Beerd, St Michaels Hill

Beerd,
157-159 St Michaels Hill, Cotham, Bristol BS2 8DB
http://www.beerdbristol.com

We have been making our way round the Bath Ales pubs recently as we have a discount card which is proving to be a fantastic deal for food and drink. Beerd is part of the Bath Ales collective and is a craft beer and pizza joint in High Kingsdown. We went on a Friday night and when we arrived it was rammed but in a good way. It felt lively, filled with a loud hubbub of conversation and plenty of specialty beer flowing. The clientele seemed to be a mix of the more intelligent, ale-supping students who are probably part of jugglesoc and older people who prefer a local night in High Kingsdown to the chaos of town. 
We made our way to the bar where I selected a blonde Belgium beer called Steen Brugge. It instantly transported me back to our short break in Brugge last year, when we frequently ended up in a basement bar just off the main square selecting which beers to try based on the accompanying glass.
I decided to try and find a seat and by some miracle a table opened up at that precise moment. The tables around us were mainly quite large groups sampling the pizza and it looked amazing. One of the staff noticed we'd taken a seat and he asked if we were after pizza and so we waited for him to return to take our order. It was a good ten minutes before he returned but the place was so buoyant that it simply didn't matter. The chatter was infectious. We selected our pizza; salami and roasted chilli and the cauliflower, blue cheese and chorizo pizza. I asked to swap the blue cheese for goats cheese which was no bother. We were warned that there was quite a wait for the pizza so we ordered some garlic bread to tide us over.
The garlic bread arrived pretty quickly and it was wonderful. Small strips of freshly baked dough lightly brushed with garlic butter. I think it took around 3 minutes to devour the lot.
As we knew we had a bit of a wait, we got another beer in but the pizza arrived before the beer! Result.
The pizza looked and smelled incredible. Thin base, generous coating of tomato sauce, lightly topped with perfectly non-greasy cheesy goodness. The toppings we had chosen were marvelous, the best one being the cauliflower, goats cheese and chorizo. The cauliflower went perfectly with the goats cheese and the chorizo balanced the creaminess with a spicy meaty kick.
It ended up being the perfect venue to kick off a night out. You couldn't help but get motivated to go out and the food set you up perfectly. We are already planning to return with friends, and with the discount, the incentive to return is even greater.

Rocotillos, Queens Row

Rocotillos
1 Queens Row, Bristol, BS8 1EZ
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Rocotillos


I'd been meaning to try Rocotillos for years. It's one of the places which has always been there but I'd never made it inside. The lack of website has put me off for the last few years as I like to know what sort of place I'm heading to before I go.

However, last Sunday hungover husband and I decided we fancied breakfast. It was 1pm but still, breakfast was called for. We were trying to debate where to go and I said Rocotillos was on my list of places to try and their breakfasts are pretty legendary, so off we trotted.

We entered the diner and by some miracle there was an empty table near the back of the very packed restaurant so we took a seat and studied the menu looking for breakfast. The diner is surprising very bright and airy, with a duck egg blue theme. The open kitchen with high bar stalls is a nice feature and there were plenty of kids in there being treating to a post-museum milkshake.

We went down the breakfast list and then noticed that we had in fact missed breakfast service. Damn. If there had been a website I'd have known this beforehand and planned a little better, but Hey! we were here and seated so we looked to see what else we fancied.

I knew I needed to try a milkshake to see what all the fuss was about and there was only one choice for me; peanut butter. I also narrowed my choice of food to two things; chicken quesadilla and Philly cheese steak. I decided to ask the waitress which one was the best choice and she recommended the quesadilla. I also ordered a side of fries or so I thought...Husband went with a Cajun chicken burger and a strawberry milkshake

Our drinks were quickly served and the milkshakes were good. The strawberry one was quite fake tasting but the peanut butter one was great and a really good hangover cure I found out.

Ten minutes later and our food arrived. The burger, to be honest, was small especially with the influx of great burgers into Bristol lately with Chomp!, Grillstock, Atomic Burger etc. The fries, although piping hot, were very pale and anemic looking.
The quesadilla was stuck on a plate so small it overhung the edges and no attempt at presentation had been made with either dish. No side order of fries were delivered either. I waited a minute to see if the waitress was going back to get them and when it became clear she wasn't I piped up and asked if they were on their way. A complete look of surprise crossed her face and she went off to see where they are, coming back two minutes later to declare I didn't order any. When I said I'd ordered them twice as I thought the waitress hadn't heard me the first time she said she would put the order in and bring them over shortly.

The quesadilla was not too bad; not great either and I'd finished the whole thing before the side of ashen fries arrived. You would have thought that fries were on the go all the time and not having to be cooked from scratch each time. We finished up and paid the bill; neither one of us bowled over.

