He said it ‘should grace every neighbourhood’
15:22, 10 Aug 2025Updated 08:35, 11 Aug 2025
RAGÙ is a new Italian restaurant in Whapping Wharf(Image: Facebook/RAGÙ)
If you’re a fan of Italian food and are on the hunt for the best new spot in Bristol, one particular restaurant has just been given a ‘royal’ stamp of approval.
Tom Parker Bowles, renowned food critic and son of the Queen, recently visited Bristol to try out Ragu, a new foodie spot at Wapping Wharf which opened just a few months ago in April.
Nestled inside one of the area’s repurposed shipping containers, Ragu is the second venture from Mark Chapman and his wife Karen, who also run Cor in Bedminster. Their debut neighbourhood restaurant serves up small plates, and recently retained its Bib Gourmand award from Michelin.
Now, Italian restaurant RAGÙ serves up fresh, mouth-watering dishes such as proper Italian Antipasti, papardelle with wild boar and 30-month old parmesan, and even dishes served over fire, like Cornish cuttlefish, shoulder of lamb, and a Florentine T-bone steak.
Ragu also serves up a range of cheeses, desserts like cannoli, cheesecake, tiramisu, and gelato.
Naturally, Tom Parker Bowles couldn’t wait to try Bristol’s new Italian hotspot – and it seems he wasn’t disappointed.
Writing a review for MailOnline, the food writer shared: “It’s one of those lunches that doesn’t put a foot wrong, the sort of Italian that should grace every neighbourhood. I’ve yet to have a bad lunch in what is little more than two storeys of repurposed shipping containers.”
Parker Bowles writes that he first encountered Mark Chapman back when he was manning the stoves at Gambas Tapas Bar in Bristol, before he and his wife opened COR.
And now that Ragu is up and running, Parker Bowles is quick to heap praise on Chapman, writing: “He’s done it again – no faff or fuss, just cooking that captures the pared-back purity of proper Italian food.”
He started with the deep-fried baby artichoke with aïoli, striking the perfect combination of soft heart and crisp leaves.
The Tuscan mortadella was described as “lusciously piggy”, topped with cornichons and a “lusty glug of olive oil”. And he called the sea bass crudo “clean and pristine”, served with black olives and slivers of orange and onion.
Parker Bowles wrote: “Every ingredient is immaculate, and all it takes is a sprinkle of salt and still more grassy, peppery olive oil, to create a dish of pure summertime succour. Classic, but beautifully done.”
And when it came to the pasta, he added: “Pasta is equally adept – tagliolini with a mass of fresh white and brown crab meat, lots of lemon, a whisper of chilli and pangritata (deep-fried breadcrumbs) for discreet crunch.”
Lastly, he finished off with pudding, commenting: “For pudding, a peach and basil sorbet that’s River Café good. As the last of the pudding disappears, we sit back, order another glass and ease into a sun-dappled, postprandial Bristol afternoon.”
You can now eat at Ragu from 5-11pm on Mondays, and 12-11pm on Tuesday-Saturday, where dining out will cost you around £35 per head.
Dining and Cooking