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.