Roxi Bistro is a Mediterranean restaurant in the centre of Colchester, Essex. Located at 52 High Street, the restaurant brings together food and influences from across the Mediterranean, including Greek, Turkish and Italian cooking. It also serves traditional breakfast dishes, making it a place customers can visit at different times of the day.
The restaurant describes itself as relaxed, friendly and modern. Its aim is to provide freshly prepared food, a warm welcome and a comfortable place where people can meet for breakfast, lunch, dinner or drinks.
For people looking for somewhere different from a standard café or restaurant chain, Roxi Bistro offers a broad menu with Mediterranean flavours alongside familiar dishes.
What does Roxi Bistro do?
At its heart, Roxi Bistro is a restaurant and café serving food and drinks to customers in Colchester.
Its menu covers several types of dining. Customers can start the day with breakfast, visit for lunch, or come in the evening for a larger meal and drinks. The restaurant also has a fully licensed bar, so customers can visit simply for a drink as well as for food.
The business focuses strongly on freshly prepared food. Roxi says that it uses fresh ingredients and that almost every dish is cooked to order. Its chefs have years of experience and prepare dishes to the restaurant’s standards.
This made-to-order approach is an important part of what the restaurant offers. Rather than concentrating on a small selection of pre-prepared meals, Roxi has a varied menu that allows customers to choose from different styles of food.
Mediterranean food with several influences
One of the main features of Roxi Bistro is the range of Mediterranean cuisines represented on its menu.
The restaurant describes its food as including Turkish, Italian, Greek and European influences. Its current website also highlights Italian and Greek cuisine, with dishes influenced by the wider Mediterranean region.
This means the menu is varied. Customers might choose a Greek-style dish, a Turkish kebab or souvlaki, an Italian pasta dish or a Mediterranean-inspired salad.
The restaurant’s approach reflects the fact that Mediterranean cooking covers many different countries and food traditions. Roxi brings some of these styles together in one place rather than concentrating on just one national cuisine.
Greek and Turkish dishes
Greek and Turkish food are important parts of the Roxi menu.
The restaurant serves dishes such as gyros and souvlaki, which are popular Greek-style grilled meat dishes. It also offers kebabs and other grilled food influenced by Turkish cooking.
These dishes are generally served with accompaniments such as salad, rice, flatbread, dips or sauces. This gives customers a filling meal while also bringing together several Mediterranean flavours.
The mixed kebab, for example, combines different grilled meats with wheat rice or chips, salad, grilled vegetables, pita bread and dips.
This style of menu makes Roxi suitable for customers who enjoy grilled food and want something more substantial than a light café meal.
Italian-inspired food
Italian cooking is another part of the restaurant’s offering.
Roxi serves pasta and risotto dishes, giving customers an alternative to its grilled meats and Mediterranean sharing dishes. Its website specifically describes pasta and risottos as part of its food range.
One of the dishes highlighted by the restaurant is pan-seared salmon served with leek risotto. This shows that the menu is not limited to traditional pasta dishes but also includes modern combinations using Mediterranean-style ingredients.
The Italian influence gives the menu extra variety and means that groups with different tastes can usually find something suitable.
Breakfast at Roxi Bistro
Roxi Bistro also operates as a breakfast destination.
Its breakfast menu includes both familiar British breakfast dishes and Mediterranean-inspired options. Customers can choose items such as eggs, bacon and chips, as well as dishes featuring mushrooms, avocado, grilled tomato, halloumi and vegetable sausage.
One example is a breakfast made with poached eggs, sautéed mushrooms, grilled tomato, potato and vegetable sausage, mashed avocado, grilled halloumi and buttered sourdough.
There are also breakfast sandwiches and paninis, including a Roxi Melt made with beef chorizo, cheese, egg, tomato and gherkins.
This gives the restaurant a slightly different role from a typical evening-only Mediterranean restaurant. Customers can use it as a café for breakfast or as a restaurant later in the day.
Grills, kebabs and hearty meals
Grilled food is another major part of the menu.
Roxi offers several meat-based dishes, including chicken doner kebab, mixed kebab and other grilled options. The menu also includes steak, burgers and other hearty meals.
Its mixed kebab is particularly representative of the restaurant’s Mediterranean style. It includes lamb steak, piri-piri chicken, chicken doner and keftedes, along with rice or fries, salad, grilled vegetables, pita and dips.
The restaurant also offers an 8oz matured rib-eye steak with fries and blue cheese sauce.
For customers looking for something familiar, there are homemade burgers served in sesame brioche buns with fries. This helps make the menu accessible to people who may not normally choose Mediterranean food.
Vegetarian choices
Roxi Bistro also caters for vegetarian customers.
The restaurant’s website says that it is happy to prepare special vegetarian or vegan dishes where possible. Its menu includes vegetarian choices such as grilled halloumi salad, as well as salads, mezze, starters and risottos.
The grilled halloumi salad combines grilled peppers, aubergine, mixed salad leaves, Kalamata olives, pomegranate dressing, olive oil, basil and pumpkin seeds, served with pita.
