WHERE TO EAT
Prices are for a three-course meal for two people, with a bottle of wine, unless otherwise stated
Bianchi’s The latest incarnation of a Bristolian institution, a former corner shop in faded but funky Montpelier. In the Seventies it was Bell’s Diner, now reborn as a neighbourhood ristorante named in homage to the northern Italian grandparents of the Harvey and
Borel families who run it, along with the very successful neo-pasta joints Pasta Loco and Pasta Ripiena. The attractively old-fashioned interconnecting spaces work perfectly in their new role, and the kitchen has also risen splendidly to the occasion, offering a short list of high-quality antipasti – grilled prawns or fennel salami – primi – bucatini cacio e pepe or pappardelle with chunky and succulent beef shin ragu – and mains such as veal rump with braised chicory and fried polenta. From £45. 1–3 York Road, BS6 5QB, 0117 329 4100, bianchisrestaurant.co.uk
The Ethicurean One of Bristol’s highest profile food creatives, occupying a charming old complex of greenhouses and outhouses set in a large and beautiful walled kitchen garden on the gentle slope of the Mendip Hills. Food is original, almost obsessively local and seasonal, with emphasis on updated traditional English combinations and much use of fermenting, smoking and foraging. Extensive production of own drinks, from elderflower wines and fermented juices to vermouth. The set meals might include salt marsh lamb with tidal greens, goat bacon with peas, steamed rabbit pudding or Caerphilly and cider Welsh rarebit. Dinner currently a multi-course experience including broth aperitif, visit to premises and communal after-dinner drinks around open fire pit. Set lunch, from £60.
Barley Wood Walled Garden, Wrington, BS40 5SA, 01934
245888, theethicurean.com
Fish This glass-walled converted barge has a delightful location in the city centre overlooking the riverfront and shaded by giant plane trees, with a new informal stripped down interior with bench seating. Fresh fish delivered daily and cooked expertly, including, when in season, remarkably good value Cornish lobster and Dorset crab, pollock or skate fried in impeccable batter or cooked French-style in brown butter, plus well-chosen wines, beers and ciders. From £19, excluding drinks. Welsh Back, BS1 4SB, 0117 332 3971, fishbristol.co.uk
Kensington Arms This 19th-century corner pub in a residential district upgraded sympathetically five years ago by prolific chef/entrepreneur Josh Eggleton is Bristol’s best example of a gastropub. Long bar and small table seating to the right, restaurant area with banquettes to the left – both informal, efficient and pleasant, serving well-rendered dishes ranging from starters of crispy lamb belly with broad bean and chilli pesto, through burgers and beer-battered fried fish, to monkfish curry or duck breast with baby beets, pressed potato and confit duck bonbon. From £35, excluding drinks. 35–37 Stanley Road, Redland, BS6 6NP, 0117 944 6444, thekensingtonarms.co.uk Littlefrench A long narrow room in the residential suburb of Westbury Park, beside The Downs, turned into a cosy, buzzing modern bistro worthy of any French city. Excellent versions of French standards are often supervised to table by the cheery chef-patron Freddy Bird and his wife Nessa. Favourite dishes include a whole roast guineafowl for two, served with superb chips and aioli. Very good wines. From £55.
2 North View, BS6 7QB, 0117 970 6276, littlefrench.co.uk
The Lido Triumphant transformation by Arne Ringner, owner of Fish (see left), of a derelict 1850 swimming pool in Clifton into smart and successful spa complex, including a glass-fronted restaurant overlooking the central pool. Food comprises an expertly rendered assortment of the Spanish/North African/eastern Mediterranean dishes made popular by London’s Moro, with the likes of scallops, quail, venison, and flatbreads cooked in the wood-fired oven. From £50. Oakfield Place, BS8 2BJ, 0117 332 3970, lidobristol.com Pony Bistro New venture by the ubiquitous Josh Eggleton, turning a Bedminster courtyard into a covered outlet for his sophisticated local food. Mackerel comes with a hash brown and smoked garlic mayonnaise, with tongue-in-cheek inventions such as oyster cassoulet and Bristol Beer Factory tiramisu. From £54. 291 North Street, BS3 1JP, theponynorthstreet.co.uk
Root A multiple container-space with a hint of American diner in the new Wapping Wharf restaurant sector contains Bristol’s claim to vegetarian fame. Simple but quality dishes such as swede ‘steak’ with butter beans and peppercorn sauce or potato gnocchi with garlic butter, capers and greens are augmented by the very occasional fish – crispy oysters, grilled sardines with langoustine sauce – or garnish of pancetta.
From £30. Unit 9, Cargo 1,
Wapping Wharf, BS1 6WP, 0117
930 0260, rootbristol.co.uk
Wilsons A small and austere white interior in a restaurant hotspot in Redland offers some of Bristol’s most popular if equally austere author cuisine, courtesy of chef
Jan Ostle. Recent highlights of the daily changing set menus of small dishes have included exquisite little chestnut mushroom and aged Gouda cheese tartlets, squash confit in crab- infused oil served with a sea urchin, and very rare mallard, almost all shot or grown by Ostle. Fivecourse menu, from £50 excluding wine. 24 Chandos Road, BS6 6PF, 0117 973 4157, wilsonsbristol.co.uk