Thai 'street food market' to open in former Jimmy's music bar on Bold Street

An ambitious new restaurant promises to serve up vibrant, spicy Thai cuisine in a "street food market" style setting at the peak of Bold Street.

The restaurant, called Mee, is expected to open this summer at the top end of the thriving city centre street, opposite St Luke's Bombed Out Church, in the building which was formerly Jimmy's. Renovation work is currently underway, as new owners Lee Chen and Mike Liu hope to transform the ground floor of the building into an imitation Thai-style market.

The pair also hope to transform the upper floor into a Japanese-style street parade serving Japanese food.

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Lee said: "Our restaurant is focused on Thai cuisine, and the ground floor decoration is Thai-style. In this area there is not many Thai cuisine options. There's Spice Thai near the dock area, but here there is not much, so we saw the opportunity to bring that spicy Thai cuisine to the heart of Liverpool City Centre."

Mike said: "The ground floor will be a Thai restaurant, and we're planning to open a Japanese restaurant upstairs. We're aiming for a Thai street scene, with the ground floor like a Thailand street and the upstairs like a Japanese market. We want the customers to feel like they're going to Asia."

Mee - which is currently advertising for experienced Thai chefs, managers and service staff - aims to open in around seven weeks time, with a "soft launch" planned in six weeks.

It is the latest development to take place within the Grade II-listed Havelock building, which was once home to one of Liverpool’s most famous nightspots, the Cabin Club. The venue is rumoured to be the inspiration for The Beatles’ song "Don’t Bother Me", penned by George Harrison while on tour with the band in 1963.

The club closed in 2015 after decades of incredible nights, and attracted a number of different development plans over the years before re-opening as Jimmy's in August 2019. The music bar, which still operates a branch in Manchester, closed down on September 30 last year, with owners citing "post-COVID conditions and a major downturn in the economy".

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