in a repurposed shipping container onWapping Wharfin waterside Bristol. No, come back, please – don’t be scared. There are tables, chairs, napkins, reservations and all the other accoutrements of a bricks-and-mortar restaurant, even if this metal box may at some point in its existence once have been used to ship things to China and back. To my mind, Wapping Wharf has gone from strength to strength in recent years, and no longer feels at all like one of those novelty “box parks” that have about them a heavy whiff of the edgy temporary fixture. Today’s Wapping Wharf is a true independent food destination in its own right, and with a bird’s-eye view from one of Ragù’s window seats, while eating venison rump withgorgonzola dolceand sipping a booze-free vermouth, you can watch the crowds head for the likes of the modern FrenchLapin, Tokyo dinerSeven Lucky Gods, modern BritishBox-E,Gurt Wingsand many more; by day, there’s also a bakery, a butcher, a fromagerie and so on.Of course, anyone who calls their sophisticated modern Italian restaurant Ragù clearly didn’t live in the UK through the 1980s. For me, as for many others, ragu will always be sold in a glass jar and advertised viacaterwauling operatic dittiesduring the breaks onITV’s London’s Burning: “Ragu, it brings out the Italian in you,” etc. This was back in a time when Britain’s attitude to Italian cuisine stretched, broadly speaking, as far as spag bol, though many of us were at a loss to tackle the “bol” part of that equation without Unilever’s industrially squished sieved tomatoes at 79p a jar.
Those days are long gone, however, and the evidence is clear to see at Ragù, with its crisp, lightly battered artichoke fritters with a punchy aïoli, its Hereford onglet with cipollotti onion, and its cannoli with rhubarb curd and pistachio. Ragù caters to a young-ish, knowing audience who are well aware that Britain’s current Italian dining culture was shaped bythe River Cafe,Angela HartnettandGiorgio Locatelli. Owners Mark and Karen Chapman openedCoron North Street, Bedminster, in 2022, where they serve clever, fancy yet erring-on-the-hearty Mediterranean plates – think Catalan sausage with clams and fino butter sauce followed by tonka bean creme caramel. At Ragù, meanwhile, their focus is wholly Italian and, to my mind, this could be some of the most skilful cooking anywhere in Britain right now. I recommend the place wholly, effusively and slightly enviously of anyone who gets to taste the heavenly tiramisu made with sumptuously soggy slices of panettone before I get the chance to return.
After the artichokefritti, we moved on to a bowl of humble-sounding “crespelle in tomato brodo, spinach and sheep’s ricotta”. That’s cheese pancakes in tomato sauce, right? Wrong. Very wrong. This was the greatest, richest, most drinkable-by-the-bucket tomato brodo I’ve ever tasted. Juicy, sweet, sharp and rich in all the right dimensions. What are they doing to tomatoes back there in that tiny kitchen?
Next up, slow-cooked shoulder of lamb, pulled off the bone, shaped into a loose patty, placed on top of a fresh pea stew and dotted with a sharp salsa verde and earthy pecorino. The star of the show, however, was the Ashton Court venison, cooked rare but as soft as butter, then given plenty of colour in a hot pan and served on pungent gorgonzola with bone marrow butter. This is not a dish for the faint-hearted or slender of appetite. Those wanting something lighter might opt for the skate wing with salmoriglio and courgette and fennel salad, or even the tagliolini with Devon crab, but this is cooking that lends itself to excess.
Service was fantastically prompt throughout, as the young team coped with the Saturday night chaos with calm aplomb. Desserts are another highlight, with three types of Italian cheese (robiola la tur,ubriaco rossoand taleggio) and a gelato, which on that day was a pink grapefruit and Campari sorbet, but please leave room, if possible, for the chocolatebudinowith sour cherries – a thick, almost-too-much truffle-type cake with huge, boozy cherries and crumbed amaretti biscuits. It’s like an Italian take on theSt Emilion au chocolat, or perhaps the French stole it from the Italians in the first place? I’m not sure who makes it better, but it’s a fight I’d happily referee. Either way, Ragù might very well be my favourite new restaurant of 2025, and we’ve barely reached summer yet. All hail the Bristol riviera.
RagùUnit 25, Cargo 2, Museum Street, Wapping Wharf, Bristol BS3, 01179 110218. Open lunch Tues-Thurs, lunch noon-3.30pm, dinner 5-10pm; Fri & Sat all day, noon-10pm. From about £40 a head à la carte; set lunch Tues-Fri, £30 for three courses, all plus drinks and service.