Prego
7 North View, Westbury Park, Bristol, BS6 7PT
http://www.pregobar.co.uk/
When we went to London earlier in the year, we walked past the Wyndham theatre when Carey Mulligan and Bill Nighy are starring in David Hare's Skylight. When we returned I found out that NT:Live were doing a live screening on the 17th July. All cinemas in Bristol were sold out, but Scott cinema in Henleaze held an Encore screening on 5th August. I booked tickets and then immediately booked a table at Prego via email.
Prego is a Italian restaurant in Westbury Park right on the edge of the downs. The restaurant is clean and tidy and obviously thriving in its location. We booked for the early opening of 5:30pm and were pleasantly surprised to find 5 other tables booked at the same time; two of which also came to watch Skylight (great minds and all that!!). Prego runs an early dining deal (Tuesday - Thursday) where all pizzas are £6.95 and seeing two of the tables booked last night also had children it seems a cheap way out eating out with the family.
We decided to skip starters in favour of dessert later and we decided to share a couple of dishes; a pizza with parma ham, rocket, parmesan and Tuscan extra virgin olive oil and a carbonara dish with guanciale, free range egg, parmesan and cream. We also sampled a glass each of the 2013 Inzolia/Catarratto (a brave choice considering we are normally red wine connoisseurs).
The food arrived quickly, each generously portioned. The pizza was fresh, non-greasy and tasty. The pasta was wonderful and I would say it was even better than the carbonara we ate in Venice which has always been our standard to compare too. High praise indeed.
We finished off our meal with an espresso and a couple of the desserts; chocolate mousse on a florentine base and limoncello and forest fruit semi-freddo. The puddings were both pleasant but a little disappointing for the price of £5.95 each especially following that amazing pasta. But never the less, we enjoyed every morsel.
Service was quick, polite and prompt and the bill was a welcome sight at under £40, a lovely change from being pleased to see change from £80 which seems to be the going rate in Bristol!
It was lovely to be able to walk down to the cinema; overall a perfect date and one I can see becoming a regular thing especially as we can cycle so easily from our house.
If you get a chance to catch Skylight either in the West End or at a cinema then I can highly recommend it.
Wednesday, 6 August 2014
The Ethicurean, Barley Wood Walled Garden
The Ethicurean
Barley Wood Walled Garden, Long Lane, Wrington, Bristol, BS40 5SA
http://www.theethicurean.com/
The Ethicurean, for us, is one of those places all your friends rave about, have been too and love but due to circumstances we've just never quite got there. It took a offer on an archery experience nearby to finally get us to make the trip. Husband was a keen archer in his youth so for our 4th wedding anniversary I took advantage of a offer for a reduced price 2 hour session. The place was in Redhill just past Bristol Airport. I knew the Ethicurean was out that way somewhere and was pleased to discover it was a mere 4 minute drive from where we would be spending the morning attempting to hit targets with wayward arrows. I booked easily over email and the restaurant was easy to find with a little help from Sat Nav.
The Ethicurean is part of the Barley Wood Walled Garden and when we arrived and parked in the car park at the bottom of the garden, the sun was shining and we decided to mooch around the garden a little seeing as we were early. The garden is a delight and its wonderful to see some many of the ingredients used in the Ethicurean menu are sourced on site from the garden.
The restaurant itself is at the top of the garden in what looks like an old potting shed. There is a lovely outdoor seating area and the restaurant do a mixture of lunch service, afternoon tea and dinner service.
We were booked for lunch and took our seats at the front of the building which gave us a wonderful vista over the gardens and out over the hills. We were thinking perhaps we should sit outside in the glorious sunshine, but husband pointed out the ominous black clouds making their way rapidly towards us. The building was simply decorated with a rustic feel and we could imagine the room at night lit up with candles. Very romantic. We did comment that it might be a great place to visit around fireworks night as you could watch the fireworks go off around the area.
We studied the menu and everything sounds delicious; it was a master class in seasonal produce with many of the same ingredients being used in totally different ways throughout the menu. We settled on sharing the Cider and Cheddar Welsh Rabbit (rarebit) with Gert salad for starters. Then I chose the
Confit leg of Madgett's farm duck, sauerkraut, sautéed potato goat bacon & cos salad for main whilst husband chose the Bavette of Gloucester beef, Kimchi, burnt aubergine & brown butter roasted hispi cabbage. I also decided to sample one of the cocktails after they were recommended by a friend and I plumped for the Gin and Juice using Barley Wood apple juice and also a glass of the Portuguese red. Husband went for a Butcombe blond.
As our starter arrived, the heavens opened and our view was reduced to mist, rain and gloom with a hint of thunder and lighting. The Rarebit was lovely though and a welcome distraction from the weather. It was a very large slab of bread with a very tasty rarebit topping which had a lovely twang. The salad that came with it actually complemented the rarebit with its tangy dressing. It was very large for a starter so we were glad we shared.
The main courses were also great, I won the main course battle with the amazing duck course. The duck leg itself was massive, so much meat on it. The dish itself had a oriental feel to it and it was a treat for the dish to include potato as normally you would just get meat and vegetable. The goat bacon included with the cos salad was a taste explosion. Wow!
As we were celebrating, we decided to try a pudding each. Our initial choice had sold out, this was a common theme but to be expected when the ethical/environmentally friendly nature of the restaurant means food wastage is at a minimum. We plumped for the Ethicurean sticky toffee apple cake, toffee apple syrup, double cream & cinnamon and the rhubarb, white chocolate, rose water and anise tart with candied rhubarb sauce and clotted cream ice cream.