Service on the whole was ok, the good balanced the bad and I think the milkshakes are great, but I think for food there are better cooked and presented, more generous options out there at a better price.

Feast with a Chef, Long Ashton Village Hall

Feast with a Chef
Long Ashton Village Hall, Keedwell Hill, Long Ashton, Bristol BS41 9DP
http://www.clarehargreaves.co.uk/feast-with-a-chef/

This is where Twitter comes into its own, without this gem of foodie knowledge I would have never found out about Clare's genius idea to bring chefs she's come to know through her work as a food writer to a sleepy village hall to cook a feast for hundreds.

I signed up to attend Clare's taste of the east feast cooked by Ramael Scully, head chef at Ottolenghi's NOPI in London (http://www.nopi-restaurant.com/). I booked this as a surprise for husband and collaborated with friends and Clare herself to plan an exciting evening.

We arrived at Long Ashton village hall without telling husband anything about where we were going and he was a little surprised to get out of the car and inhale these wonderful smells emitting from the hall. We walked in to be confronted by three long tables seating 150+ people all chatting animatedly about what was in store. We took our seats and studied the menu:

It looked absolutely delicious.

We managed to grab a sample of the bread and Rodda's Cornish butter which was lovely and before we knew it the spiced potatoes landed in front of us. The pastry was wonderful, crisp pastry, warmly spiced creamy filling and acidic sauce which cut straight through the creaminess of the potato filling.

Husband was then presented with a bottle of fizz to celebrate his birthday from Clare which was a really special touch which he loved and really appreciated.

The next course was the Octopus with red quinoa. There was no scrimping on portion size for this course. A giant hunk of perfectly cooked octopus; with minimal tentacles.

The following course was a bit hit and miss really; we all loved the beef cheek. It was divine, really soft and melt in the mouth but the fishy accompaniments in the form of the seaweed salad and mackerel sauce left us a little queasy. Personally I didn't really enjoy this course, but that's my personal taste and no reflection on the quality of the cooking.

The final dish in our feast was a pudding called Milk; three ways. This was reminiscent of an Eaton mess; but we couldn't really tell how the milk was presented three ways. It was quickly devoured though as it was an amazing tasting pudding.

We finished off with coffee and petit fours. Our plate came with a birthday message for husband, again a really sweet touch from Clare and the team.  The lemon petit four was my favourite and finished off an fantastic feast in style.

Clare managed to pull off a great event, I have no idea how the chefs managed to cope with such a large service with no hiccups. The waiters and waitresses were great, attentive and happy to help. We were treated really well by everyone involved and Clare made it extra special for us with all her birthday touches.

I wish her all the best with her next ventures - check out her website!

KooKooToo, Filton Avenue

KooKooToo
518 Filton Avenue, Bristol, BS7 0QE
https://www.facebook.com/Kookootoo

We had noticed KooKooToo opening in our neighbourhood and decided to try it out on a quiet Wednesday night. The first thing you notice about the place is the décor, it's lush, all pastel colours; pinks, greens, terracottas with fabulous furniture and big wooden tables and benches. Warm and inviting.

We took a seat over one side of the restaurant and a funny, jolly little man who was the waiter or the owner (not too sure) came over with an array of menus. Four to be precise! We perused the menu for some time and debated what we fancied. A duck dish with walnuts and pomegranate and a chicken and lamb kebab took our fancy along with a bottle of red wine.

When the jolly waiter came back we went to place our order, but then found out both dishes we fancied were either off the menu or modified. They weren't the only ones; about 4 dishes were either off the menu or modified. We ordered a starter of hummous and we asked if we could have a mixed halluomi and chicken kebab instead of the chicken and lamb and after some to-ing and fro-ing to the kitchen it was agreed that was ok. We were also told that the duck dish was now chicken instead so we went with that. We also ordered some red wine and tap water.

Its worth pointing out it took us over 20 minutes in a deserted restaurant to get this far in the ordering process. The waiter did tell us later that he was working on his own as was the person in the kitchen and that they didn't expect it to be busy (whilst we were there 4 other tables arrived).

The wine minus the tap water arrived along with a little amuse bouche which was really tasty and got us quite excited about what was to come. The starter than arrived which was THE biggest portion of hummous and some flat bread. The ratio of hummous to bread meant you were having to devour a lot of hummous with each mouthful, a smaller portion would have been better. The hummous was nice though; very garlicky and the flat bread was yummy.

We then had quite a long wait for the next course and I amused myself watching the flustered waiter trying to keep up with serving the other tables.

The main course eventually arrived and the kebab plate had a smattering of mushrooms all over it, which meant I couldn't eat it. There was no mention of mushrooms on the menu and I don't think I've ever seen a kebab with them in. I double checked the other dish had no mushrooms in which the waiter confirmed but there was no offer to re-make the other plate sans mushrooms.

