As a vegetarian, whenever anybody suggests a meal in a steak joint a rush of panic floods over me…read more What will I eat? What if I'm left with a salad!? (I may be a veggie but it doesn't mean I love lettuce leaves!) So when my friends planned Sunday lunch in The Cowshed I sighed a heavy sigh. But I had nothing to fear - with two vegetarian options on the lunch time menu, at least I had something to choose from (Albeit a standard veggie burger or a goats cheese tart - two 'classics') and since this was a restaurant for meat eaters I could hardly complain! My burger was delicious, served with tasty chunky chips and washed down with hearty cider. My friend's roast dinners looked fabulous too. The service was very welcoming and the atmosphere was just what you want on a Sunday - full of fun and laughter.

I don't know about you but I'm always a little amused when a carnivorous restaurant advertises…read moreusing a smiling pig or cow. While The Cowshed's poster mammal isn't smiling it still tickles me so I agreed to dinner here with my steak loving other half. The focus here is all about good old-fashioned British dishes, particularly steak and it's many guises. My partner ordered a steak cooked on a hot stone tablet right in front of him - similar to the way you can get hot plates in Indian restaurants, except this actually allowed him to partially cook the steak himself. As an occasional vegetarian there wasn't a great amount of choice for me to pick a main course but the starters and desserts were divine! It is quite pricey but I would come back for the chocolate mouse alone and my partner can whole-heartedly vote for the sirloin steak!

Nice food pub, delicious mussels, lovely staff, cool interior, would recommend the oystersread more

This is a pub with a brilliant selection of drinks. They have a huge range of Whiskies (try the…read moreTalisker or Glenlivet) and rums. They have a local guest ale every week, usually over from Bath. They also have some really great beer & lager, like Fruli (strawberry beer) from Belgium and other white beers like Hoegaarden and Erdinger. I know the company who owns this venue are very conscious that each of their pubs or bars has its own identity that reflects its location, and this certainly does that. They are also very music conscious and you can often here some of the newest up and coming bands being circulated on their playlist. The old manager (Rich) did an amazing job of giving the place an eccentric, unique and bold style ('it's like a normal pub but frilly' some people have said). There's really interesting local art and one-off pieces of furniture everywhere. The Clifton really is perfect in the winter. You can snuggle up on one of the many sofas that stretch out into the huge back section of the pub and hide away from the miserable weather outside. The staff are always cool and fun. If you see Andy tell him to eat some dinner, he's too skinny. Make sure you try the chilli puffs & wasabi peas: the ultimate in bar snacking.

A 'pubby' pub with style and class. My favourite of its kind on Whiteladies Road…read more The King's Arms has everything you need; tea and cake in the day, boozy treats from ales to cocktails, pub grub and tapas, and very stylish but relaxed decor and artwork around the place - topped off with a spiral staircase! All ages are welcome (within the law) and the owner's dogs are often wandering around. I don't particularly like dogs but they don't cause any offence! They play some of the big sports games on a projector but I wouldn't say it was a particularly sporty pub. You can also hire some of it out for private parties. And as if that wasn't enough amazingness - there's an absolute peach of a sun-trapping roof terrace out the back that feels a bit like you're on holiday!

It's surprisingly hard to find a decent place to drink on Whiteladies Road so I'm eternally…read moregrateful to The King's Arms. This friendly, welcoming gastropub serves tasty dishes and a wide range of wines, ales and spirits. The crowd ranges from older couples to groups of friends - so it's the sort of place which is great any time of day, for any type of person. A reliably fun drinking hole for locals to Clifton Village.

The Alma Tavern is a large, slightly non-descript pub which sits, funnily enough, on Alma Vale Road…read morein Clifton. The front bar is possibly the best spot, as you can watch the footie on Sky Sports in a smaller area with a little more atmosphere. The back room is a little too big and lacking in character, though they do have a big screen. There's plenty of pub grub options, a garden and even a theatre upstairs (which I'm slightly surprised to realise I've never been to), but despite all this, there's not much here to really fire the imagination.

