10 of the best Bristol restaurants

The last time I did a round up of the best places to eat in Bristol was back in 2014. Since then the food scene has exploded to such an extent that I hardly recognise my original list.

It’s no longer possible to cram everything into one post so these are simply the places where I tend to eat most and which I feel represent a particularly Bristol vibe. (Yes, there are notable omissions but this is a personal take!)

In alphabetical order with the neighbourhood they're based in in brackets

Bar Buvette (city centre)

If you’re familiar with the natural wine bars of Paris and London you’ll feel totally at home at Bar Buvette which is owned by former River Station chef Peter Taylor and his partner Max Ososki. It serves the simple kind of French bistro food that’s hard to find these days (think duck confit and lentils) plus a great selection of charcuterie and Auvergne cheeses (Peter also presides over the fabulous Auberge de Chassignolles up in the hills from Brioude during the summer). Great natural wine obvs which rocks my boat but is not all scary!

Open evenings Tues-Sat, lunch Thurs-Sat. No reservations

Bell’s Diner and/or Bellita (Montpelier and Cotham)

I’m slightly hesitant about including Bell’s as the brilliant Sam Sohn-Rethel has just left but I’ve a great attachment to it and it’s such a Bristol institution it would be impossible to leave it out. The menu is based on fashionable Moorish (and more-ish) small plates and a great short, largely organic and biodynamic wine-list. I always find it hugely difficult to make up my mind what to order but it usually includes the salt cod fritters and the charcoal-grilled chicken oyster pinchos with chipotle and harissa yoghurt. Book in the atmospheric front dining room if you can.

Open Mon-Sat dinner, Fri-Sun lunch

Bellita is its more casual offshoot - more of a wine bar with (very nice) food. Smart, little drinks list - all wines from women winemakers. Lunchtime deal of 3 small plates for £10 is an incredible bargain. Can be (understandably) noisy but a great place to hang out with friends.

Open Mon-Sat evenings, all day Thurs-Sat

Birch (Southville)

If you forced me to choose just one restaurant that represented the soul of Bristol it would be this unpretentious small restaurant in Southville. It's run by Sam Leach and Becky Massey who used to work at St John’s and the Quality Chop House respectively. Sam cooks a short, veg-centric menu which changes from week to week depending on what their allotment produces. Eating produce this fresh is a revelation. A typical summer dish would be tiny sweet raw peas with fresh mint and a cloud of shaved Pennard Vale cheese. Desserts and home-baked sourdough bread are blissful.

Open: Wed-Sat evenings so be sure to book (Closed the first 3 weeks of August 2017)

Box E (Wapping Wharf - city centre)

Only in Bristol could you have Michelin standard food in a 14 seater container*, part of the booming Wapping Wharf development. It’s run by Elliott Lidstone (ex The Empress at Hackney) and his wife Tess and offers, clever, imaginative, contemporary food from the one man kitchen. Fish and veg are a particularly strong suit. I had some marvellous red mullet there recently together with this stylish little snack of spiced whitebait. Recently voted no 85 in the National Restaurant Awards top 100
* of which 4 are 'kitchen table' counter seats where you can take the chef's 7 course menu (£45)

Open Dinner Tues-Sat, lunch Wednesday-Saturday. Outside terrace during the summer.

Bulrush (Cotham)

Another rising star of the Bristol firmament Bulrush has just been placed at no 27 in the National Restaurant Awards top 100. It was good when it opened but has really shifted up a gear in the last year. Clever, slightly Scandified food (chef George Livesey is a fan of Faviken) in a modest Cotham neighbourhood restaurant. For £48 the tasting menu (also available for vegetarians) is ridiculously good value - they also do a £18 set course lunch on Thursdays and Fridays.

Open Tues-Sat eve, Thurs-Sat lunch. Closed from August 13th-September 7th 2017 for summer holidays

Hart’s Bakery (Temple Meads)

My regular pitstop en route to London Hart’s Bakery is conveniently situated just under the arches at Temple Meads. Great croissants, cakes and fatally irresistible sausage rolls (try the mushroom and barley one - the best veggie sausage roll I've ever tasted). You can also eat in which qualifies it for inclusion in this list.

