The Liverpool city centre café has already been replacedBold Street packed with shoppers(Image: Andrew Teebay Liverpool Echo)A Bold Street café that was once constantly packed with customers has quietly disappeared from the city. Gong Cha, the bubble tea brand that attracted long queues stretching down the street when it opened in 2020, has closed and has already been replaced by another company.Gong Cha opened with more than 100 customers waiting in line and a lion dance ceremony to mark the occasion. The brand served a range of bubble teas, including “dirtea”, a dessert-like drink combining its signature milk foam, fresh milk, brown sugar pearls and topped off with Oreo crumbs.In August, Gong Cha shut its Newcastle site with no prior warning, leaving only a note on the door. Two months later, the company closed all of its Singaporean sites for the second time after a similar exit from the country in 2017.The Liverpool site’s absence was short lived as a new business, a Hong Kong street food venue named LOJO Mate, has already opened in the premises.LOJO Mate Classic HK Cafe on Bold Street, Liverpool(Image: Colin Lane/Liverpool Echo)LOJO Mate came to prominence early last year as an inconspicuous dining spot serving up dishes from thousands of miles away. Established in 2024, it was an off-shoot of highly rated takeaway, Sai Kwan Lo Jo, which was formed more than 6,000 miles away in Hong Kong.Operating for several years, the original spot specialised in food from China’s Guangdong’s Xiguan region, such as hand-made lai fun noodles and sticky rice dumplings.For three years it consistently made it onto the Michelin Guide’s prestigious Bib Gourmand list. But then it suddenly closed with its owners called it quits on its takeaway, citing the pandemic, closures happening around them and a period of low earnings.LOJO Mate Classic HK Cafe on Bold Street, Liverpool(Image: Colin Lane/Liverpool Echo)However, one of its founders decided to up sticks and move to the UK, landing in Bury, where he established LOJO Mate with a focus on Hong Kong-inspired dishes.In March, its owner, Alex, who prided himself as a one man operation, announced the venue would be leaving Manchester. LOJO Mate has now taken the brand to Liverpool with the Bold Street site up and running and offering everything customers came to love from the Bury site.Announcing its arrival, LOJO Mate said: “From a Red, to another. Almost two years of ‘training’ in Bury. Didn’t get much, apart from repetition. This year, LOJO Mate moves to the next chapter.”
Bold Street café that was always full closed without a word
