Rebel Roll, Redcliff Street: Review

Sitting side by side with Caffe Oro on Redcliff Street, Rebel Roll opened on Wednesday, September 28th – and there’s been much excitement surrounding it. Why? Because it’s a venue brought to us by the team behind Magic Roll – a former Bristol institution.

Things are a little different this time around, though: of course, they’re still serving their jam-packed khobez wraps, but a lot more too.

It’s predominantly a takeaway venue, with just a few tables on the pavement outside and a couple of high stools by the window which were, when I visited, taken up by those waiting for their orders to be prepared.

Walk through the door and it’s a fairly simplistic operation: the aforementioned stools and raised counter by the window, the chiller cabinet, till and coffee machine in front of you, and the walls adorned with Rebel Roll’s menus. All the food prep is done right in front of you, with an open plan kitchen area behind the counter.

The menu begins with breakfast: a choice of quinoa porridge, buckwheat pancakes, a pork and sobrasada pattie or a portobello mushroom dish, before moving onto the mains. The khobez wraps are available in a huge number of varieties and in either a medium or large size, as they were at Magic Roll, but you’ll find specials available too: patties, grilled cheese, salad boxes and other options.

There’s also a blackboard in front of the counter with the day’s brownie menu (I didn’t get a chance to ask what was actually in the “Gordon Brown” and “Zebrownie” that were among the offerings on the day of my visit), and a fridge packed full of drinks from Karma Cola, Rebel Kitchen, Cawston Press and Whole Earth, among others.

Having seen the menu before I arrived, I already knew what I’d go for: it had to be a medium Jaadu Khana (£5.50): one of the Rebel Roll flatbreads packed with marinated chicken, smoked pineapple salsa, halloumi, pickled pink onion, Rebel slaw, raita and sweet chilli.

It may sound like an odd combination, but it was so, so good – the flatbreads are made to order and toasted while you wait, before being wrapped in paper to take away. I took mine home…because they’re so packed, these wraps are pretty messy to eat!

The wrap itself was lovely, just the right side of chewy, and nicely toasted on the outside. And the fillings…well, I think I need to buy that smoked pineapple salsa from them in bulk: the combination of sweet, juicy and smoky was a winner, and paired well with the herbs and spices that had been used to marinate the chicken. It was good to see that there was plenty of dark meat in there, not just breast, and the halloumi was certainly generous, its saltiness countered by the aforementioned slaw, the creamy raita and the sweetness of the thick slices of pickled onion. Towards the end it got very messy – I don’t think mine had been wrapped as tightly as it could have been – but as long as you’ve got plenty of napkins to hand, it’s a winner.

Would I go back? Hell yes. I want to see what these intriguingly flavoured brownies are all about, and the four cheese grilled cheese is calling my name… Rebel Roll is open from 7.30am to 4.30pm Monday to Friday, so if you’re working or studying in the area, I definitely recommend heading in for something to eat…