LOJO Mate, a Hong Kong street food venue on Bold Street, may not be much to look at, but its food is absolutely out-of-this-world delicious. A review of the café reveals poor first impressions followed by overwhelming satisfaction.
From Hong Kong to Bury to Liverpool
The café quietly replaced Gong Cha, a bubble tea brand that disappeared from the city in spring. LOJO Mate arrived overnight without fanfare, having come to prominence early last year as an inconspicuous dining spot. Established in 2024, it was an off-shoot of the highly rated takeaway Sai Kwan Lo Jo, which was formed more than 6,000 miles away in Hong Kong.
The original spot specialised in food from China's Guangdong's Xiguan region, such as hand-made lai fun noodles and sticky rice dumplings. For three years it consistently made it onto the Michelin Guide's prestigious Bib Gourmand list. But then it suddenly closed, with its owners citing the pandemic, closures happening around them, and a period of low earnings.
One man's move to the UK
One of its founders decided to move to the UK, landing in Bury, where he established LOJO Mate with a focus on Hong Kong-inspired dishes. In March, its owner, Alex, who prided himself as a one-man operation, announced the venue would be leaving Manchester for Liverpool. The Bold Street venue offers everything customers came to love from the Bury site.
The menu is limited, advertising two hefty main courses and signature dishes, surrounded by Hong Kong-style teas and sweet drinks. My partner opted for the renowned black char siu with fried egg and rice. I was enamoured by the "leg and wing affair" rice bowl. There was more on the menu I would have loved to try, including the house-made gyoza in soup and siu mai with XO sauce. Unfortunately, the broken kiosk cut our ordering short and forced us to place everything verbally at the counter. We forgot to order the sides.
First impressions: broken and unfinished
LOJO Mate sticks out like a sore thumb compared with its Bold Street neighbours. The red neon sign illuminating the entrance is missing a letter, while the seating arrangements are sparse and lack cosy appeal. What seating there is consists of scratched tabletops and metal chairs, with a curved booth providing the most stylish option. Construction tools and plastic sheeting were sitting just a few metres away, adding to the unfinished feel.
The sole ordering kiosk wasn't connected to the internet, making it impossible to complete the order. Handwritten notes were stuck around the machine advertising offers that could only be redeemed by ordering at the counter, while some were even taped over buttons. Backed by an entire wall of sheet metal and loose wires, the café isn't an attractive sight. The counter itself was similarly cluttered with plastics and paperwork. Napkins were nowhere to be seen, instead replaced by kitchen roll.
Delicious food worth the wait
Despite the visual shortcomings, the service was polite and friendly, with the lady behind the counter delivering everything herself. A sign politely warns guests to expect a 20-minute wait when dining in, so the time it took for our plates to arrive came as little surprise. But the sheer mountain of food piled onto a dish that was already impressively deep and wide left us equally excited and embarrassed.
You're provided with more than enough food to warrant the £13-£15 price tag per main dish. The majority of my plate was dominated by a giant crispy chicken leg and wings nestled on a bed of sticky white rice, accompanied by a generous toss of spring onions and a fried egg ready to run when broken. There's no polite way to tackle the dish so I went in with my hands. The chicken skin was crispy and coated with a delicious Chinese powder accentuating the meat's natural flavours. The white meat underneath was boiling hot and I couldn't stop myself from burning my lips in an act of sheer gluttony. The wings were the same - a strong flavour profile without skimping on the meat.
Once those giants were out of the way, there was still a mountain of rice, enough for two, to attempt. After mixing the spring onions and fried egg together, along with the splashes of soy sauce hidden throughout, it created a bold, fragrant and delicious mouthful with every bite. I failed to clear my plate because of the sheer quantity, but there were moments of silence because I refused to chat through the experience.
LOJO Mate's food was absolutely delicious. Does the café need a fix-up? Yes. Will I return for the menu even if it doesn't receive one? Definitely. All LOJO Mate needs is a little tender loving care in the interiors department and it can solidify itself as one of the best on the street.
