Noah’s Firmly Embedded In Bristol Food Scene

Tucked away under the Cumberland Basin in Bristol, with views of the city’s iconic docks and the Clifton Suspension Bridge, sits Noah’s – a unique fish and chips and seafood restaurant that almost never came to be.

Despite its stunning setting, the location presented a challenge. The building – previously a café that also doubled as Sid’s Cafe in the popular BBC sitcom Only Fools and Horses – is hidden under a flyover, with no passing footfall. 

“You didn’t know it was there unless you knew it was there,” says Dan Rosser, who owns and runs the restaurant with his wife Joie.

That didn’t deter the couple, who named the restaurant after their son. Drawing on Dan’s background – working under chefs like Mitch Tonks and Marco Pierre White, and alongside his father Garry Rosser at Bath-based fish and chip shops The Scallop Shell and The Oyster Shell – they transformed the old cafe into a striking ark-like building, complete with wooden cladding and a warm, inviting interior focused on exceptional fish and seafood done simply.

Dan comments: “Bristol has become one of the best food cities outside of London. There are seriously good restaurants here, run by amazing chefs. It’s great to be part of that scene.”

The menu at Noah’s is simple but ambitious, offering top quality deep fried fish alongside grilled seafood such as scallops, oysters and prawns sourced from day boats on the south coast or the west coast of Scotland and served at accessible prices.

“Your food has got to be good to make it in Bristol, but it has to offer value for money too, that’s crucial to survival here,” says Dan. But establishing themselves in Bristol’s crowded food scene wasn’t easy.

The launch in May 2023 was promising, with 150 covers being served each day in the first few weeks. But as the launch hype faded, so did the footfall, with some days dropping to just 10 covers in the months that followed. 

“We were weeks away from wondering if this would work,” Dan recalls. “The signs were there that it would work, but we just didn’t know if we could hold on long enough.”

The breakthrough came when Noah’s came third in the Fish & Chip Restaurant of the Year at last year’s National Fish & Chip Awards. “That gave us some recognition and put us on the radar quicker than we could have expected,” says Dan. National press followed, with glowing reviews from Tom Parker Bowles in The Daily Mail and Grace Dent in The Guardian. “Each one took us up another level,” he says. 

From there, the team focused on consistency and standards. “Even when we were doing 10 covers a day, we didn’t cut corners,” Dan explains. “We kept our GP tight, the food top-notch, and the staff motivated. We used every skill we’d learned over the last 10 years to give every customer the best.”

That approach paid off. Today, Noah’s serves around 75–100 covers midweek, with weekend evenings at capacity - between 150 and 160 covers - and Sundays hitting 140. 

“If you’d told me 18 months ago we’d be here, I wouldn’t have believed it,” says Dan. “It’s a completely different operation now. We’re much busier, there’s more prep and more staff, and it’s just as important to keep the standards up.”

Key to that success are clever menu strategies. Their £14.50 lunchtime special – cod, fishcake or market fish, served with chips and a cup of tea – has been a hit from day one. “It’s our marketing tool,” says Dan. “Although we don’t make big margins, we get the volume, and that’s what it’s about, bums on seats. So rather than paying for adverts, I'd rather take a hit on the margins and have people sit there eating for a lesser price, but good value, because word of mouth is what builds a reputation.”

Another is the Lock Keeper’s Tea Time Special, offering a choice of à la carte mains, designed to fill quieter hours between 5pm and 6.30pm. “If we can get 30 people in at that time, one, it’s bums on seats and, two, it creates a buzz. When new customers walk in and see that the restaurant is already three-quarters full, it makes a difference.”

Integral to delivering consistently high standards is using the right products, and for Dan, that means Ceres Natural Batter Mix and Ceres Curry Sauce.

“We’ve used the Natural Batter for years – at The Scallop Shell and The Oyster Shell too,” says Dan. “It’s always consistent, always crispy and has a great colour. It gives us exactly what we need to create the perfect fish and chips. If we ever have a problem, which is rare, Stelios has always helped straight away.”

For Dan, the batter is essential to the business, adding: “Fish and chips is a simple dish: fish, potatoes, oil and batter. If one’s off, the whole thing suffers. Ceres Natural Batter Mix is the best batter we’ve used, and that’s why we’ve stuck with it.”

Ceres Curry Sauce has also become a core part of Noah’s offering. “We used to make our curry sauce from scratch daily, but it’s a lot of work for something we sell for £2.50. It wasn’t too dissimilar to creating a stock or a soup,” says Dan. “We tried the Ceres version and honestly, it’s spot on with bags of flavour, a slight sweetness and a gentle heat. It’s not far off what we were making ourselves, but it is so much better than other ready-made curry mixes.”

The decision to switch came down to time, labour, and consistency. “With how busy we are, and how hard it is to find good staff, it made total sense to leave the curry sauce to somebody else,” Dan explains. “Sometimes, as a chef, you want to make everything yourself, but you’ve got to be clever. For the cost of the price on the menu compared to the product that it produces, I think it is an absolute no-brainer. Products like that don’t come around very often.”

What also sets Ceres apart for Dan is the support behind the brand. “Stelios is incredibly passionate about the industry. His roots are in fish and chips, and you can see how much he cares,” says Dan.

“Ceres isn’t just about products, it’s about keeping the industry moving forward. The website, his podcasts, help with costings – it all shows someone who wants to keep fish and chips alive, who wants to keep it going in the right direction and keep people connected. He’s created a community that unites the fish and chip world.”