Monday 26 March 2012

The Hole in The Wall - The Centre (by Queens Sq) - Bristol

I went here as it was on the list and my Dad's friend said it was good, oh how dissapointed we were!

The pub is perfectly nice, with a good outside area (in which we sat) and good beer selection and nice sounding menu but sadly this is where is ended.

To be honest I should have left as soon as I heard a member of the bar staff mention there was no mushroom risotto as they had ran out and weren't going to make any more...when i said ran out already? he said it was never on to run out...ALARM ALARM of brought in food rang but i chose to ignore it!

So we took the menu and I chose Steak and chips with pepper corn sauce.  To be honest the chips were amazing, the steak was OK and the peppercorn sauce was tasteless but it was edible, and if not a bit luke warm it would have been satisfactory - if not very expensive.

It was Andy's lunch that was terrible, duck with daupinouse potatoes with kale and beetroot and plum sauce.  Sounds amazing...oh it was not!  Again it was luke warm which is always not great, the duck (although tasty) had still very white rubbery skin which had had not heat applied to it (SCREAMS Microwave!!!)  the plum sauce was like water which mixed horribly with the potatoes leaving behind a slop and worst of all was the huge dumping of kale on the plate which had no seasoning and had not been drained AT ALL so still retained so much water.  The whole plate tasted like flavourless mush!!  This dish was one of the most expensive on the menu and was just so sad.

Why didn't we complain you ask?? well we were starving and couldn't be bothered and we were being typically British about it, but most importantly we were not checked on at all so had no means to complain easily.  However at the end of the meal i confessed my disappointment to a waitress, who i had to take our plates to, she said sorry but obviously didn't care and did not offer any kind of refund or free pudding etc.

So, in conclusion, if you like cold microwaved slop the go here if not then avoid.  The sad thing is on their website they talk about having a proper chef etc, which may be the case but they obviously can only cook chips!!

FOOD: 2/10
CUSTOMER SERVICE: 5/10
AMBIENCE: 7/10
PRICE: 8/10

The Boston Tea Party - Whiteladies Road - Bristol - Breakfast

My husband raves about this place so we finally managed to go Saturday morning.

What a treat, the cake cabinet was enough to have be drooling with their amazing display of home made treats.

Although we were there for breakfast I could not resist a White Chocolate and Raspberry Blondie, WOW, sharp but sweet and really soft, god it was good, and a perfect set up for Breakfast.

I had pancakes with fruit compote and Greek yogurt which were light and fluffy but filling, they were expertly made and left me with a full but still relatively healthy buzz.

My Husband had eggs Benedict and they were amazing, such a well made rich sauce complimented the perfect eggs and ham to a tea and he was very impressed.

I am assured that lunch is just as good and I can imagine it would be!!

FOOD: 8/10
CUSTOMER SERVICE: 5/10
AMBIENCE: 7/10
PRICE: 7/10

Xion Long - Gloucester Road - Bristol

This was possibly the best Chinese I have eaten.

The place itself is very small but welcoming, the staff were great, very friendly and attentive.  The only bad thing was even though it was pretty busy for a week night it was still quite a still atmosphere, this was not a problem for me but my Hubby didn't really like it.

However, we went for the food not the atmosphere!!

The food was amazing, I had the Crispy Shredded Beef to start and it was crispy, spicy, stick and beefy (something i tend to see a lack of with crispy beef) the sauce was amazing, it felt so fresh and had the slight cloudiness to it so you could see it had been made with corn flour by hand, none of this too sweet bright red gloop!!
The mains though were the show stoppers, I had Beef with green beans which i was advised to have chili with if i liked it, it was again so fresh and full of flavour, I really was blown away.  The beans still had a lovely bite and the beef just melted.  The portion was huge too.
My Hubby had a house fried noodle dish which looked like summer on a plate, lots of perfectly cooked meat, prawns and veg with a powerful but not obtrusive sauce, it was just wonderful.

We left very full but very happy, only having paid a few £ extra than a take away but getting a lot better food.  Yum Yum!!

FOOD: 9.5/10
CUSTOMER SERVICE: 9/10
AMBIENCE: 5/10
PRICE: 6/10

Tuesday 15 November 2011

Piccolino - Quakers Friars - Bristol

I had been told this restaurant was good and it sure was!

With amazing green decor and low lighting, Piccolino's was a real treat to sit in, it felt very trendy but not too much so you felt uncomfortable and it was very warm with lovely smells coming from the open kitchen.

When seated I think we were served by 3 different people which was fine as everyone seemed to have a role, man for drinks, waitress, front of house, everything ran very smoothly.

