Bristol's St Nicholas Market is known for its on-the-go food stalls serving anything from the city's cheapest curry to Pieminster to Woky Ko's last outlet. It's also home to my favourite named café, Royce Rolls, that's been proudly vegetarian since 1979.
Perhaps best known is the Middle Eastern market stall, Matina, which is Bristol's top-rated Halal option on Tripadvisor and is a clear favourite, with no bad reviews and countless detailed accounts of people's visits since it was set up in 2015 by Waild Abdi.
It has been a fixture on the very edge of St Nicholas Market for years, adjoining High Street. Walk too quickly and you'll miss it with its inconspicuous signage, but the Middle Eastern street food stall is difficult to miss at lunchtime, often signposted by the trailing queue of hungry office workers.
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My visit was tactical, after the lunchtime rush, meaning the only queue was of delivery drivers waiting to pick up their orders. The kitchen itself is small, fitted with a charcoal grill laden with chicken skewers, lamb koftas and halloumi sizzling away in the background.
It overlooks the Kurdish bread bakery where the thick, fluffy flatbreads are hand-stretched to order before being baked in a large tandoor in the kitchen.
A trip to Matina wouldn't be authentic without the towering mountains of salad visible on the countertop, always precariously piled high for all to see. It's admittedly not the most hygienic display option, but you'd miss them if they weren't there. You can choose from the colourful, crunchy red cabbage and green salad with an array of sauces - spicy harissa, sweet pickle, hummus, cool yoghurt dip - that can be selected to your taste, although it's heavily advisable to get smatterings off all of them.
For those who are strangers to Matina, it's like a kebab on steroids. The wrap itself is enormous - around a foot long - and thick with filling. The halloumi was plump and smokey having absorbed the flavours of the grill, which is one of the best ways to serve it.
As well as the salad, the wrap was stuffed with sweet grilled vegetables - lumps of courgette that still had a bit of bite as well as soft onions and aubergines, sweetened by a tagine-like sauce that had a powerful punch of cinnamon. It's, without doubt, earned the title of one of the best cheap eats matched by a friendly, upbeat service that makes them so favoured in Bristol.
The wraps vary in price from £6.10 to £7.90 and the flatbread can be purchased separately for 80p. All the grill options are available as a box meal served with either couscous or rice for a slightly lighter option (£7.80).
It's closed on Sundays in line with St Nick's Market opening times - opening at 9.30am until 5pm. Those observing Ramadan sadly will have to wait until the month is up before enjoying a Matina speciality, as its opening hours are during fasting time.
Matina, The Glass Arcade, St Nicholas St, Bristol BS1 1JQ. Open Monday to Saturday, 9.30am-5pm
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