Closed Sundays and Mondays, Open 7-3pm the rest of the week

Lido (Clifton)

With its amazing setting overlooking an outdoor swimming pool Lido’s the perfect place for a summer meal (or for undoing all the good you’ve done in the pool and the spa) There are two sections, an upstairs restaurant where you get a bird’s eye view of the swimmers ploughing up and down and a poolside cafe and bar which has a tapas-style menu. Chef Freddy Bird has done time at Moro an influence reflected in the number of dishes that are cooked in their wood-fired oven. There’s a fixed price lunch and early evening menu at £16 for 2 courses or £20 for 3. Oh, and their ice-creams are heavenly.

Open all week.

Pasta Loco (Cotham)

If you get the urge for a pasta fix head for Pasta Loco on Cotham Hill (which is also home to Bellita and the very congenial Bravas tapas bar) They do a great set lunch for just £12.50. Exceptionally warm friendly service. I use it for lunch *meetings* - at least that's my excuse. The creamy sauces, whatever they currently are, are especially good. Booking essential in the evening.

Open: Mon-Sat evening, Tue-Sat lunch

Wallfish (Clifton)

5 minutes walk from my flat, Wallfish is basically my local. Chef Seldon Curry used to cook with Mark Hix in Dorset and that coastal influence still marks the menu. Order the mussels, if they’re on, and a whole plaice or sole with brown shrimps. BYO on Wednesday evenings. £12.50 lunch or early supper from Wednesday to Friday. Great weekend brunch and open Sunday nights which is a boon. Oh, and try and get a table upstairs (or rather don’t because then I might not get mine)

Closed Mondays and Tuesdays.

Wilson’s (Redland)

I’ve only been to Wilson’s once which should really disqualify it from being on this list but I've been gagging to go again and everyone I know who lives closer to it than I do (and both Jay Rayner and Tom Parker Bowles FWIW) continually raves about it. Jan Ostle who worked at Clove Club in London cooks a short, simple menu - I have abiding memories of a stellar roast chicken. Booked to go next month (July 2017) so will update.

Closed: Sunday, Monday and Tuesday lunch. (If you can’t get in try No Man’s Grace next door which is also excellent)

Here’s the original 2014 list which I’ve updated with closures but by and large it's woefully out of date.

Where to eat in Bristol in 2014

Many of these recommendations are now out of date. There is a more recent post of where I recommend to eat in Bristol here.

I used to get asked so often where the best places were to eat in my home town of Bristol I finally got round to drawing one up back in March. This is an updated version (November 2014) though prices might have gone up.

The city has got such a great food scene now I gave up trying to arrive at a top 10 or even 20 and have instead divided it up into types of restaurant and food depending on the time of day and the type of food you might fancy.

It’s not totally comprehensive, obviously, just based on where I tend to eat most or have eaten recently or places that come recommended by greedy people I trust.

For a definitively Bristol experience

These are restaurants that represent the best about Bristol. Quirky, full of character, great value (provided you don’t go mad ordering everything on the menu which you probably will). If you you only have time for one meal in Bristol make it one of these

Bell’s Diner

Bells used to be run by a good friend Chris Wicks when it was certainly the best restaurant in Bristol never to get a Michelin star (probably because it’s in edgy Montpelier). The offering’s more casual now with fashionable Moorish (and more-ish) small plates and a great short, largely organic and biodynamic wine-list. I always find it hugely difficult to make up my mind what to order but it usually includes the pickles (right) and the charcoal-grilled chicken oyster pinchos with chipotle and harissa yoghurt. They also come up with some great wine pairings. Book in the atmospheric front dining room (see above) if you can.

