People / My Bristol Favourites
My Bristol Favourites: Sukina Noor
Sukina Noor is Bristol’s official city poet, a role that will see her write ten commissioned poems, perform at civic and community events, and run outreach projects and initiatives.
She recently released Tribe, her debut spoken word album.
These are Sukina’s top-five Bristol favourites:
is needed now More than ever
Society Cafe
Society now has cafes in Bristol, Bath, Cheltenham and Oxford – photo: Martin Booth
“Society Cafe is definitely one of my favourite places in Bristol. The staff are really friendly, the coffee is very good and to add the cherry on top, they do an incredible selection of gluten-free cakes. As someone who’s recently become celiac, I really appreciate that selection. I’ve been coming to the Society Cafe on Baldwin Street a bit more recently but I still love their original next to Pero’s Bridge.”
Cata Colours
Cata Colours from Catalina Banados serves south American food from their location next to the Railway Path – photo: Martin Booth
“Cata Colours in Easton just off the Railway Path is my local and it’s run by an incredibly beautiful woman called Catalina and a collective of Latin American women who like to cook and share street food from their cultures. So I love the hosts of the space but I also love it because it’s truly the heart of my community. It’s somewhere that brings everyone together and almost feels like an equivalent of a town square because everyone goes there. I have all my meetings there and I go there to write a lot. I’ll go have a coffee, do some writing and just feel so much at ease.”
Za Za Bazaar
When it opened in 2011, Za Za Bazaar was the UK’s largest restaurant – photo: Za Za Bazaar
“Za Za Bazaar is just a fantastic place. We have a lot of guests that come from different parts of the world and Za Za Bazaar is a place where you can take them all! Everyone will find something that they like to a really high quality. I lived in London for many years, went to many buffets and nowhere in the world that I’ve been to can touch Za Za Bazaar. I just love the variety and the quality. We took some friends there recently and they were just blown away. And if you go at lunchtime, you can get everything for £13.99.”
The Bristol & Bath Railway Path
Sukina enjoys walking along the Railway Path because she cannot ride a bike – photo: Martin Booth
“For my whole life, my mum has lived really close to the Bristol & Bath Railway Path and and now I also live not too far away. I think there’s something about it that allows you to feel like you’re not within the heart of a very busy city. When you walk down certain parts of it, it feels like a country lane. It’s almost like you’re in a different world, a place where the trees arch over you. It’s a really quick way to be out of the busyness of the city whilst being in the city as well.”
The Lodge
Sukina describes the Lodge as “like a sacred space” – photo: Sukina Noor
“This is my friend Layla’s house in Hotwells but we call it ‘the Lodge’. She’s opened her home up for us to have women’s circles, spiritual circles, for women to come together in a devotional way. We hold it in a very feminine way in a very feminine space and it’s a really safe space. For me, walking into the Lodge and seeing the water of the harbour automatically puts me in a sense of ease and tranquillity.”
Main photo: Lyra Fest
Read next:
Our newsletters emailed directly to you