*cue plate swapping*

The chicken, walnut and pomegranate dish I ate was ok; it was not suited to chicken at all, lamb would have been a far superior choice and had it come with lamb I think I would be raving about it. It was quite a dull dish with not much taste and the chicken did nothing to improve it. Husband had the kebab which was very salty and quite hard going towards the end. I would have said you could share the kebab between two quite sufficiently. The halluomi was very squeaky; it would have done with more cooking. The water finally arrived after a gentle prod to the waiter which was needed after the food.

Overall, poor service, multiple menus and salty food let KooKooToo down for us. The décor and vibe of the place is great and we wish it had impressed on all counts for us to make it a regular haunt seeing as it's in our neighbourhood and we like to support local businesses.

Meluha, Park Street

Meluha
51 Park Street, Bristol, BS1 5NT
http://www.meluha.co.uk


My best friend and I have birthdays three days apart do we normally do a joint party/meal out. Last November we decided to give Meluha on Park Street a go. I contacted the restaurant to book a table and was surprised to have a private party proposed by Jay at the restaurant. He told me we could use the private room upstairs, have a drinks reception to start and eat a personalized menu designed us for us based on our tastes! How fantastic!

Jay worked with me over the course of a few weeks to design a bespoke menu for our table to share. We were privileged to be able to try a new dish as part of our meal and also have a discounted drinks package.

The menu Meluha designed consisted of a new amuse bouche which was strawberry and vanilla chicken tikka with cold hickory wood smoke. A selection of starters - balchao dusted pork on tomato charasa, hyberabadi mince cupcake and Westcombe Dairy cheese samosa. A selection of mains - prawn bollywood, a hot lamb gunpowder and Punjabi butter chicken which was great as I'd specially requested a hot lamb dish knowing the tastes of our guests and the whole meal was accompanied by unlimited rice, naan,  garlic naan, and an intriguing chilli and chocolate naan. Jay also promised to follow up with birthday cake and coffee for dessert.

It all sounded perfect.

We arrived at the restaurant and we were shown upstairs to our room and met our butler for the evening; Abbas. We had a few drinks whilst we waited for the rest of the guests to arrive then took our seats around a large table. The room upstairs was a little sparse so sounded quite echoy and felt a little cold, but it was soon forgotten once everyone arrived and sat down and starting chatting. The drinks flowed and then the amuse bouche was brought out for everyone to try. It was absolutely delicious, perfectly cooked chicken with a delicate hint of vanilla and strawberry.

The amuse bouche did exactly what it was designed to do, and everyone's mouths were watering in anticipation of the starters. The starters were presented on a plate as a trio and the standout starter was surprisingly the Westcombe Dairy cheese samosa. It was divine, creamy cheese encased in crisp pastry. Totally unexpected.

The mains came as a sharing course with big plates of curries spread across the table and fresh hot fluffy naan. The prawn Bollywood coupled with the chilli and chocolate naan was a revelation and the best main. A spot on recommendation from Jay and the team. We followed up with coffee and birthday and reflected on an excellent meal with fantastic service from Abbas. Chef Stephen Gomes came up to check on how we were enjoying our evening, but I doubt the table noticed as they were far too busy enjoying themselves.

I highly recommend Meluha for a private party, all the team were fantastic. From Jay's careful menu planning, Abbas's skill at plying us with booze and Chef Stephen and his team wowing us with the food.

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Meluha recently launched a new £10 lunch/early evening deal and also a takeaway lunchtime special. I'm hoping to sample the early evening deal soon but a couple of weeks ago I found myself looking for a spot of lunch on park street with some friends; so I dived into Meluha to sample the lunchtime takeaway treats. We order two of the "Naan-wiches"; a chicken tikka wrapped in fluffy naan with curry mayonnaise and salad leaves and a paneer roshni tikka wrapped in fluffy naan with red onion and chilli tomato salsa. We took advantage of the £6 offer to include a mango lassi and a biscuit selection.

We placed our order and waited in the restaurant for about 20 minutes for it to arrive. I didn't expect it to take so long, but we were warm and dry so didn't really mind. Our other friends who had chosen to eat elsewhere weren't so happy as they were outside waiting with their food going cold. I would think if I was starving or short on time, I perhaps would eat somewhere else but as I had time to spare it didn't matter. I chose the paneer roshni tikka based on my experience with the Westcombe Dairy cheese samosa previously and it was lovely. Warm and tasty with wonderfully creamy paneer, it was lovely and I preferred it over the bite of chicken tikka naan I sampled. The lassi was lovely; and the biscuits were a really cute touch. They somehow made the meal feel a little bit personal. The ginger biscuit was great, a lovely hit of warmth and spice. yummy!

I will add to this post once I've sampled the lunch/early evening menu.

