I went for dinner at my favourite restaurant in Bristol last week with 3 friends, and had a wonderful time as always. It seems any of the creases there were when it opened a year ago now, have been well ironed out.
I was in a miserable mood as I arrived, getting caught in a downpour on my way in, as I waited for my friends to arrive I whet my whistle with a gin & tonic and assuaged my damp spirits, sorry, socks. The cosy upstairs area is a great place to meet friends for a drink, just tucked away off Stokes Croft, which can all be a bit too hip sometimes. As my friends arrived, we went down the wooden steps to the dining area.
The menu is on a blackboard on the wall. What makes this my favourite restaurant is the fact that everything is made on the premises, including, and in particular, their bread. And they pay more than lipservice to local and seasonal - which makes this time of year the best to be eating there.
I had cured fish (I think it was mackerel) to start - I think I was eating rollmops before I could talk and makes me right at home. This 'comfortingness' was a theme continued in my main course: soft boiled goose egg, with asparagus soldiers (are they in season already? wow) and duck ham. The big goose egg on this board in front of me made me feel shrunken in comparison - and this making me feel physically small as well as a meal that reminded me of being a kid, is the feeling Heston Blumenthal always bangs on about trying to evoke in his cooking. Well it worked for me. The tricky poultry combination was well managed, as the duck ham was deliciously cured, like a thick parma ham. Could I squeeze a pudding in? Well, I forget what exactly it was, but the rich chocolate mousse-y cake slid down our throats with great ease. Yum.
Faults? The wine choice is basic - red or white - which I like, as it cuts through a lot of pretension about wine - at £13 a bottle - and isn't going to get the sommelier singing - but then I guess it keeps the focus on the food and is in line with their vibe which is about fancy food for affordable prices. And I do miss the soup starter :( read more