British, Traditional Restaurants in Midsomer Norton
1. Harbour House
British, Traditional restaurant in Bristol
The Grove, Harbourside - BS1
There’s no doubting the amazing location of this riverside restaurant: one of the South West’s last remaining 19th-century transit sheds (and FKA the Severnshed), it was designed by Isambard Kingdom Brunel, designer of the city’s impressive suspension bridge, and later hosted the first exhibition of a then-unknown artist by the name of Banksy. These days the attractive space, also with terrace seating, attracts praise (including from Jay Rayner, who found it “shipshape and Bristol fashion”) for its “varied menu” of “hearty dishes” (burgers, pork chops, fish ‘n’ chips); the worst anyone had to say about this year was that dishes range from “excellent to ok” – and the same reporter would “definitely go back”, so hey!
2. The Pony Chew Valley
British, Traditional restaurant in Chew Magna
2022 Review: After 15 years, the Michelin-starred Pony & Trap gastropub in Chew Magna – owned by chef Josh Eggleton and his sister Holly – is to reopen in a new guise in 2022. The Eggleton siblings have also opened Pony Bistro, in Bedminster (see also) and this, their former HQ, will operate ‘no longer as a gastropub, but as a wedding venue, cookery school and restaurant’.
3. The Ivy Bath Brasserie
British, Traditional restaurant in Bath
39 Milsom St - BA1
“It’s not London, but it is setting the standard for great food served well in Bath” according to fans of this outpost of the glam national brasserie chain. According to the locals “it has consistent good standards, which is not the case with all the others”.
4. The Ethicurean
British, Traditional restaurant in Wrington
Barley Wood Walled Garden, Long Lane - BS40
2023 Review: “Kind of a romantic and fantastic Scandi-Bristolian take on dining!” – “You’d have to go a long way to replicate this really original experience”, where you eat in the “special location of a marvellous Victorian walled garden with lovely views (of the Mendips)”. There’s a “very individual” menu prepared by head chef Mark McCabe with 14 courses for £150 per person: “just superbly executed, if expensive”.
5. The Ivy Clifton Brasserie
British, Traditional restaurant in Bristol
42-44 Caledonia Place - BS8
What does it say about the culinary tastes of the British middle classes that this spin-off chain, with about 40 locations based on the original Theatreland icon, has been such a rip-roaring success? True, there’s some “great people-watching” at the “always buzzing” Chelsea Garden venue (which has one of SW3’s best gardens). And, without doubt, those branches in Kensington, Tower Bridge and Kingston also particularly stand out amongst the rest for their “super atmosphere”. In general though, the knock-off look of their locations “isn’t a patch on the original on West Street, yet pretends to be exactly the same”. And when it comes to their brasserie dishes: although its many followers tout them as “acceptable, albeit nothing special”, their rating-average identifies them as “underwhelming tick-box fare”; all offered by service that’s very “indifferent”. And yet they are “always busy”! In June 2024, it was announced that billionaire Richard Caring had successfully sold his entire Ivy restaurants stake. Now that he is laughing all the way to the bank, it will be interesting to see if ratings reverse, continue or deepen their southward trend.
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