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My dad turned 63 today and he loves curry. He spent much of his working life around the Telford and Bradford areas and was the one who introduced our family to curry. Our traditional Christmas day meal is a selection of homemade curries made by him over the days preceding Christmas which we all tuck in with gusto on Christmas day.

So when my mum said she was thinking of taking him out for lunch I suggested Meluha, mainly as I wanted to sample the delicious looking lunch menu and I knew he'd love it.

I contacted the restaurant over twitter and asked if I could book at table for Dad's birthday. They replied super quick with a confirmation and when I logged into my work PC the following day I was met with a confirmation email in my inbox. Very impressive!

Further surprises were in store when we arrived at the restaurant, a complimentary glass of champers to celebrate. A lovely touch.

We browsed the lunch menu and went for a selection of the dishes to be able to try them all. Dad and I went for the Green and Divine - a Goan chicken specialty, marinated overnight with green spices and cooked in the tandoor served with cumin lentil mashed rice, dehydrated banana and a coriander lollipop.

Husband went for the lamb achaari - which was lamb with a spicy tomato pesto and pickled juice smoked in cold whisky with cumin rice and Mum went for the salmon tikka kaeng phet - which was salmon sous vide done in the tandoor with coconut rice topped with red chilli and lemon grass reduction and sea lemon air.

We also had a teenager with us, who was a little scared by all the fancy descriptions and wanted something a little more simple. She asked if she could have a chicken tikka naanwich which Abbas complied and even offered to dig around in the kitchen to see if he could find some chips to accompany her dish. She was very pleased at this suggestion.

Shortly after ordering our amuse bouche arrived which was a crème de coriander soup with little balls of yoghurt on the spoon to stir in. This was lovely. Warm, creamy with a lovely flavour and green colour which everyone enjoyed.

Our mains arrived after a short wait and it shows the restaurant are on the ball when it comes to serving kids; making sure the teenager was served first. An absolute must in my eye, so lots of brownie points scored! She really like the naanwich which was a great choice for her and of course chips always go down well. Although they were warm rather than hot, she didn't complain.

Mine and my dad's mains were delivered first and it looked superb. Beautifully cooked chicken with a Goan sauce to pour over. This was more like a Indian roast dinner than a curry which was a surprise. The portion was generous and although it was served without the lollipop, as soon as I mentioned it to Abbas, he was on the case with sorting it out. The dish came with a mini naan basket containing garlic naan and chocolate naan, both fluffy, hot and tasty. Meluha really can do naan!

My mum and husband were left salivating for a while whilst they waited for theirs and I do have to confess I slowed down eating to make sure I wasn't finished by the time theirs arrived. This wasn't helped by the fact the food was warm rather than hot, I was concerned if I slowed down too much to wait for them to be served I'd be eating cold food. This was a little frustrating seeing as we were in the restaurant on our own - but I appreciate the kitchen is probably being run on minimal staff.

Theirs arrived eventually and my dad and I declared ourselves the winners with our food choice. The lamb although plentiful was quite fatty and not really to my taste but husband enjoyed it. My mum was a little put out at the quantity of salmon compared to the generous portion of chicken we got, but enjoyed hers also.

We had enjoyed our two courses so much that we decided to sample dessert. There were three to choose from; chocolate and coriander mousse, lassi cherry parfait and chocomosas with tikka masala ice cream but only the lassi cherry and chocomosas were available. We went for a combination of the two. The chocomosa was really impressive and had I not been such a cherry fanatic I would have been miffed to have not selected it. As it was the cherry parfait was right up my street. A cheesecake style dessert with cookie dough base, a ice cream centre and then the most fantastic hit of intense cherry flavour from the topping. For me, it was divine. Husband is not quite such a cherry fan as me and he admitted that he wished he'd picked the chocomosa. The teenager went for the selection of biscuits which are offered as part of the Naanwich deal which she enjoyed although I think the chilli biscuit took her by surprise.

All in all, a fantastic meal. Such excellent value, for 5 of us the bill came to £56. Abbas was fantastic with service and it was wonderful having such undivided attention. My only gripe was the speed of service which in a busy evening service you might not notice, but in a lunchtime setting with few covers on a express menu aiming to serve within half hour was disappointing. The food however, was amazing. The complimentary champers was an unexpected surprise and my dad loved it!

Highly recommended.

Maniks, Gloucester Road North

Maniks
7-11 Gloucester Road North, Filton, Bristol, BS7 0SG
http://www.maniks.co.uk

Maniks opened earlier this year in my local area in an old television shop, and bills itself as a Indian and Thai restaurant. The area already has two very good Indians; our favourite Akash on Filton Avenue and the Raj Pavilions opposite Horfield sports centre so we were hopeful for a good quality, yummy Thai option. The restaurant is big as it is spread over two premises and is also a bring your own, perfect for keeping the price down.