This type of dish reflects the lighter side of Mediterranean cooking and provides an alternative to the restaurant’s meat and grill dishes.
Customers with allergies or specific dietary requirements should always speak to the restaurant before ordering. Roxi states that it will do its best to accommodate allergies but cannot guarantee a completely allergen-free meal.
Freshly cooked food
Fresh preparation is a key part of Roxi Bistro’s identity.
The restaurant says that it uses fresh ingredients and that almost every dish is cooked to order. It also says that its chefs are highly skilled and have years of experience.
This approach allows the restaurant to offer a fairly broad menu while still preparing meals individually.
The business also says that customers can request changes to dishes where possible. For example, it notes that garlic can be left out of dishes where practical.
This personal approach can be useful for customers who have particular preferences or simply want a meal prepared in a certain way.
Drinks, cocktails and the bar
Roxi Bistro is not only about food. It also has a fully licensed bar.
Its drinks offering includes coffee, freshly squeezed orange juice, cocktails, wine and other alcoholic and non-alcoholic drinks. The restaurant’s website mentions drinks ranging from lattes and mimosas to Martinis.
This gives the business more flexibility. Someone might visit in the morning for coffee and breakfast, while another customer could come later for dinner and cocktails.
The combination of food and drinks also makes Roxi suitable for social occasions, including meeting friends after work or enjoying an evening meal.
A restaurant in central Colchester
Roxi Bistro is located at 52 High Street, Colchester, CO1 1DH, placing it in the heart of the city centre.
Its location makes it convenient for people who are already visiting central Colchester. It is also close to several of the city’s attractions, including Colchester Castle and the Natural History Museum.
The central location means the restaurant can appeal to local residents, shoppers, workers, visitors and tourists.
It can be used as part of a day in the city, whether someone wants breakfast before exploring Colchester, lunch during a shopping trip or dinner after visiting local attractions.
A relaxed setting for different occasions
Roxi Bistro describes itself as a relaxed and friendly restaurant.
The variety of its menu means it can suit different occasions. A customer might visit for a simple breakfast, while couples, families or groups can come for lunch or dinner.
The restaurant’s broad menu is particularly useful for groups where people have different tastes. One person can order a burger, another can choose pasta, while someone else might prefer a Greek or Turkish grilled dish.
The restaurant is also described by its business listing as suitable for families, business dining and more romantic meals.
What makes Roxi Bistro different?
Several features help give Roxi Bistro its identity in Colchester.
A wide Mediterranean menu: The restaurant brings together Greek, Turkish and Italian influences rather than concentrating on a single cuisine.
Freshly prepared food: Roxi says that it uses fresh ingredients and cooks almost every dish to order.
Breakfast through to dinner: Customers can visit for breakfast, lunch, an evening meal or drinks.
Grilled Mediterranean food: Gyros, souvlaki, kebabs and mixed grills form an important part of the menu.
Italian dishes: Pasta and risottos provide another side to the menu.
Vegetarian options: Salads, mezze, risottos and vegetarian dishes are available, with the restaurant also saying it can prepare special vegetarian or vegan dishes where possible.
Licensed bar: The business serves a range of alcoholic and non-alcoholic drinks, including cocktails and coffee.
Central Colchester location: The restaurant is situated on the High Street, close to the city’s main attractions.
What can customers expect?
A visit to Roxi Bistro is likely to be centred around freshly prepared food in a relaxed restaurant setting.
Customers have a choice between lighter dishes and larger meals. They can share Mediterranean-style food, choose grilled meat, order pasta or risotto, or go for something familiar such as a burger or steak.
The restaurant’s breakfast menu adds another dimension, while the bar means customers can also visit for coffee, wine or cocktails.
This broad approach is perhaps the main thing that defines Roxi Bistro. It is not trying to be just a Greek restaurant, Turkish restaurant, Italian restaurant or traditional café. Instead, it brings several Mediterranean influences together and combines them with familiar European and British dishes.
Overall
Roxi Bistro is a Mediterranean restaurant and café in the centre of Colchester. Its menu combines Greek, Turkish and Italian influences with familiar European and British dishes, giving customers plenty of choice.
The restaurant serves breakfast, lunch and dinner, with food ranging from eggs, breakfast sandwiches and paninis to mezze, souvlaki, kebabs, pasta, risotto, steaks and burgers.
Fresh preparation is an important part of the business. Roxi says that it uses fresh ingredients and cooks almost every dish to order, while its chefs have years of experience. The restaurant also offers vegetarian choices and can accommodate some individual requests where possible.
Alongside its food, Roxi has a fully licensed bar serving coffee, cocktails, wine and other drinks. This means it can work for a quick breakfast, a relaxed lunch, a family meal, a date or an evening with friends.
With its central Colchester location and varied Mediterranean menu, Roxi Bistro provides a flexible dining option for people who want freshly prepared food in a friendly and relaxed setting.
Roxi Bistro
52 High Street
Colchester
Essex
CO1 1DH
Telephone: 01206 546560
The restaurant’s official website provides further information about its menus, drinks and bookings.