Located on Alma Vale rd Clifton. The Alma Tavern is a gastropub with a Theatre located above. Its a…read morevery welcoming pub with a pleasant decor. They have decent drinks selection and the choice of wine was excellent. Food wise. I had the Scallops to start which were excellent served with a sweet onion chutney and cavier "oh la la". The combined tastes were lovely. The roast beef was well cooked and served with an overcooked dry yorkshire and cold vegetables. Basically everything following the starter was just not good enough ! And I belive that this was down to the shoddy service we recieved ! It was like they couldnt cope with our order. We were a group of 8 plus 2 kids. The rest of the restaurant was empty. Which I suppose says it all really. I opted for the cheese board to finish which was good! But I suppose its quite hard to f*ck up chucking some cheese on a board. And even that took about a half hour to bring out. And one last thing I dont mind paying a compulsary service charge when ive received good service. But when ive received substandard service it gets on my tits a little ! I shall not be returning here in a hurry !

A lovely local pub with a large beer garden, good service and friendly staff. I've not eaten there…read morerecently but had a Christmas do there several years ago and it was really good and the favours were a decorative touch and included tasty sugared almonds.

After bookmarking this pub at Christmas I finally managed to visit this summer. We didn't sit in…read morethe fabulous beer garden and instead ate our Sunday roast lunch indoors. The decor is tasteful with muted colors and some wallpaper with classic wooden furniture. The plates of roast were well-balanced, but on the smaller side. My pork came with 2 roast spuds, green and red cabbage, corquette, mashed swede, Yorkshire pudding and gravy. If you don't like apple sauce tell them as it comes already plated. Our plates barely had any gravy on, but a small gravy boat was brought on request as were the horseradish and mint sauce.

Clearly a popular restaurant and is successful in its own right. I wish I had caught it on one of…read morethose days. I ordered the French onion soup which had to sit so it could cool off (8min). The salmon and béarnaise sauce was a clever twist. Salmon wasn't perfect, veggies were on point. Service wasn't quite to the level that aligns with its prices and the large table to my right was loud, and disruptive. The server was preoccupied.

Loves everything about it. Restaurant provide serious service without taking themselves too…read moreseriously. Had anchovy flatbread. Excellent. Crab mayonnaise app which was solid. Someone else had fried calamari. Liked it. Calamari has no chewiness at all which makes me wonder why they fried it. Had some wonderful warm bread. For dinner (which I didn't need), had fish parmentier. Essentially some fish/seafood baked into a white wine/Gruyere/mashed potato concoction. Really tasty. For dessert their chocolate mousse was world class. Also tasted their creme caramel (flan). Excellent. Someone else had some chocolate fondant with ice cream (think molten lava cake in U.S.). Top notch. Everything was strong and the service was really good. Had some peppermint tea after dinner to top it. Absolutely worth it.

Tucked away in a relatively residential area, the Hope & Anchor doesn't exactly advertise its…read morepresence. The fact that is has a diehard clientele of regulars testifies to a delightful locals' pub boasting a charming, candle-lit atmosphere and a large 'n' leafy outdoor seating area. The one and only downside is the extortionate prices of some of the drinks. I seem to remember a pint of Heineken clocking in at £3.90...thanks, but no thanks. The house wine selection is much better value at £12.50 and they seem to have put some effort into selecting decent bottles. I'd heard such great things about the food as well that I decided to sample a burger a couple of weeks ago. Freshly made with good quality meat, it was as good as I'd hope(d and anchored) for. (You'll have to forgive me for that)

Well known enough to have a rude rhyming nickname (I'll leave that to your imagination), the Hope…read moreand Anchor sits, looking slightly lonely, on Jacobs Wells Road at the base of Brandon Hill. It's neatly turned out with its gold lettering and wood panelling. Unfortunately there are prices too match, with the three pound barrier being broken a long time ago. Never dead but occasionally a touch too busy. A gastropub (what pubs aren't these days?), the food on offer is mostly traditional pub fare and is served quite late (available after nine when I went). Good sized portions and a particularly good sunday lunch service. There's a big focus on ales, with options changing all the time and plenty I hadn't seen before, again not fantastically cheap. Lovely beer garden though very much a smokers retreat until the summer months. The Hope and Anchor is a nice stop off before a hike over Brandon Hill or a good somewhere to get a filling meal.