Birch

Birch has been the biggest new opening in Bristol so far this year. Well I say, big but I'd be surprised if this small café-sized restaurant in Southville seats more than 30. It's run by Sam Leach and Becky Massey who cook a short weekly-changing menu from produce from their allotment. The food feels a bit St John-ish and the wine, which they're also selling from the shop, reminds me of the Quality Chop House - unsurprising as Sam and Becky worked for St John and QCH respectively. It's only open Wednesday-Saturday evenings so be sure to book. You can read my review here.

Flinty Red CLOSED - now Bellita

A favourite haunt jointly owned by Dom Harman and Rachel Higgens of wine merchant Corks of Cotham and chefs (and husband and wife) Matt Williamson and Claire Thomson (aka 5 o'clock apron) who writes about kids' food for the Guardian, Flinty Red in Cotham is best described as a wine bar with great food. Small and medium-sized plates, often bold (they use a fair bit of offal), mainly French and Spanish-inspired. There’s a lunch deal of an ‘hors d’oeuvre’ and a small main for £9.95 which is a ridiculously good value since it includes their amazing panisse (spicy chickpea pancakes). Salads and pasta are also particularly good.

Lido (Clifton)

With its amazing setting overlooking an outdoor swimming pool Lido’s the perfect place for a summer meal (or for undoing all the good you’ve done in the pool and the spa) There are two sections, an upstairs restaurant where you get a bird’s eye view of the swimmers ploughing up and down and a poolside cafe and bar which has a tapas-style menu. Chef Freddy Bird has done time at Moro an influence reflected in the number of dishes that are cooked in their wood-fired oven. There’s a fixed price lunch and early evening menu at £16 for 2 courses or £20 for 3. Oh, and their ice-creams are heavenly.

Breakfast

With its huge student population Bristol is big on breakfast which, given students nocturnal habits is often on offer all day. It also does a good line in exotic, spicy brunches particularly at Poco, Souk Kitchen and Lido (above)

Poco in Stokes Croft was voted Best Ethical Restaurant in the 2013 Observer Food Awards - everything on the menu is sustainably sourced and created to avoid waste. I’ve eaten here in the daytime and the evening when they do a tapas menu but reckon breakfast when they serve their own chorizo and merguez sausages with scrambled eggs and home-made harissa is the best time to go.

Souk Kitchen is slightly further off the beaten track in Bedminster but near the Sunday Tobacco Factory Market. It specialises, as the name suggests, in North African food. The Souk Breakfast Tagine with Turkish beans, spiced lamb sausage feta and eggs is terrific. (And they're shortly due to open in Apsley Road just off Whiteladies Road - hurrah!)

Bakers & Co

The latest venture from the owners of Bravas (see Tapas below) Bakers & Co in Gloucester Road is apparently modelled on the San Francisco café scene and, more specifically Bar Tartine, I suspect. Their all-day breakfast includes smashed avocado on toast and a terrific huevos rancheros. Light, airy and congenial.

No12 Easton
My latest discovery, No 12 Easton is just round the corner from Easton's fabled Sweetmart. It has the usual breakfast offerings - a passing doorstep of a bacon and egg sandwich looked particularly fine - they also sell the bacon from the in-house butcher and deli. And if you're there at lunchtime try the awesome sausage and gammon pie.

I also like the breakfast at Wallfish in Clifton (have the mushrooms on toast if they’re on) and Source Cafe in St Nicholas market which has more conventional offerings such as boiled eggs with soldiers. Hart’s Bakery under the arches at Temple Meads is great if you want a coffee and a bun before you board the train - or an indulgent snack to eat on it. I arrive early just as an excuse to nip down there.

Sunday lunch

I scarcely ever go out for Sunday lunch so am having to rely on colleagues for their recommendations. I hear good things about the Volunteer Tavern in the city centre (not to be confused with the Royal Naval Volunteer Tavern) from Bristol Post restaurant critic Mark Taylor, The Crofters Rights in Stokes Croft and The Green Man in Alfred Place in Cotham. Bird in Hand in Long Ashton is another well-regarded option just outside the city centre, if you've got a car.

