My boyfriend and I popped into Jika Jika for lunch today –
it’s a funky, individual kind of place at the top of Bath, on George Street (click here to go to their website), decorated in an eclectic mix of styles. The tall
hand-chalked blackboards and glass cake stands make me think of Paris, the deep
leather armchairs and wooden hat-stands would be at home in any number of cosy
coffee bars in Oxford, the old black and white photos and Zulu-inspired artwork
displayed on the walls are highly individual and mostly defy categorisation. The
atmosphere is almost always buzzing, the air is warm and coffee-scented. In
short, this is a pretty fantastic place to pop in for a coffee or a cup of tea
(or a milkshake – they are particularly good), but I’m afraid this isn’t going
to be a rave review as far as the food is concerned.
I’ve definitely had good food here before, and although the
menu had changed, when I checked it out I thought it looked just as good. I
went for a pulled pork sandwich with apple and celeriac remoulade, BBQ chipotle
sauce and cider bread. The bread was delicious in fact – only lightly
flavoured, but interesting – and the apple and celeriac remoulade would have
been a perfect accompaniment, but whatever the pork had been marinaded in was
really bitter, and the chipotle sauce was so incredible fiery as to be properly
unpleasant, to me anyway! I’m not usually opposed to a bit of heat but this was
really too much, all the other flavours were obliterated. My boyfriend went for
a steak sandwich with balsamic onions, tomato chutney, and rocket & mustard
dressing, which was a bit tastier, but the tomato chutney was way too heavy on
the cumin and the steak wasn’t quite of high enough quality to be served so
rare.
This place has a great atmosphere, and the staff are very
friendly (although with a relaxed attitude to service, so choose somewhere else
if you’re in a hurry!), but unfortunately I found the food too disappointing to
recommend it. Choose Jika Jika for a coffee instead and you won’t be
disappointed.