We visited on a Friday night with some Thai cuisine loving friends. We were asked to wait for a table for a few minutes as there were 5 of us, and after a short wait we were seated. The restaurant have paid a lot of attention to the décor. Everything is gold and black and we all loved the black glittery walls. It took quite a while to actually see a menu and we had to ask twice for one. Once received though we selected an assortment of Thai mains to try including; green curry, red curry, spicy chicken, garlic chicken and prawn pad Thai

The mains were delivered pretty quickly, but I had to send my red curry back as it was packed with mushrooms which I can't eat which is the first Thai red curry I've seen with them in. The restaurant were very accommodating and happy to re-do without the mushrooms. The green and red curries sauces were both quite thin but the green curry was tasty. The spicy and garlic chicken dishes were stir fries packed with peppers and chillis and were received well. The pad Thai was the best dish, although slightly overcooked with small prawns it was the best of an okay bunch.

The best thing about Maniks is certainly the bring your own as the bill for 5 people totaled £40. Bargain!

Maniks is a good low cost local option and because of the size can cater for bigger groups which along with the bring your own policy is a great option for larger celebration events.
Personally, I would still visit Akash for curries and I would make the trip to Simply Thai on Gloucester Road for a bring your own Thai but I would be very tempted to pick Maniks for larger events such as birthdays with families and friends or work events.

Steak of the Art, Harbourside

Steak of the Art
Cathedral Walk, Bristol, BS1 5LN
http://www.steakoftheart.co.uk

As part of my pledge this year to try and visit a new restaurant every month, Steak of the Art was the choice for March.

Booking was easy using the contact form on the website, but I had to ring the restaurant to confirm the reservation as I didn't receive any confirmation. They did explain to me they had replied to my reservation, but when I said I hadn't received it I got given a long drawn out defense instead of a simple apology and resolution.

Steak of the Art prides itself on being half steakhouse, half gallery with quirky tables and artwork. Its located slightly out of the way in the harbourside complex and easy to miss if you don't venture down that way very often. We were pleased to be seated in a booth which had suspended paint pots and a two-tone table. I loved the artwork on the walls of the booth, it was beautiful and colourful. There are about 4 booths which are all decorated but the rest of the tables on the main restaurant floor are all the same. We did see a group booking out in a separate area which was nice to see as the restaurant is a good choice for a group. The really off-putting thing is the amount of television screens in the restaurant screening a promotional film about the restaurant on repeat.

We decided to try the veg board for starters which came with hummus, guacamole, grilled hallumi and tomato kebab, borek, tempura veg, marinated olives and pitta bread. This was a big starter for one but a small starter for two. It came with only one hallumi kebab which was cold but the rest was nice.

We decided to try the signature steak which comes in a variety of cuts and sizes. We couldn't quite equate the amounts listed in the menu as it's listed in metric rather than the more traditional imperial measurements so we ordered double fillet steak each (seeing as the extra steak was £9) with hand cut chips and a portion of the béarnaise and peppercorn sauces. The steaks are pre-cut so if you order a double you actually get two 7oz steaks.

The steaks came delivered on a wooden chopping board with an eyeful of fat chips - 8 to be precise. I ordered another side of chips to share as I was convinced that the steak to chip to sauce ratio was off!! The steaks were delicious and perfectly cooked. The chips although not very many were lovely (we did end up eating most of the side order) and the sauces spot on.

The service was friendly and swift and wine list was good. We had a look round the gallery on the way out and they had some lovely pieces for sale, it would be good so see some more pieces which are more affordable, perhaps prints from local artists.

I would have like to have seen the chip to steak ratio improved slightly if you order the bigger steak option and I would have also have liked to have had a sauce included in the price like other restaurants as these little extras soon add up. It was great to be able to order double steak though and we were so stuffed there was no chance of pudding. The restaurant is a cool, unconventional place which is great for some wow factor if you get a booth.

 

Bells Diner, York Rd

Bell's Diner
1 - 3 York Road Montpelier Bristol BS6 5QB
http://www.bellsdiner.com/

We went to Bell's Diner to celebrate a friends birthday and it was the perfect location for a shared meal with friends. We kicked off with a rhubarb bellini which was a lovely seasonal take on the classic peach bellini and we started off with a selection of starters; Bell’s pickled vegetables and Salt cod fritters with aioli.

I've become a real fan of salt cod lately; a popular starter in Bristol it seems as we also had salt cod at Ox in January. The pickled vegetables were a revelation; the sharp piquant taste with the vinegar and a dash of chilli on perfectly blanched veg. A real taste explosion in your mouth.

