Clifton Restaurant Guide

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”.

2023 Review: Well known down Brizzle way, this small (16 seats) tapas haunt has an outsized reputation for its authentic approach. Our feedback is limited, but it’s a favourite for one or two of our reporters who award it very high marks. It’s part of a local group, and its siblings include Cargo Cantina and Gambas.

“Small, friendly, super fish” – the MO of Mitch Tonks’s longtime Bristol outpost, the former Rockfish Grill, which is “slightly old-fashioned” (a “proper restaurant with proper tablecloths”) but whose “beautifully fresh” catch, shipped in daily from Cornwall, makes it “so good” by absolutely all accounts.

2021 Review: “Proper jamon, a good selection of small plates, and an excellent Spanish wine list with a wide range of good sherries” – “a great drinks list with something for everyone” – help inspire positive reviews on this Hispanic yearling – “a great new addition to Bristol” and the first English branch of a small minichain originating near Cardiff.

Thoroughly at home in Bristol’s smartest village, the first branch outside London of Richard Caring’s national chain is “a very good place to go for a relaxed business lunch” or similar occasion on smart, neutral ground – the food doesn’t inspire much in the way of feedback either good or bad.

2020 Review: “Elegant and imaginative cuisine” and an excellent standard of service again won nothing but rave reviews for James Wilkins & Christine Vayssade’s small restaurant in a Redland sidestreet, whose ambiance was “greatly improved” a couple of years ago “with a new feature street-art wall and intimate décor”. But in October 2019, the pair put it up for sale in order to pursue an opportunity overseas: hence we’ve removed the rating for now.

2022 Review: A restaurant of two halves partly inspired by Kiwi chef Stephen Gilchrist's home country of New Zealand, and also featuring an adjoining Argentinian tapas bar with counter-style seating – both highly regarded for their unusual combinations and accent on foraging. Only the latter, Chandos Social @ Otira, was open as of October 2021 – and offering tapas menus to share per couple – so do check ahead before you visit.

“A combination of casual style and fine dining” – Jan Ostle & Mary Wilson’s modern bistro in Redland is “well worth seeking out” for the “always excellent, ethically unquestionable” cooking (much of it using home-grown produce) that they’re “always pushing to improve”. “The food is most definitely refined but the venue, a small Victorian shop in a shabby-chic part of Bristol, is relaxed and the vibe is more cafe than restaurant”. “At lunchtime, you can opt for a cut-down tasting menu which is great value at this level”.

2022 Review: “Recently opened of all places in a retirement village” – a modern development of 64 apartments in Redland – “but open to the public”: this September 2020 newcomer is run by local caterers CleverChefs and occupies a light-filled space with open kitchen overlooking an arboretum garden. Open from breakfast and throughout the day, it wins strong early feedback for “assured cooking at reasonable prices”.

“Standards remain consistently high” at this Redland boozer – “part of the Pony and Trap Group” and offering “a step above pub food” (though not straying from the classics and laying on proper Sunday roasts). Top Tip – “there are two rooms upstairs you can have for exclusive use of groups”.