6 Chandos Rd, Bristol BS6 6PE
http://nomansgrace.com/
So instead of doing nothing, I hooked up with another couple of friends who had some celebrating to do of their own. They have just reached their first anniversary and they met at one of my Samba gigs. So we decided to have a night full of celebrations and to raise a glass to my absent best friend.
No Man's Grace has taken over Moorish's old place on Chandos Road. We were impressed by Moorish so we were sad when it closed, but it meant No Man's Grace has been on our radar for a while. We had already decided we were going to aim for a cocktail or two at Charlie's bar so we wanted something walkable. We have already rinsed Cotham Hill for food so wanted to branch slightly further afield and No Man's Grace fitted the bill.
We had planned to meet at Aviator for some pre-dinner boozes, but it was closed for a memorial event so for the second evening in a row we were propping the bar up in the restaurant.
The menu at No Man's Grace is sold as a starter and desserts bar and there was plenty on the menu to tempt us. The starter plates ranged in price from £2 for a portion of bread up to £8.50 for a Venison Carpaccio and between £6.50 and £7.50 for a dessert. We decided on a selection of dishes with a range of prices to share between the four of us. Service was a little slow, but we knew from sitting up at the bar that they were short staffed and there was also a large party in that night. We weren't fussed as long as we had a full glass!
Here are the plates we sampled:
- Plaice Goujons, Lemon Mayo £4.00
- Butternut Squash, Gnocchi, Sage & Chestnut Pesto £6.50
- Braised Ox Cheek on Toast, Pickled Carrot, Maple Bacon £7.00
- Keens Cheddar and Bread £2.50
- Thai Green Mussels £5.50
- Grilled Radicchio, Blue Cheese, Burnt Honey, Pear, Walnut £7.00
- Cod, Warm Black Pudding & Pickled Cauliflower Salad £8.00
All were delicious but the stand out dish was the plaice goujons. Perfectly cooked mouthfuls of fish with a lovely tangy mayo. The braised ox cheek was also lovely but when split between 4 it was only a small mouthful each, I would have liked a whole one to myself. I think this was our main complaint, all the dishes were quite small and not really shareable which when the food is good it's nice to do. I think this made it feel pricely and we could feel the bill racking up with every mouthful. Perhaps if we'd not shared, it would have felt like better value, but then you don't get to try all you want. Catch 22. Husband and I had planned on 3 starters and 3 desserts to share between us, but this was not enough to satisfy us and we ended up with an extra bread order and a cheese taster to try and bridge the gap.
We moved onto pudding and choose a selection from the list:
- Apple Crumble Slice, Almond Ice Cream £6.50
- Banana Bread Souffle, Clotted Cream Ice Cream £7.50
- Sticky Toffee Pudding, Cherry Sorbet £7.00
- White Chocolate Crème Brulee, Cherry Sorbet, Ginger £7.00
For me the banana bread soufflé was the winner although husband will dispute that ruling in favour of the sticky toffee pudding. Both were good and the portion size was better although still quite pricey when compared to desserts in most restaurants.
We also tried a variety of cocktails between us which were all great:
- Elderflower Aviation 6°clock Gin, Lemon Juice, Maraschino, Elderflower Cordial
- Negroni 6°Clock Gin, Campari, Sweet Vermouth
- Stanley 6 o’clock gin, Appleton rum, lemon, grenadine
- Sazerac Sazerac rye whiskey, Peychaud bitters, dash of absinthe
- The Crow Heaven Hill bourbon, cranberry, pineapple
- Calvados Cocktail Calvados, Cointreau, orange bitters, orange juice
We had a lovely evening and all the staff were great. The food was tasty but our wallets felt the pinch at the end of the night - maybe a testament to our enjoyment of the cocktails which were certainly fun. A great birthday/anniversary dinner in a lovely venue. I'd like to return and when I do I will be a lot more selfish with my choices (and perhaps drink a little less).