We decided to follow the advice of our lovely waiter Harrison and order a selection of dishes to share and luckily we all had similar tastes so we loaded up with a variety of dishes including:  

• Spiced lentils with yoghurt and coriander
• Charcoal-grilled chicken oyster pinchos marinated in chipolte with harissa yoghurt
• Deep Fried Aubergine
• Charcoal-grilled salt and pepper prawns
• Roast Cornish scallops
• Rabbit in a creamy sauce

The chicken oysters were divine, soft and velvety with a hint of spice and the lentils were a great accompaniment to the rest of the dishes. The aubergine was the surprise of the night for me; even more so than the pickled vegetables. I tend to shy away from aubergine, but this came deep fried, crisp and served with goats cheese and honey which was added a silkiness to the crisp batter on the aubergine. I might even become a convert!

The rabbit dish was the disappointment of the selection as it was a little underwhelming and bland.

We then went for dessert. Husband went for coffee and salted caramel truffles which were just how I like them; salty. I find most salted caramel not salty at all, this hit the spot.

I asked Harrison for a recommendation on dessert and then promptly ignored him and ordered the new season’s Yorkshire rhubarb, pistachio and pomegranate pavlova which was amazing and after having a nibble on what he did recommend I made the right choice for sure!

We had a wonderful evening, full of good food, great conversation and prompt, swift, knowledgeable service. I'm looking forward to a repeat visit!

Pump House, Merchants Road

The Pump House
Merchants Road, Hotwells, Bristol, BS8 4PZ
http://www.the-pumphouse.com


Valentines day is a tricky date to go out for dinner. We like to celebrate the date, as we got together on Valentines day, but finding somewhere which isn't overpriced, tacky or just shit is difficult. I wanted to go somewhere a bit different, didn't want to pay over the odds but know that the place was practiced in the art of catering for a full service.

I chose The Pump House in Hotwells as I'd been hearing lots about Toby Gritten on the grapevine, it was a relaxed location with a reputation which has been gaining momentum plus they were running a reasonably priced 8 course tasting menu which started with champagne and oysters. Win!

We arrived a little early and so happily sat in the downstairs bar enjoying a glass of wine. We had already decided to do the wine flight alongside the menu (after enjoying Casamia's wine flight so much it's become a must do!) so didn't pay much attention to the drink selection on offer. As it was February it was also dark so we couldn't really see much of outside, but I suspect it's a lovely place to come in the summer.

We were taken upstairs for our meal and sat on a table in the corner. The first course was served and I was surprised to find it wasn't oysters as the menu described. I knew when I booked the meal, I'd mentioned to the person taking the bookings that we weren't keen on oysters and was there a way of changing it for something else or maybe having more champagne. My query was obviously taken on board and provided for which was great.

The second course was Cured salmon, blood orange, fennel which was delicious. The blood orange and fennel really working together.

The third course was the standout dish of the evening and was a take on a steak sandwich. A delicate, tasty morsel which left you wanting a full sized sandwich and sod the rest. Absolutely wonderful. The "Boom Boom" wine served alongside was also lovely

The fourth course was Hand dived scallops, chicken Wing and celeriac which really was overshadowed by the course before. It was great, but underwhelming after such treat before. The wine choice of "The Liberator" certainly amused us given the date. An aphrodisiac perhaps?

The fifth course was Cod, curd and cockles which came with a giant slab of cod which was delicious.

The final main course was nose to tail pork which came with a lovely red Sancerre. This course also ranked highly among stthe eight.

It was finally time for pudding with two dessert courses; Chocolate and Rhubarb and Custard. The Rhubarb and Custard was yummy and my favourite of the two.

Service was a little hit and miss for such a small restaurant and as we were hidden away in the corner we were often overlooked. The sommelier was a very strange character and we struggled to work out if he was serious or joking most of the time. He was also very late in serving the wine alongside the already patchy distribution of the food. In the end, we seemed to hit on mutual ground and the wine service and humour improved dramatically.

Overall, we had a lovely evening. We were disappointed with the hit and miss service at the time, and also that the menu advertised Petit Fours with the coffee, but none arrived after checking twice with the waiters and getting fresh coffee delivered to drink for when they were located. It was a sad end to the meal but the coffees weren't charged, we had an extra top up of wine and by that point we were lubricated enough that it really didn't matter.

River Cottage Canteen, Whiteladies Road

River Cottage Canteen
St John's Court, Whiteladies Road, Bristol, BS8 2QY
https://www.rivercottage.net/canteens/bristol/


We visited River Cottage Canteen on a Sunday with my Niece. Booking was easily done over the internet and our table was ready when we arrived. River Cottage is situated in St John's Court Hall which is a Grade-II listed 19th Century church building at the Blackboy Hill end of Whiteladies Road. The building itself is modern and airy with an open kitchen and more seating upstairs. We were sat next to the open kitchen meaning we could watch the chefs in action. We had the fish chef next to us cooking in a huge real fire oven which was a real treat to watch.