Great pub food, open fires and a cosy vibe. Definitely worth a visit. Baked Aubergine was greatread more

3.5 stars The…read moreBristol Evening Post put us onto this 'gastropub.' We have to thank the atrocious New Year's Day weather for helping keep the crowds away so we could get a table at lunch time at the last minute. (May be it was the above average prices that also made folks a bit shy?) The food got mixed reviews from our small group. My sister's fish and chips was deconstructed but not very memorable. Sam's pork chop was good, but oddly American in style due to the melted cheese topping. My chicken supreme was a safe bet and very tasty, but not particularly creative. This is a great restaurant pub (not a pub with food) as done have noted. The staff were really nice and even helped us order a taxi. The prices are on the steep side (£5+ more) compared to other pubs, so this is unlikely to be your regular spot unless you have a small appetite.

For those not from Bristol I'll give some brief directions, just because it's a bit out of the way…read more From Redland train station follow the train line towards Clifton (away from Gloucester Road, keeping it on your left. You will pass a wall with a giant nose made out of wicker (no, really), and will find it on a corner on your right soon after. High end, it's been recently done up and the owners have sunk a ton of money into this place. There's stone flooring, expensive furnishings, and various other bits of interior design to convince you to part with your cash. They're asking for quite a bit (though not too much to be honest), with mains around £10.50. I'm not convinced to be honest - I can get the same beer and similar enough chips for a lot less at half a dozen places near by. I can't see them making a success out of this place. Whilst they have do make a very good posh pub, not that many people want this from a night out, even in Clifton. I'm not a business man, or a pub owner for that matter, though, so we'll see. The Kensington Arms is expensive and tries hard to justfy itself, but I'm not convinced.

Situated in a residential area in Cotham/Redland (the boundaries are very ambiguous), the…read moreKensington Arms seems like quite a high class establishment. It's been decked out smartly inside, with the type of thick wooden tables that seem to have become standard in any bar of quality. The prices are fairly high, and it's home to a mixture of local elderly types and typical Bristol uni students (by that I mean the ones who can afford to come here regularly without blinking an eye). It's just around the corner from Chandos Road, which is a street with a hell of a lot of Kudos for what it actually is, and that kind of applies to the Kensington Arms; it's not all that great for the price. The food is good though, all be it a bit poncily described on the menu, but it certainly deserves a good reputation as a fine gastro pub. It's got a nice outdoor seating area at the front, which makes use of its quiet residential setting - you can sit out here and really not imagine that you're anyway near the centre of Bristol. Also, it's a total suntrap in the sun, which earns it a few more marks again.

Pretty basic but solid boozer, this!…read more Good for respite if you've just concurred Christmas Steps or preparing yourself to tackle St Michaels Hill (2 good excuses for a beer stop, lads!) The Colston Yard is what you'd expect from a brewery pub: 3-4 ales, couple of ciders and a generic larger or two. Young staff with management out of site. I've not eaten here before, but we were there last night, looked at the menu and didn't think that much of it; Burgers, steaks, lasagne, blah blah blah! Don't get me wrong, there's nothing wrong with the Colston Yard, there just isn't anything great/wow/different about it. It feels like a rural pub lost in an urban landscape. No reason not to go in, no reason to go out of your way! Meh!

Colston Yard can be found off the beaten track, around the corner from Colston Hall and opposite…read morethe Children's Hospital and is ideal for those seeing a show at Colston Hall or locals looking to get away from the hustle and bustle of the city centre. Not only is the food absolutely fabulous (rustic and generously portioned) the selection of wines, beers and spirits they have will please even the most stubborn of drinkers. Great for groups or for couples, the atmosphere is warm and welcoming as is the service.