Romantic

I’d probably go for Wallfish, the new(ish) Clifton restaurant run by chef Seldon Curry (ex Mark Hix) and his partner Liberty Wenham so long as you can sit upstairs. Small, cosy with top service and posh bistro-style food including a cracking steak tartare. BYO on Wednesday evenings. Cocktails are good too - Lib makes a mean negroni. Full review here.

Otherwise Mitch Tonks' Rockfish Grill (now Spiny Lobster) is really atmospheric with a lovely low-lit room (see Fish, below) or go for the restaurant at Lido (above) preceded by a massage . . . )

Meatlovers

Bristol has spawned a couple of steak restaurants recently The Ox in the city centre which is modelled on Hawksmoor I would guess and the Cowshed, an offshoot of Ruby & White butchers in Whiteladies Road. I visited the former with a streaming cold so didn’t do it justice but have heard good reports (Have verified these myself with a subsequent visit. The steak was ace.) Cowshed is more casual but the meat is top notch and they offer a cracking £10 Earlybird deal that includes steak and chips and a glass of wine if you eat by 7pm (Check the T & Cs carefully tho’. You need to mention the deal when you book)

If you’re after American BBQ, Grillstock in St Nick’s market has fantastic pulled pork and smoked brisket rolls as, I gather, does Hickory Pig, which pops up at Arbor Ales excellent Three Tuns pub.

If you fancy fish

You can’t beat Mitch Tonks Rockfish bar and grill (now Spiny Lobster) at the top of Whiteladies road - a Bristol offshoot of his award-winning Seahorse restaurant. Just super-fresh fish, simply cooked with a list of seafood-friendly wines. Not cheap (unless you go for lunch or the early evening menu) but worth every penny.

Wallfish Bistro in Clifton is also good for fish as is, at a more homely level, Fishers (excellent fishcakes). Both have the advantage of being open on a Sunday night.

Vegetarian

I haven’t been to Bristol’s best known vegetarian restaurant Maitreya Social for a while - it’s a bit out of the way over in Easton - but most Bristol restaurants have good veggie options including Lido, Thali Café and Eat a Pitta in St Nick’s market. There are a lot of veggies in Bristol ...

Italian - and pizza

I judged this category in the Bristol Food Awards a couple of years ago and gave top marks to Rosemarino in Clifton (which now has a branch in Cotham) and Prego over in Westbury Park.

Since then there seems to have been a bit of a pizza explosion with new arrivals Flour and Ash at the top of Cheltenham Road (see their roast aubergine pizza, right) and the lively Bosco Pizzeria in Whiteladies Road really raising the bar. Both have wood-fired ovens which Bosco uses to put porchetta and wood-roasted fish on the menu as well as pizza. They even have a porchetta-topped pizza though I preferred the more classic Venetian) Good small plates too including an impeccable fritto misto. Flour & Ash also has great ice-creams. It's a really promising addition to the Cheltenham/Gloucester Road food scene.

Other good pizza joints are Marco’s Olive Branch, a Sardinian restaurant in Victoria Street, Beerd, a Bath Ales pizza bar in Cotham and The Stable cider and pizza bar on the waterfront (above) - a good place to take teens.

Chinese

We don’t tend to eat Chinese, my OH being allergic to MSG, but Chinese food-loving friends recommend Dynasty in St Thomas Street for lunchtime dim sum and Mayflower, a popular after-work haunt for local chefs, for dinner. (It’s open till 3am). I've now made it to Mayflower which I found slightly disappointing. You not only need to know what to order - there's a menu for Europeans and one for Chinese - but be able to persuade the gaffer that's what you want. (We failed). That said the Pei Par beancurd - fried minced tofu and shrimp patties was excellent. Helpings are huge and bargainous.