We were all in roast dinner mode when we arrived and decided to kick off with the sharing meat board and the cauliflower pakoras. The cauliflower pakoras were fantastic, crisp, tasty and sadly put the sharing meat board to shame. We all had the roast lamb for main which was lovely. The lamb was rolled and a little fatty so it took some time to eat, but was tasty. We asked for extra gravy which was provided swiftly. Service was a little hit and miss. Everyone seemed to be very busy doing not a lot and catching their attention was hard. However, when you had the attention of the staff they were great and nothing was too much trouble. There was no rush to take your money as is normally the case in places where you are left to digest, debate and somehow summon up the energy to move again.

I finished off my meal with the peanut butter and salted caramel ice cream which was gorgeous. My niece was not overly impressed with her cheesecake, perhaps finding the red wine taste a little too much to bear.

River Cottage is a nice place to eat and I can see it will be popular with the older generation for family gatherings. It certainly had that sort of feel about it, my Nan would love it. I feel it trades on the name a little, it's not a cheap place to eat ~ £30/head for 3 courses and we were left in that awkward place of feeling like it was an adequate feed, but feeling a little shortchanged and underwhelmed without really being able to put a finger on why.

Café Maitreya, St Marks Road

Maitreya Social
89 St Mark's Road, Easton, Bristol, BS5 6HY
http://www.cafemaitreya.co.uk


Maitreya Social has been on my "want" list for an age, but being a vegetarian restaurant i'm often put off suggesting it to my very carnivore friends. As it was a friend was having a birthday party at the Plough in Easton so it made perfect sense to eat at Maitreya Social before the party.

The restaurant is on the thriving St Marks Road near the Thali Café and the Sweet Mart. Its a small cosy café with a bright and airy feel and an open kitchen. We were placed on small corner table for two, and smartly placed side-by-side round the back of the table so we could both people watch and take it all in. The kitchen was right next to us which I loved as I could watch the chef's in action.

We perused the menu, salivating over every dish. I tend to choose vegetarian when we're out if its looks like the most exciting option so I was in heaven. The meat loving husband was a little out of his depth, but he valiantly went for it and together we picked 6 dishes off the menu which we were happy to share.

For starters we opted for the grilled somerset goats cheese crotin with sundried tomato palmiers, butternut squash pureé and basil oil and the sautéed butterbean & pistachio cakes with beetroot pureé, pickled carrot and dill & tahini dressing. The service was quick, cheerful and efficient and the starters wonderful. I loved the butterbean cakes and husband loved the crotins and both dishes were expertly polished off.

For our mains we picked roasted butternut squash tarte-tatin with homemade all butter puff pastry and smoked applewood cheddar served with pak-choi and herby lentils and the caramelised leek, peanut & local ewe's cheese filo pie served with braised cannellini beans, savoy cabbage and sour sultanas. I knew immediately that I wanted to order the tarte-tatin and was raving all about it on the way to the restaurant. However, when it arrived I was so disappointed. It just wasn't very flavorsome and the pak-choi was a poor choice of slimy companion. I then tasted the filo pie and refused to give it back, in comparison it was tasty, wonderfully crisp and the sour sultanas really worked against the creamy cheese. It was scrummy! Happily husband didn't mind the tarte-tatin so the swap worked well.

For dessert there was no deliberation on either of our parts; one dark chocolate truffle torte served with pistachio praline and blood orange sorbet for husband and one spiced apple & marzipan cake served with amaretto ice cream for me. There was the polite taster of each others, but no more. We were not sharing our desserts under any circumstances. Both of us declared their dessert better than the other; but seeing as I'm the one writing the blog and not husband, the apple and marzipan cake wins by a mile.

We loved the chilled out vibe of the Maitreya Social, the food was outstanding, the service quick and polite and the bill reasonable. We could not find fault with it. Highly recommended for veggies and carnivores alike!

The Ox, Corn Street

The Ox,
The Basement, 43 Corn Street, Bristol, BS1 1HT
http://theoxbristol.com/

Just before Christmas, Twitter was alight with talk of Ox. It was enough to pique my interest and so I booked a table to take advantage of the early dining offer. It took me two goes to book a table, another sign of the buzz surrounding the place.

The restaurant is tucked under the commercial rooms on Corn Street and you just wouldn't have known it was there unless you were looking for it. You travel down the marble stairs and enter a dark, cosy restaurant which if a jazz singer popped up and started serenading you it wouldn't be a surprise. The restaurant is run by the same team behind Milk Thistle and Hyde & Co. and you can certainly see elements of that in the décor.

The early deal is a 6oz Rump steak from the charcoal oven, fries, sauce & a glass of house wine only £12.50 and is served from 5pm to 7pm. The restaurant was buzzy and you could tell things were still bedding in as service was a little slow - I think the high demand so soon after opening left the team with a few holes to fill in terms of number of staff needed to provide optimum service. However our server was lovely, bright, bubbly and helpful.

