We tried the Pimm’s cocktail slushies at Bristol favourite Boston Tea Party

Cocktails for breakfast? On a warm and sticky June morning, it was too tempting not to indulge.

I say cocktails, but I was actually starting the day with a Pimms slushie and it certainly hit the spot.

This frozen lemonade and Pimms slushie was one of two new brunch cocktails on the menu at Boston Tea Party. The other is an espresso Martini but 10am seemed a little too early for one of those.

The Pimms Slushie (£8.50) was refreshing and had just the right amount of booze to get the day off to a fortifying start without being too strong.

My daughter, was meanwhile more than happy with her watermelon slushie (£3.95), another new addition to the summer menu at Boston Tea Party.

We were brunching at the Park Street branch of this Bristol-based chain, which now has 23 cafes dotted around the South West and Midlands. The Park Street cafe was the first - I still remember visiting it the week it opened in 1995.

The summer menu has a number of new dishes with an emphasis on lighter, fresher options to be enjoyed inside the cafes or in their gardens.

These include a tomato and mozzarella salad (tomato, mozzarella, cucumber, pepper, red onion, olives, basil, garlic and fennel croutons with red wine vinegar dressing and balsamic glaze drizzle) and falafel quinoa salad (beetroot falafel, quinoa salad with coriander and mint, pitta, whipped feta, curry oil and za’atar).

I went for the tofu noodle salad (£10.95), one of several vegan or vegetarian options on the menu.

A cold dish, the golden cubes of fried tofu had retained their crispness and mingled with chilled rice noodles, peas, shredded red cabbage, snipped spring onions and sliced cucumber.

Brought together by a spicy, fruity Korean ketchup and a zesty citrus dressing, it was a light and fragrant dish perfect for a muggy summer’s day.

My daughter stuck to one of the regular Boston Tea Party breakfasts - The Veggie Boss (£12.60) and particularly loved the sweetcorn fritter, creamy scrambled eggs, squeaky kale and fried mushrooms.

The highlight, however, was the ‘Moving Mountains’ sausage which was easily the best veggie sausage either of us had tasted.

In a blind tasting, I’m sure this impressive meat substitute would fox even the most ardent carnivores.

Vibrant salads and boozy cocktail slushes - the new menu at Boston Tea Party is packed with seasonal delights perfect for the long hot summer ahead. You may well end up staying longer than you planned.

Boston Tea Party has cafes across Bristol at Park Street, Whiteladies Road, Gloucester Road, Cheltenham Road and Stoke Gifford.