Noodles

Bristol's been a little slow in catching on to the London noodle craze but Sticks and Broth in Baldwin street - in the heart of Bristol's craft beer quarter - makes a pretty good job of it. (They have a great beer list too.) I can recommend the salt and pepper squid if they've still got it on and the garlic shrimp ramen without broth.

Indian

You should definitely try one of the five branches of Thali, a local chain that offers light, fresh modern Indian food. (We regularly have their dairy-free veggie thali as a takeaway.) There’s one in Clifton, Easton (just down the road from the amazing Sweetmart) Montpelier, Southville and Totterdown.

Tiffins, a tiny four seater and takeaway in Cotham also has great Gujerati food.

Tapas

Almost all the best Bristol eating is tapas-style but for the authentic Spanish experience you can’t beat Bravas in Cotham Hill which really feels like being in Spain down to the fact you’re lucky if you find a table. Best treated as a bar for a couple of sherries and tapas then move on. Flinty Red (above) is just up the road.

Gordito at the Colston Hall (NOW CLOSED) is also surprisingly good - I say surprising because it's run by a pub company, Bath Ales, but it does feel authentically Spanish. The charcuterie is particularly good. Closed Sundays though. And the owners of Ox have opened Pata Negra, a big buzzy bar in Clare Street which from a brief visit on opening night looked promising though probably best avoided by over 35s on a Saturday night.(See this review from The Bristol Post's Mark Taylor)

I also love the slightly scruffier El Rincon over in Bedminster though it’s harder to get over there unless you have your own transport. One for us locals maybe.

Street food

Bristol’s street food scene has exploded in the last couple of years with several traders moving in to permanent or temporary permanent places such as Meat & Bread, at the Three Tuns (a residency currently occupied by Hickory Pig).

There’s also a selection of traders as what’s locally referred to as The Bear Pit - the rather grim concrete space in the middle of the St James Barton roundabout which links Stokes Croft and Broadmead. (It's currently being refurb'd)

Visitors would probably find St Nick’s market where you’ll find Grillstock (see meat, above) and excellent felafel stall Eat a Pitta more congenial. It’s also covered - a distinct advantage as it’s usually raining in Bristol.

Shopping break

Most of the centre of Bristol is dominated by chains such as Maison Blanc and Carluccio’s but there’s a really good (if rather bling) restaurant, the Second Floor at Harvey Nichols which has well-priced lunch deals and one of the best winelists in town. Or again, head for St Nick’s - Portuguese Taste, the Portuguese cafe there is great too.

If you’re in Park Street try The Folkhouse Café where you’ll occasionally find one of Bristol’s best chefs Barny Haughton in the kitchen.

Heading up Gloucester Road which has a great selection of independent shops there’s The Gallimaufrey (known locally as The Galli) and Tart a popular yummy mummy hangout with great cakes - and tarts, as you’d expect.

Clifton is overrun with coffee bars but the new Spicer + Cole is a good place to snatch a quick bite. Kids would probably enjoy The Clifton Sausage more. The Albion is a congenial, buzzy gastropub and I hear the longstanding Primrose Café is on good form.

Sweet tooth? NEW

I'm probably not the best person to ask not having much of one myself but I was really taken by the soufflé I had at No Man's Grace in Redland, an unusual neighbourhood bistro which majors in desserts - with matching wines. (The rest of the menu consists of miniaturised starters and main courses so you can presumably make room for them though you can come in just for pud.)

Room with a view

Bristol doesn’t have the reputation of Bath but there are some great views especially over the Harbourside. Riverstation is perfect on a sunny day - or even a grey one come to that . . . One of those useful places you can take anyone of any age, you can either go for tapas-type snacks downstairs or a more formal meal on the first floor. Good cooking, good wine and fair prices. Weekday lunches are just £12.75 for two courses.

There’s also Pumphouse in Hotwells which you can reach along the Harbourside walk which offers surprisingly sophisticated food for a gastropub. A recent lunch in September 2014 confirmed this. Almost Michelin standard, I'd say. The beer isn't as exciting as it is at some of the new bars in the city centre though has improved since my last visit and there's a 360-strong gin list thanks to the manager Adam's gin obsession. No, that isn't a typo! Best G & T's in town.

