Mojo the FoodBar is at the forefront and renaissance of a sophisticated food and bar scene in the regenerating city of Newport
This exciting venue in Clarence Place has opened and introduces a completely new gastronomic experience for the people of Newport.

Celebrating its first year in business, Voice caught up with Mojo’s owner Lewis Lewis and Seng Koh to talk about the success and impact it has had in Newport. Here’s what he had to say:

You’ve recently celebrated your first year anniversary at Mojo the FoodBar, how has your first year been?
Yes, indeed we celebrated our first birthday on August 13, 2016 which we were very excited about. We are delighted that Mojo is at the forefront of the sophisticated food and bar scene, showcasing the city’s largest collection of gins now standing at over 150 along with an extensive Champagne list, and inventive menu of cocktails and blends mixed by a world class team of mixologists headed by Andrej Madaras and overseen by Jan Kosler our brand head of mixology, beverage and spirt development. Our first year, as expected has had its ups and downs, however, I think our biggest birthday present was
establishing one of the very best teams within the South Wales dining scene.


To coincide with your milestone, you won City Centre Restaurant of the Year at this year’s V Awards, why do you think people voted for you?
We were delighted to win this prestigious accolade and we would like to think that people voted for us based on several things: people – our team members who deliver a first class service aiming to surprise and delight each and every
guest, customers – ensuring that we listen and react to our customers’ needs and wants and, finally, quality – ensuring we use only the finest ingredients, locally sourced where possible to deliver outstanding food with exceptional cocktails that challenge the normal.

Your menus are incredibly unique and pioneering, what was the inspiration behind the winter menu?
Our winter menu is inspired by the fantastic seasonal produce we have here in Wales. As we turn our heating up and the winter swell begins to roll in, chef Ben has been working hard on a new winter menu to warm the soul, including some offers to help fight off the winter blues. We have some fusion Asian-inspired dishes from our chef de partie Molly which have delicious accents of chili, ginger and spring onion that will tingle your taste buds and pep up your mood and our pastry chef Nathan delivers something delicious sweet treats to give real comfort while offering unusual flavours and deconstructed alternative classics. We also recommend our Chef’s Taster Menu: A six course taster menu based on the best produce of the day starting from £39.50 per person.


If you could recommend three dishes from the new menu, what would they be?
To start: gravlax salmon with Plymouth gin, cucumber, crème fraîche. For the main course: Welsh lamb with turnip, radish, sweet potato, squash, lamb jus. And for dessert: cheesecake – vanilla, raspberry, rosemary, chocolate crumb.

Afternoon tea at Mojo’s is incredibly popular, what makes it so good?
Our Afternoon Tea is very popular, I think at the heart of our success is keeping our Afternoon Tea new and exciting and changing the menu regularly
and ensuring there is always a unique element. Our current Winter Afternoon Tea features a warm carrot, sweet potato and chilli soup to start followed
byWelsh treats all baked by us at Mojo. Doing everything fresh is at the core of all we do. Our Afternoon Tea starts from £15 per person and includes a glass
of Prosecco.

Sunday lunch is a special time for everyone, so why should people book a table at Mojo’s?
Our Sunday Lunch has become a signature trademark for Mojo the FoodBar and proved so popular we now open from 11am until 6pm as the demand is so great. Our Sunday lunch menus start from £15 for two courses or £20 for three courses some guests even opt for the four course lunch as its only £24 offering exceptional value for money.

Your staff are well known for their customer service and professionalism, how vital is it to find employees who share the same vision as you?
It is vital that we find employees with the same vision and drive to deliver excellent customer service and care in order to retain the very best guests. This is true of recruitment, you never really know someone’s ability, drive, passion or commitment until they start working, and only then you will see what they can do. What’s important is recruiting the best yes but also training, investing and looking after your team members as this in turn will all help in delivering the very best possible levels of service, customer care, and will make them feel empowered as they too will be rewarded for service excellence.

Your drinks mixologists are highly skilled, where you have people from all over South Wales travelling to sample their exquisite cocktails, what festive cocktails do you have on the menu for this year?
The bar is at the heart of the restaurant and has a lovely terrace but even better drinks. Our brand head of mixology, beverage and spirt development Jan Kosler will not use fruit if it’s out of season. Mojo’s cocktails are simple, modern, delicious and never gimmicky. The back bar is full of an amazing selection of handmade whisk(e)y and gin as well as the infusions, tinctures, bitters and shrubs we make ourselves.
In our ongoing attempts to create Wales’ best cocktail bar, we’ve scoured our library of longout-of-print cocktail books to resurrect some great long-lost classics with some exciting new additions and re-development of our Signature Cocktail menu in 2017.
We’ve also added some of our own, invented by our award-winning bartenders Andrej and our Brand Head Jan Kosler. All are made with the finest ingredients available (and a lot of love).

As Christmas is just around the corner do you have any special events planned?
We have lots of great events happening between now and Christmas including a Christmas Preview Event, Chivas Regal Whiskey Masterclass, Ice Carving Masterclass and Taste of Wales Evening. The best place to keep up to date with our latest and greatest events is online at mojothefoodbar.com or alternatively call our reservations team on 01633 449948. We are constantly adding to our events offering some of the best masterclasses in the local area thanks to our dedicated special events team.

Are you currently running any promotions for the festive period?
In celebration of wining “Best City Centre Restaurant of the Year” we are offering all Voice readers the opportunity to dine with us Tuesday to Thursday and get 50 per cent off your food bill. This is available from November 1, 2016 until November 30, 2016.

Mojo the FoodBar is located at No.1 Clarence House, Newport NP19 7AA. For all enquiries call 01633 449948. For further information visit mojothefoodbar.com, and follow on Twitter and Facebook.