I tried the cooked breakfast at the Instagram-friendly Bristol cafe in a shopping centre

Framed by artificial blossom, a pink neon sign on the wall in Mokka bears the slogan ‘it always seems impossible until it’s done’.

I’m sure that’s what the Hoare family kept saying when they opened this huge cafe/restaurant in Downend two and a half years ago.

This local family launched Mokka just after the pandemic and actually built it during the tail end of it. In fact, they had to delay opening due to the second lockdown.

They’ve certainly made up for lost time as Mokka has been pretty much packed every day since it opened.

It has been so successful that the family (who have had the Grapevine Brasserie in Mangotsfield for six years) opened a second Mokka in Keynsham in March 2023.

But when it comes to appropriate slogans, maybe they should get another one that reads ‘give the people what they want and they’ll come’ because that’s precisely the recipe of their success.

Located beneath the landmark WG Grace mural outside the Willows Shopping Centre on Downend’s main street, Mokka occupies a vast ground floor site that was previously a bike shop (and a furniture shop before that).

The left-hand side was a betting shop, which became the new area for Mokka last year - they had to extend it due to its popularity.

And popular it is. At 10am on Saturday, there was a queue of people by the door waiting to get tables and both rooms were absolutely packed.

Done out in golds and teal colours with lots of artificial plants and trailing flowers, gold-edged mirrors and comfortable furniture including leather sofas, it’s all very Instagram-friendly.

It was full of local families and friends meeting up for breakfast or just a coffee and cake, although from 12pm (and through to the evening when it becomes more of a restaurant and bar), the menu switches to small plates, sandwiches, paninis, jacket potatoes, burgers and mains like Moroccan chicken curry or smoked haddock and mozzarella fishcakes.

In some ways, the broad menu and rolling all-day menu is similar to - and perhaps inspired by - the excellent Lounge cafe/bars and it’s interesting that Loungers haven’t opened in Downend (although there’s a huge and busy one in Fishponds).

But with Mokka so well established, they probably wouldn’t dare, this local family-run business has Downend sewn up.

And Mokka seems to be attracting a wide cross section of locals, too. On the table next to mine, there were two octogenarian ladies tucking into a breakfast of Eggs Royale and on the other side of me were three young women having avocado and eggs.

There were also young children with their parents and grandparents, groups of friends and a couple of students.

The breakfast menu is massive and as well as traditional fry-ups includes chorizo, eggs and spinach; buttermilk pancakes with chocolate and banana, and bacon sandwiches.

I went for the small ‘traditional’ breakfast (£9.95) and it was excellent. The two slices of thick back bacon were good quality rashers cooked to perfection, as was the fried egg with its runny yolk and the meaty pork sausage.

There was a piping hot hash brown, baked beans, grilled tomato, plenty of button mushrooms and thick slices of buttered toast. I washed it down with a decent Americano coffee (£3).

I was only at Mokka for an hour but I completely fell for its charms. It’s a brilliant example of a high quality local business with ambition, drive and a complete understanding of what the locals want and deserve.

Let’s hope the Hoare family roll them out all over Bristol.

Mokka, Willows Shopping Centre, Downend Road, Bristol BS16 5UJ.