Posh

Bristol doesn’t really do posh and nor do I. That said there are two Michelin-starred restaurants in the city, Casamia and Wilks if you're in the mood for fine dining. Casamia's owners Jonray and Peter Sanchez-Inglesias were nominated chefs of the year by the 2015 Good Food Guide.

Out of town

If you have enough time you should certainly visit The Ethicurean in the glorious walled garden at Wrington, a brilliant restaurant based on home-grown and foraged foods. (Think a British Noma) Presentation is stunning and prices incredibly reasonable for the quality of the cooking. They have a book of the same name, if you can’t make it.

I’ve also heard good things about the Michelin-starred Pony & Trap at Chew Magna but still haven't managed to get there. Josh Eggleton the chef has just won chef of the year in the Top 50 Gastropub awards where they were also voted third best gastropub in the UK. The bar food is also reputed to be cracking.

A little further afield is another of my favourite local restaurants The Old Spot in Wells where Ian Bates turns out beautifully cooked food in the Simon Hopkinson mould (he worked with him at Bibendum). Try and get one of the back tables which overlook the cathedral. Weekday lunches are a total steal at £18.50 for 3 courses (£22.50 on a Sunday)

For more Bristol reviews check out Dan Vaux-Nobes blog Essex Eating (yes, despite the name he does live here . . . ) and Mark Taylor's reviews in the Bristol Post.

Birch restaurant, Bristol - just simple, lovely food

From the minimalist decor to the simple seasonal food Bristol’s latest restaurant opening, Birch, will seem instantly familiar to anyone who’s eaten at St John.

Sam Leach and his partner Beccy Massey have served their apprenticeship well. The pair have had a long-standing ambition to open a restaurant in their home town but felt they needed to learn the ropes by working for some of the establishments they most admired in London. Sam was a pastry chef at St John, Beccy worked as a waitress and wine buyer at the Quality Chop house

The brilliant bread they bake themselves and which arrives at the beginning of the meal is a classic St John touch. There are fresh radishes with wild garlic mayo, (the wild garlic “picked on the way to work”), some delicious warm parmesan and anchovy biscuits and properly devilled sticky almonds to kick off with while you work out what else to eat.

We resolve that dilemma by ordering practically everything on the menu. The flavours are clean and punchy, A rich slab of brawn comes with pickled red cabbage and a dollop of hot mustard, a pretty dish of lightly cured mackerel with beetroot and a fine dusting of fresh horseradish, asparagus with a rich cider butter and a scattering of toasted hazelnuts

We’ve heard there is a special of hogget (aka mutton) and turnip pie so reserve one via Twitter. It comes in a pie dish made by Becky’s dad (aaaah) with huge chunks of rich gamey meat and a generous St John-style bowl of Cornish early potatoes and greens. Roast pork is sweet, slightly sticky and full of flavour. My friend Elly’s lemon sole impeccably fresh though I was too preoccuped with my pie to pay it much attention.

There are wonderful puddings. A genuinely treacley treacle tart (we snatch the last helping) with Ivy House cream and a teetering wedding cake-like tower of Eton Mess for those who can find room for them. A single scoop of hazelnut or lemon sorbet for those who can’t. (We obviously tried both).

I believe we had cheese. It all becomes a bit of a blur at that point fuelled by two excellent bottles from the short, imaginative list - a Leon Boesch Alsace pinot blanc and a slightly funky Il Secondo di Pacino Tuscan red which we order as Al Pacino and fall about laughing childishly. Maybe the manzanilla before dinner was a mistake ...

