Bristol's first Japanese listening cafe opens on Gloucester Road

Bristol's first Japanese listening cafe has opened on Gloucester Road. Lonely Mouth, which is located at number 401 in the former home of Burra boasts quirky Japanese food and drink offerings - everything from coconut water matcha creams, to salted salmon Japanese breakfast, toasties, coffee and more.

Olivia Maxwell-Yates is the brains behind Lonely Mouth, and she describes the concept as being inspired by her visit to Japan's listening bars, which are typically lowly lit and serve drinks accompanied by high-end sound systems, turntables and mixers which 'create a comforting laid back audio and visual exploration'. Olivia's cafe has a whole speaker system installed, with DJs playing as regularly as possible.

The name of the cafe - 'Lonely Mouth' - is inspired by the Japanese term Kuchisabishii, which is "when you're not hungry, but you eat because your mouth is lonely". Olivia, who was living in Australia at the time of her trip to Tokyo, told BristolLive: "Japan was somewhere I'd always dreamed of going, but just wrote off as somewhere I'd never be able to afford to go. So I was unbelievably excited to get the opportunity.

Read more: Artisan doughnut makers Pipp&Co opening cafe in Bristol

Read more: Popular Bristol Korean restaurant opening second venue

"For me, it was the most unbelievable place I'd ever been - the food, people, tech, culture - when I returned I became a bit of a woman obsessed and would follow a lot of Japanese chefs, buy their recipe books, binge Japanese movies and TV shows. On my return I was looking for some casual work and a friend of mine, Nigel, was looking for people to help him with his Vietnamese food truck. After a year of working for him (and also doing a fabulous acting course that I really enjoyed and was somewhat good at) I had built up the confidence to go for it and do my own thing."

Olivia describes how she discovered a new dish that was becoming popular, Poké, which was perfect for her as it incorporated all of the Japanese ingredients and flavours she wanted to use, without the 'master' element that is often associated with Japanese cuisine. She got the ingredients, made her first pole bowl at home and took it to the market manager on Chatsworth Road Market in Homerton, who told her she had a spot the following Sunday.

"I had to borrow a gazebo, tables, buy a rice cooker and I managed to open that weekend. I started in the winter, so it was difficult selling Poké bowls in the colder months, but I persevered until I managed to get a spot at the really popular Victoria Park Market.

"The bowls got better, my set up got stronger and I got a spot at Netil Market in London Fields, Hoxton Square Market and ran various events, alongside feeding offices. After a year of the slog of markets - on top of having no vehicle and having to rely on Uber XLs - I decided to go back to where it all started in Australia and see if I could learn under some Japanese chefs and build up my skill set. Unfortunately, they weren't particularly interested in having someone with no training, so I ended up frustratingly running my own kitchens out there, too."

Once ready to return to the UK, Olivia's friend suggested Bristol and, after lockdown she was ready to start up her business once more - this time with the confidence to go 'full Japanese'. She came up with the concept of Lonely Mouth - Japanese food but concentrating more on Japanese home cooking and dishes that the Japanese themselves love, rather than things we're likely to see in Japanese restaurants in the UK.

Olivia goes on to say: "My first residency here was at The Plough in Easton. They took a bit of convincing that people would want to go to the pub for Japanese food but gave me a go and Lonely Mouth ended up being the most popular pop-up they'd had! I extended my residency there to two months and then went on to do a seven month residency at The Volunteer Tavern, which was a great success, along with some shorter residencies alongside that at the former Nomu on Whiteladies Road.

"After all of that I was set on finding my own little place and searched for months/years, until I came across 401 Gloucester Road. I live very locally so I used to come here when it was Burra and loved the space. So naturally when it came up, I fought tooth and nail to obtain it and we finally got the go ahead - after months of hard work and renovation (all done by myself, my partner Mikey and close friends) here we are.

"I really wanted to pay close attention to all aspects of the place and have put my heart and soul into it."

Inside Lonely Mouth, it is a collaboration between Olivia and other talented business owners from Gloucester Road and beyond. The coffee and espresso mugs, coffee saucers and pickle plates, Olivia says, are all handmade by a good friend and ceramicist Ned, E.F. Davies Clay.

The lampshades are from 'Loving String', plants are from Rambling Rose, all woodwork was done by Olivia's partner Mikey Hammerton, and artwork is by local Bristol artists, as well as a piece from Copenhagen, where Olivia's sister lives - it really is a family affair.

Food-wise, Lonely Mouth serves up authentic Japanese breakfast with a choice of salted salmon, crispy plum tofu or classic British streaky bacon. For the sweet-toothed, the cafe boasts brioche French toast with macerated strawberries, matcha cream and maple syrups, as well as a new addition - and one of Olivia's favourites - Chazuke, which is a bowl of sticky Japanese rice steeped in green tea or miso soup, with Tsukemono pickles, nori, wasabi and either salted salmon or silken tofu.

Olivia adds: "I'm also excited to try out new dishes I've always wanted to explore. I'm currently working on an Udon Carbonara with guanciale (salt-cured pork), pecorino and a soy soaked yolk, that I think people will love. Our drinks are fun and absolutely delicious - the front of house is managed by my best friend Caitlin Evans and she's absolutely smashed it with the drinks and toasties - from the matcha with strawberry cream, honey Americano, or coconut water with matcha foam. We do toasties like the Lil' Kimchi, Katsu curry toastie and Miso Delicious, which has a shiitake miso blend.

"We've also just made some Ube foam, which is made with Japanese purple yam - so good! And we get our coffee from the local and absolutely delicious Triple Co. Roast, and it's the best coffee I've had."