The steak and fries arrived and Oh! My!

We were seated with friends and between us order a variety of steak finishes from rare to medium. Mine was the medium and was perfect, although smaller than the other steaks on the table :(

The chips were not fries but fat chunky doorstep chips which I loved. The others on the table were not as pleased as they were expecting skinny fries. We debated about the pros and cons of each type of fried potato and it seems from reading other reviews the same conversation has ensued for others.

The wine was lovely and the peppercorn and béarnaise sauces a treat!

For £12.50 it is exceptional.

We also visited Ox in January for a friends birthday and as we were a table of 14, we were directed at the Party Menu. It's £35 per head and consists of a variety of small plates, followed by a choice of main and dessert.

The sharing starter was delicious; the stand out dishes being the salt cod and the lentil salad.
I chose the rib eye steak for my main; it was okay. I believe the 6oz rump steak in the early dining offer to be a better choice. To finish I had the caramelised rice pudding with Yorkshire rhubarb and lemon curd which after a little mix-up over toppings was divine. The lemon and the rhubarb were so good together.

The service was improved, perhaps the gap between visits was enough for the team to work out the optimum staffing levels.

The final bill was a little steep when you combine £35/head with the excellent wine list, but a good night was had by all. My one recommendation would be to include a cocktail list with the menus, as when you are cousins with the best speakeasy in Bristol it would make sense to showcase that. The cocktails that we did try were superb as you would expect.

Ox is a great addition to the Bristol Restaurant scene and I can't wait to try the roast dinners. I would recommend this without hesitation.

Update - October 31st 2014

We went to Ox again last night and took advantage of the early dining offer. I'm not sure what has happened at Ox but it was not up to the usual standard. Slow service to start but I think that was because we were placed at the invisible table. I'm sure we've all been there. That one table in the restaurant which is ignored, simply because when you're scanning a restaurant to see who needs attending too, you tend to not see what is in front of you or a table slightly outside of your field of vision. That in itself was no a problem, as eventually we were attended too and some extra artisan bread and butter made its way onto the table as an apology.

We ordered the early dining special and asked for the glass of wine included in the deal to be boosted to a bottle. This was no problem. Our plates were delivered and instead of the wonderful triple cooked chips which we have enjoyed previously we were presented with some thin skin on fries which looked like frozen chips akin to what is normally served alongside a burger. The steaks were perfectly cooked as normal, it was good to see that element of the meal was still as expected. My steak did have a thick band of fat round one side, but this was ok as it was easily cut off.  The béarnaise sauce was lovely but the peppercorn was very thin and portion wise seemed a little depleted.

I was so disappointed with the meal and I expressed my concern for the standard of food Ox were serving to the Maitre D. I told him that part of what makes Ox great IS the early dining deal which allows you to experience a fantastic steak dinner for a reduced price in return for an earlier dining slot. I do not expect to be served a different meal especially when the Maitre D said it was a cost issue in the kitchen. The Maitre D asked me if it was just the chips which had ruined my meal and I said it was as it affected the meal as a whole. Great steak deserves great chips! I expressed how amazing the early dining deal was and how it was such a luxurious experience for such little money. By changing the chips to some frozen generic chips was cheapening the whole experience and I can't understand why you would change the cheapest part of the meal (potatoes) for the sake of surely only a few pence of margin for the coffers. I told the Maitre D that prior to that meal I recommended Ox to everyone I knew and raved about the early dining deal but I wouldn't be doing that anymore. He was grateful I'd flagged my disappointment and he would feed it back to the kitchen and I'm sure hope he does as I would like to return to one of my favourite restaurants in Bristol and enjoy the best early evening eating deal the city has to offer. We were offered a digestif as a way of an apology which was gratefully received but does little to change my opinion on the meal.

Since writing this review, Ox have apologized via email and have offered a full explanation for the change in menu offering. It was great of them to get in touch personally. They had this to say about the chips:
"Since changing, we have had such positive feedback on the chip option we feel confident that the change has not cheapened our offering. However we are aware we cannot please everyone of our guests as personal tastes vary so much that we happily will serve the triple cooked chips when asked (and I'm sorry to say we do charge a little extra for these too).
It is also quite a common misconception that the chips are the cheapest part of the meal to cook, this is not the case. It takes well over 24hrs to process from start to finish and each can very massively from one batch to the next which again requires serious skill in how they are cooked to keep the chip in the very best of eating condition. This is a huge daily job to monitor with the shear volume of triple cooked chips consumed on a daily basis."

 

 

Why a blog?

This year I decided I wanted to try even more of Bristol's culture, it's food, it's sights, it's festivals, all the cool stuff that makes Bristol such an awesome place to live. It's now March and I've done a shed load of cool stuff and I wanted somewhere to record it.