What’s so impressive about the enterprise is that Sam and Beccy did most of the work on the place themselves with the help of their parents. There were pictures of them plastering and tiling all over Twitter - their blog charts the arduous process of converting the building into somewhere habitable. They’ve also got their own small market garden which will inspire Sam’s cooking - the short menu will change regularly depending on what's available

Admittedly I was expecting to love Birch - I know Sam and Beccy from way back so it’s hard to be entirely objective - but it’s even better than I’d anticipated with faultless seasonal cooking and warm friendly service. And although I love some of the places that do them well like Bell’s Diner and Flinty Red it’s refreshing to have a change from small plates.

The only downside for those of us who live the other side of town is that it’s over in Southville but it’s a shortish walk or quick cab ride from the city centre. And given the cost of rents neighbourhood restaurants are where it's at right now.

The bill for the four of us came to £45 a head plus service but in addition to demolishing the menu we had a couple of relatively expensive bottles of wine. You could easily get away with £35-40.

Birch is at 47 Raleigh Road, Southville, Bristol, BS3 1QS on the junction with Birch Road and currently opens for supper from 6 to 10pm, Wednesday to Saturday. 01179 028 326.

River Cottage Canteen, Bristol: a good place for families

I've never managed to get to one of Hugh Fearnley Whittingstall's River Cottage Canteens so was intrigued to find one was opening on our doorstep on Bristol's Whiteladies Road

There's always a slight suspicion that celebrity chefs are cashing in with these enterprises and although Hugh is a colleague at the Guardian I wasn’t expecting a great deal, to be honest. But it’s a lovely open rustic space with a very relaxed atmosphere and exactly the kind of wholesome food you'd imagine from his recipes.

As you’d expect from a champion of sustainable fishing and healthy eating the ingredients are scrupulously sourced, mainly from the west country. There’s a board on the side which trumpets the suppliers. Most vegetables are grown within 50 miles of Bristol. The menu is strong on veggies though Fearnley-Whittingstall is not too puritanical to offer chips - albeit with Maldon sea salt.

The highlights of our meal were a colourful board of beetroot hummus, carrot puree, a perfectly spiced pork terrine (rare to get that accuracy of seasoning) and a warm salad of roasted parsnip, lentil and superbly light moussey goats’ curd that wouldn’t have looked out of place in the River Café*.

Mains, being sent out in the middle of a very busy Saturday lunchtime, were slightly less sure-footed, a spicy bacon and cannellini bean stew failing to disguise the basic dullness of a generous hunk of pollock (sorry Hugh, it IS a boring fish) and the rather leaden wood-fired pizza crust needing a bit more fine-tuning, as our waitress acknowledged. But a simple dessert of poached pear with ice cream and chocolate sauce - despite its teetering pear - was lovely: a natural, not over-sweet way of ending a meal. The sort of thing you’d run up for friends - or at least I would.

The well-priced short wine list has a number of organic options though it would have been good to see a few more English wines on it. Cider comes from Orchard Pig and beer from the local Bristol Beer Factory. I had a cider called Charmer that sailed serenely through the meal.

Brownie points too for the childrens’ menu which had five main choices the day we were there including grilled whiting and salad, felafel with flatbread and hummus and a leek onion and cheddar pizza parcel (a pasty?) as well as the inevitable pasta and bangers and chips.

Given that the aim is to change the menu every day there were the inevitable glitches - a couple of missing elements like the chutney from my husband’s terrine and a side of kale that had been sent out without the advertised lemon and rapeseed oil (both swiftly rectified) but these are early days. The restaurant doesn’t officially open until tomorrow (March 4th). Service is sweet and the pricing more than fair for the quality of the ingredients.

Bristol does casual eating well so there’s plenty of competition for the RCC but few that offer quite such imaginative food for kids. Once the glitches are ironed out it will be interesting to see if it can manage to keep up the standard at these prices. All credit to it if it can.

PS One other point when you’re booking. There’s more room between the tables - and fewer buggies - on the ground floor than upstairs. Ask for a table in the window if you can get one.

*Where Hugh started his career

The River Cottage Canteen is at St John's Court, Whiteladies Road, Bristol BS8 2QY. I ate there as a guest of the restaurant.