Both desserts were lovely; but not as stand out as the main course. Husband commented on how light his sticky toffee apple cake was and although I enjoyed my rhubarb tart and I could taste a small hint of white chocolate and anise it was a little lackluster. I think we also ordered at a particularly busy time as the desserts took around 15 minutes to arrive. This meant we needed to eat and run as we had another appointment to make back in Bristol rather than enjoy our food.
The weather brightened out for our return to Bristol. We really enjoyed our lunch and it was a lovely day out. Service was good considering the staff were having to check quantities of each dish to be able to inform diners what had sold out. For us, its definitely a lunch venue rather than a evening one due to its distance from where we live. A taxi would be extortionate and add significant cost to an evening out. I would like to return with my mum and nan as I think they would love lunch here especially as they could wander around the walled garden. The other surprise was the price; very reasonable considering the reputation of the restaurant. The Ethicurean manages to balance great food with the ability to retain its casual and understated feel which is in keeping with its surroundings. Well worthy of it's high reputation!
Barley Wood Walled Garden, Long Lane, Wrington, Bristol, BS40 5SA
http://www.theethicurean.com/
The Ethicurean, for us, is one of those places all your friends rave about, have been too and love but due to circumstances we've just never quite got there. It took a offer on an archery experience nearby to finally get us to make the trip. Husband was a keen archer in his youth so for our 4th wedding anniversary I took advantage of a offer for a reduced price 2 hour session. The place was in Redhill just past Bristol Airport. I knew the Ethicurean was out that way somewhere and was pleased to discover it was a mere 4 minute drive from where we would be spending the morning attempting to hit targets with wayward arrows. I booked easily over email and the restaurant was easy to find with a little help from Sat Nav.The Ethicurean is part of the Barley Wood Walled Garden and when we arrived and parked in the car park at the bottom of the garden, the sun was shining and we decided to mooch around the garden a little seeing as we were early. The garden is a delight and its wonderful to see some many of the ingredients used in the Ethicurean menu are sourced on site from the garden. The restaurant itself is at the top of the garden in what looks like an old potting shed. There is a lovely outdoor seating area and the restaurant do a mixture of lunch service, afternoon tea and dinner service.
We were booked for lunch and took our seats at the front of the building which gave us a wonderful vista over the gardens and out over the hills. We were thinking perhaps we should sit outside in the glorious sunshine, but husband pointed out the ominous black clouds making their way rapidly towards us. The building was simply decorated with a rustic feel and we could imagine the room at night lit up with candles. Very romantic. We did comment that it might be a great place to visit around fireworks night as you could watch the fireworks go off around the area.
We studied the menu and everything sounds delicious; it was a master class in seasonal produce with many of the same ingredients being used in totally different ways throughout the menu. We settled on sharing the Cider and Cheddar Welsh Rabbit (rarebit) with Gert salad for starters. Then I chose the
Confit leg of Madgett's farm duck, sauerkraut, sautéed potato goat bacon & cos salad for main whilst husband chose the Bavette of Gloucester beef, Kimchi, burnt aubergine & brown butter roasted hispi cabbage. I also decided to sample one of the cocktails after they were recommended by a friend and I plumped for the Gin and Juice using Barley Wood apple juice and also a glass of the Portuguese red. Husband went for a Butcombe blond.
As our starter arrived, the heavens opened and our view was reduced to mist, rain and gloom with a hint of thunder and lighting. The Rarebit was lovely though and a welcome distraction from the weather. It was a very large slab of bread with a very tasty rarebit topping which had a lovely twang. The salad that came with it actually complemented the rarebit with its tangy dressing. It was very large for a starter so we were glad we shared.
The main courses were also great, I won the main course battle with the amazing duck course. The duck leg itself was massive, so much meat on it. The dish itself had a oriental feel to it and it was a treat for the dish to include potato as normally you would just get meat and vegetable. The goat bacon included with the cos salad was a taste explosion. Wow!
As we were celebrating, we decided to try a pudding each. Our initial choice had sold out, this was a common theme but to be expected when the ethical/environmentally friendly nature of the restaurant means food wastage is at a minimum. We plumped for the Ethicurean sticky toffee apple cake, toffee apple syrup, double cream & cinnamon and the rhubarb, white chocolate, rose water and anise tart with candied rhubarb sauce and clotted cream ice cream.
Both desserts were lovely; but not as stand out as the main course. Husband commented on how light his sticky toffee apple cake was and although I enjoyed my rhubarb tart and I could taste a small hint of white chocolate and anise it was a little lackluster. I think we also ordered at a particularly busy time as the desserts took around 15 minutes to arrive. This meant we needed to eat and run as we had another appointment to make back in Bristol rather than enjoy our food.
The weather brightened out for our return to Bristol. We really enjoyed our lunch and it was a lovely day out. Service was good considering the staff were having to check quantities of each dish to be able to inform diners what had sold out. For us, its definitely a lunch venue rather than a evening one due to its distance from where we live. A taxi would be extortionate and add significant cost to an evening out. I would like to return with my mum and nan as I think they would love lunch here especially as they could wander around the walled garden. The other surprise was the price; very reasonable considering the reputation of the restaurant. The Ethicurean manages to balance great food with the ability to retain its casual and understated feel which is in keeping with its surroundings. Well worthy of it's high reputation!
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