Harden's survey result
Summary
It’s “slightly surreal watching swimmers while eating a selection of Mediterranean/Middle Eastern tapas” at this restored Grade II-listed mid-Victorian swimming pool in Clifton, which offers a “warm welcome and some very accommodating touches”. “Great breakfasts and small plates” are available poolside and fuller meals served upstairs, with windows overlooking the pool. “Overall it’s pleasant but not perhaps memorable”.
Summary
“A hidden gem” “in the heart of Bristol's university quarter” – this “balcony restaurant overlooks a secluded mid-Victorian lido”, now restored and once again full of swimmers. It’s a “well-designed, light-filled space with large windows”, and a “menu that offers imaginative combinations, including vegetarian options”. There was also the odd critical report this year, saying that standards had “deteriorated” of late, but even that said “the tapas served downstairs are still OK” (in the separate café area).
Summary
One of the country’s more eccentric restaurant settings – a Victorian lido’s viewing gallery whose plate-glass windows overlook a heated open-air pool, where swimmers plough their watery furrows in all weathers. Feedback has dwindled since its early years but continues to rate it well.
Summary
A “quirky”, even “crazy place for a meal” – a “Victorian lido where you sit and watch Bristolians swim lengths in the open air” while you eat behind glass in the former viewing gallery. This “unexpected venue has even more unexpected culinary standards”, serving “rather interesting food with distinctive Mediterranean elements” – a legacy of former Moro chef Freddy Bird, who ran the kitchen here for 10 years – “and service that is friendly rather than professional. The pool and the building are the real stars, though”.
For 33 years we've been curating reviews of the UK's most notable restaurant. In a typical year, diners submit over 50,000 reviews to create the most authoritative restaurant guide in the UK. Each year, the guide is re-written from scratch based on this survey (although for the 2021 edition, reviews are little changed from 2020 as no survey could run for that year).
Have you eaten at Lido?
Oakfield Place, Bristol, BS8 2BJ
Restaurant details
Prices
 Drinks |
|
|---|---|
| Wine per bottle | £30.00 |
| Filter Coffee | £3.00 |
 Extras |
|
|---|---|
| Service | 12.50% |
Oakfield Place, Bristol, BS8 2BJ
Opening hours
| Monday | 12 pm‑2:45 pm, 6 pm‑9:30 pm |
| Tuesday | 12 pm‑2:45 pm, 6 pm‑9:30 pm |
| Wednesday | 12 pm‑2:45 pm, 6 pm‑9:30 pm |
| Thursday | 12 pm‑2:45 pm, 6 pm‑9:30 pm |
| Friday | 12 pm‑2:45 pm, 6 pm‑9:30 pm |
| Saturday | 12 pm‑2:45 pm, 6 pm‑9:30 pm |
| Sunday | 12 pm‑8 pm |
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