Steven Burgess’ and Josh Moore’s BoBo is a relaxed bar and grill in the heart of West Kirby celebrating Iberian cuisine. In their regular column, the former AA rosette chefs discuss their passion for the sunshine peninsula’s cooking and hospitality and the history behind some of its iconic dishes and drinks.
Anyone who has visited our Liverpool venue on Castle Street will know that we’ve created a fun and laid-back bar that puts a premium on the experience of everyone and excellent service delivery.
Creating the right atmosphere is crucial for us – a welcoming place to step off the busy street, to enjoy a slower pace with great company and excellent Iberian food and drink, complemented by soundtracks evoking sunshine days in Spain or Portugal.
It’s a route that has worked for us; we’ve won awards and praise as a fiercely independent venue – an authentic cozy, casual neighbourhood tasca.
It’s precisely the feeling we aimed to create in West Kirby, but with more food options to showcase the flavours of Iberia. While we are very experienced chefs and have successfully established a popular bar over the water, this is our first restaurant. And so from both the bouquets and the brickbats we have learned a lot in our first six months: from the successes to the pitfalls; the staffing issues front of house and in the kitchen, to the surprise curve balls; and from our growing band of regular customers. All of it has made us realise that we have strayed too much from our original vision and so we are going back to our roots with a happy and settled local team.
Anything goes
BoBo is not about big menus and formal restaurant dining. The whole point of BoBo – Spanish slang for not taking things too seriously – is that it is a good time venue, informal and relaxed. We want those who walk through our doors to make it whatever they want it to be. If you want only to have a glass of wine and a cheese board or maybe a pint and some Padron peppers, you can, at any time of day. Just as you can sit down and have a long lazy three course meal.
Quite simply, anything goes, because it’s not just about the full food hit. As they say in Spain: soltarse el pelo – relax and enjoy yourself in a carefree style, or in Portugal: só na maciota – no worries, living the good life.
That’s why, our menu is evolving again (as menus should) but now more bar and grill. We love cooking over charcoal, as they do in the Algarve, and much of our new menu and daily specials board will be cooked in this way, including our signature dish, Frango chicken – piri piri or garlic and lemon – or our new Sherry Beef Short Rib. It’s about that wild and rich earthy cooking flavour, making our locally sourced fish and meats and our seasonal vegetables like baby leeks, aubergine and hispi cabbage, really zing.
Bar snacks
There’s now also the informality of bar snacks, like Pan con Tomate and Spanish Fried Chicken, but Spanish sandwiches (bocadillos) too – perfect for lunchtimes with a Pastel de Nata, of course, and not just in the evening as part of a feast. We think it all combined makes for an approachable menu, in an approachable venue, at approachable prices, with good quality ingredients in a laid-back atmosphere.
BoBo maybe ours, but you can make it yours too. Good Times/ Buenos Tiempos / Bons Tempos.
To book your table visit: West Kirby — BoBo (bobogroup.co.uk)