The menu is not that large but it was so hard to choose our dishes, I settled on Pollo Valdostana. Breaded & filled chicken, fontina cheese, ham & peperonata and Andy had Vitello alla Milanese. Pan fried, breaded veal escalope, spaghetti, tomato & basil.  Both dishes were amazing! mine was so creamy, crispy and salty but was balanced perfectly by sweet peppers,  Andy's was fresh tangy crispy and well seasoned and i must say both portions were HUGE!! 

I was very surprised and very pleased with the quality and value, although 2 of the most expensive items on the menu the size and taste was worth it and we didn't feel ripped off!

There was no room for pudding sadly which sounded nice but I will defiantly be going back!

one not to miss!

FOOD: 9.5/10
CUSTOMER SERVICE: 8/10
AMBIENCE: 9/10
PRICE: 8/10

Brasserie Blanc - Quakers Friars - Bristol

Its always nice when you go somewhere for dinner that's not 100% to your liking and you don't have to pay, which is exactly what happened when I went to Brassier Blanc with my work colleagues.

The venue itself is stunning, very warm and inviting, the staff were very nice too and showed very attentive service considering there was 10 of us!

Now the food...well they do offer a quite good value set menu but the choices are very limited and are obviously cheaper products, one party had the fish cakes and the pear pudding both were apparently nice but the portion sizes were very small and i mean very...1 fish cake and some creamed leeks for a main course :(

I however went for the main menu as I fancied the mussel's and chips, in fact most of the party went for the larger menu and their portions were not any bigger, in fact laughable for the average price was about £15 per dish.

The taste of my mussel's were good though, they were well cooked and cleaned but to be honest I was not blown away.

We had plenty of room for pudding and I ordered the treacle sponge and ice cream.  I wish I had taken a picture to convey how small it was, the scoop of ice cream was tea spoon sized and the sponge not much bigger!  It was however nice but again did not blow me away.

I felt quite bad for my boss after the evening having to pay for the meal but sadly you do have a bad one, well not bad just small and very average!!!

FOOD: 6/10
CUSTOMER SERVICE: 8/10
AMBIENCE: 7/10
PRICE: 6/10

Friday 21 October 2011

Jamie's Itallian - Bath

I know it says Bath but we were in Bath and Jamie's was on my list and I presume its the same in Bristol too!!

The place was heaving for 12.20 on a Thursday lunch but luckily it was a big place so it didn't seem crowded, everything is on different levels which is nice.

The staff were very attentive and got nothing wrong they were very friendly and laid back too which was great!

The food was very very nice, proper Italian (reminded me of food I had in San Gim in Italy).  I had a meat plank to start which was small but had very good meat and cheese on it, Andy had squid and it was the best he's had.
Mains were Very good Andy had meatball carbonara Rome style which was little meatballs and a fresh less heavy sauce which was good, I had Osso Bucco (Veal shin) and polenta, the polenta was quite tasteless but the sauce was amazing with fried capers which tasted even more amazing! the veal was perfect, very soft and full of flavor.  After 2 courses we had enough room for pudding and they made up for small starters, Andy had a very lemony ricotta cheesecake which was sooo rich but good, I had peach and almond tart (frangipane) which is one of my faves and it was huge!!! and Very delicious!

All in all good, but quite slow (we were there 2 hours) and just edging on the expensive side but good none the less.

FOOD: 8.5/10
CUSTOMER SERVICE: 8/10
AMBIENCE: 8.5/10
PRICE: 7/10

Wednesday 12 October 2011

Moreish - Chandos Road - Redland - Saturday Lunch.

This like all the rest will be from now on a 'We want to go to eat lets see what the list says' moment which was great.

I must admit i find it kinda exciting in a sad way!

OK, so we decided on Moreish as Andy had heard good thing about it too.

The place was not what I was expecting, it had a decking area which would be nice for summer drinks and the inside was small but warm and homely and the staff were really friendly.
The menu is good, it offers brunch and salads/sandwiches but we went for the 2 courses for £11.50 which is a very good price.  I had ribs jacket and coleslaw, Andy had fish and chips.  The only bad thing was my ribs weren't very meaty but the sauce was excellent.  For pudding I had Plum Pain Purdue (stewed plums on french toast) which was delicious and Andy had cheese.

The food was nice however the thing that let it down was it took a long time to come, we were there nearly 2 hours and it wasn't busy.  I didn't feel I was waiting but if you want a quick bite maybe not the place.

FOOD: 7/10
CUSTOMER SERVICE: 7/10
AMBIENCE: 7/10
PRICE: 8/10