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.