It is hard to pin down Bonghy Bo. It is a self-service restaurant, a cafe, a bar and a private venue all rolled into one. If everything was impressively done Bonghy Bo could be one of the best all-purpose venues in Bath, but unfortunately it's a jack of all trades, master of none.

The Venue
The inspiration behind the decor is hard to define. There are Oriental wall panels with red lights, but they are not prominent, and they are mixed with furniture that makes no reference to the Far East. It has a nice enclosed terrace, with plenty of space and, inside, the bar is bright near the large windows but a bit dingy towards the back. There are high tables (some with glass tops) and chairs, dark leather couches attached to the walls and bent wood chairs in the same hue. Bonghy Bo looks neat but the details to give it personality are lacking.

The People
The staff are also a mix of East and West and the clients seem just as generic as the place itself. There are parents with their teenagers, a few couples, the occasional tourist and the first-timer who looks around trying to decide if this place is worth coming back to or not.

It is quite hard to make your mind up on this place; you get the impression that the management should take a drastic decision and either lean entirely towards the Eastern inspiration and apply it to the food, the drink and the decor, or get rid of it completely and sell Bonghy Bo as a clean-cut contemporary space. Currently they hold salsa classes on Tuesdays, which only adds to the randomness.

The Food
There is a mix of cuisine here and maybe the big idea behind Bonghy Bo’s is to be a fusion restaurant. If they had this in mind the result is not impressive. Fusion cuisine here means different influences in the same dish or offering mostly Western dishes with a few Oriental alternatives thrown in.

Their regular menu includes the classic sandwiches and jacket potatoes (£3 to £5.50) and mains like vegetable or beef lasagna, macaroni bake and chicken pie, all served with salad (£5.50 to £6.50). The specials, instead, are Chinese fried noodles (£4.50), green Thai curry (£6.50) and Chinese spare ribs (£6.50).

For the desserts, you are back to the West, with a selection of traditional cakes more suited to your afternoon coffee than to complete your meal.

The Drink
Bonghy Bo is closed most nights for private functions, and on these occasions the latest you can visit is the early evening (about the time you’d head to the pub). If it is beer you are after, you can get a few here, including Corona, Tiger, Becks and Stella (from £3). Pimms is also available, either by the glass (£2.50) or by the jug (£12) and they sell a few wines at a decent £13.50 a bottle (£3.15 for a small glass and £4.35 for a large one). For the non drinker, you can get a soft drink for £1.20 to £1.85 and, for earlier in the day, you can order all the classic coffees (£1.35 to £1.75). Cocktails? A sign behind the bar mentions them, but there are none on display.

The Last Word
Bonghy Bo is not one of those love it or hate it places because it's not possible; it doesn’t possess enough character. It is more of a take it or leave it kind of affair. If you can deal with that, by all means go, but if you cannot, just choose from the many central alternatives Bath has to offer.