A Guardian food critic has likened her post dinner toilet trip at a Bristol restaurant as akin to ‘Day Three at Glastonbury.’
Writer Grace Dent made a visit to Woky Ko kaiju Japanese tapas restaurant at Wapping Wharf during a recent trip to the city.
But although she rated the food, the trip to the ladies afterwards was, she said, not such a pleasant experience.
After enjoying her dinner of Katsu monkfish and Braised beef short-rib with a companion she ventured to the ladies.
As the restaurant is based in a shipping container, the toilets are shared and operated by customers using a passcode.
But the experience left Miss Dent wishing she’d booked at a restaurant with its own washroom facilities – and plentiful toilet roll.
In her restaurant review she said: “We left and joined the queue downstairs for the passcode-locked bathrooms, which serve a variety of local bars, had no loo paper and felt like no one’s responsibility.
“It was all a bit day three at Glastonbury – jolly, but directionless – and although I enjoyed myself, it was Saturday night and I wished I’d gone to a restaurant."
Miss Dent also questioned the use of re-purposed shipping containers being used as restaurants, describing them as ‘stark, rarely beautiful and never comfortable.”
She added: “On my way to Woky Ko: Kaiju in Bristol, I pondered why, at some point in recent times, we acquiesced to eating in shipping containers.
“Stark, stacked, re-purposed vessels, often left in previously unloved patches of Croydon, Milton Keynes, York and, obviously, Shoreditch. Rarely beautiful, never comfortable; this is strangely unhospitable hospitality.
“Chefs, however, seem to love shipping containers, because they’re a relatively affordable option in which to set up shop. Plus, they’re recycled. Chefs love talking nobly about sustainability – love it. On and on they chunter, saving the world, one food-scrap falafel at a time.”
She also took a swipe at the city’s harbourside, saying by 7pm on a Saturday – to anyone over 35 – it felt more like an ‘episode or The Magaluf Weekend overcome by a Walking Dead Horde’ than the ‘vibrant Harbourside community’ it is marketed as.
But although she did praise the food on offer at Woky Ko Kaiju, she added it wasn’t a place one would want to linger.
“Although the level of cooking is very high,” added Miss Dent, “I can’t say this is a place where one wants to linger.
“Like all restaurants jammed into shipping containers, it is, in estate agent-speak, “compact” and “cleverly appointed”: 40 covers, a noisy working kitchen, a sit-up bar, half a dozen staff and a queue out of the door, all in one small rectangular space. There’s nothing remotely romantic about Woky Ko: Kaiju."
How Cargo responded
“It’s a great shame that Grace Dent is clearly not a fan of the shipping container restaurant experience. Using shipping containers at Wapping Wharf has allowed us to rapidly create a community of independent Bristol retailers and businesses who’ve wanted to be part of a new destination right in the heart of the city.
"They work very hard on making their own businesses succeed and are incredibly supportive of each other.
“Why shipping containers? Because the spaces created are easily adapted and can be constructed much faster than a conventional building. Lower costs and flexible leases allow retailers to try out new concepts and respond to changing customer tastes.
"Cargo has grown incredibly quickly in to what I believe to be a wonderful collection of businesses offering great eating, drinking and shopping, as evidenced by its popularity. Judging from the many positive comments from its visitors, I believe the vast majority of people enjoy their experience.
“However, the concept is still evolving and we are still learning how people are using the spaces, particularly at busy times like Bank Holidays and at weekends.
"We are sorry that when Grace visited on a busy evening, she felt the lavatories were not in the condition that she expected and we would want. But they are a far cry from the conditions on day three at Glastonbury!
“Having said that, we are not resting on our laurels and I am reviewing our operation to see how we can improve and maintain the high standards we want. For starters, we are increasing cleaning visits on busy evenings and we will be closely monitoring the situation to see if we need to do more.
"Whilst we are proud of what we’ve created at Wapping Wharf and the way it has supported a unique collection of Bristol’s independent businesses, it’s incredibly important to us that it is a place that people want to return to again and again.”
Stuart Hatton, Umberslade, owners and developers of Cargo
