Bristol, British, Modern Restaurant Guide

“Amazed more people aren’t raving about this place…” – Jamie Randall and Olivia Barry have run this conventional-seeming but ambitious venue in Queen’s Quay for nearly 10 years now. It perennially inspires quite limited feedback in our annual diners’ poll, but such as there is says its 12-course tasting menu for £80 per person is “very reasonably priced, creatively presented and very good”.

“An amazing little place in a shipping container in Bristol docks, with one chef and one waitress serving up great food” – former L’Ortolan head chef Elliott Lidstone and his wife Tess have run this 14-seater in the Cargo development for six years. Their “excellent, imaginative food and wine” – consumed in “an unpretentious if not overly comfortable setting” – represents “extraordinary value for money”, with a seven-course tasting menu at £55 per person. “It’s very busy, so you must book”.

Occupying a series of old shipping containers on the wharf, this contemporary, veg-led (but not just) sharing-plates spot opened in 2017, and has become a favourite among the city’s foodies. In December 2022, owners Josh Eggleton and Luke Hassell teamed up with chef Rob Howell and Meg Oakley to launch a sibling venue in Wells, Somerset.

This Bristol-based steakhouse group with outlets in Cardiff and Birmingham wins praise for its “reliably good” performance – “Chateaubriand was good, well cooked and service very good with engaging staff”. On the debit side, one or two reporters find it “good but expensive – money could perhaps be more wisely spent elsewhere”; and “very noisy – not a venue for two or four but OK for a larger group”.

“As quirky as ever” – this “imaginative tapas” restaurant occupies the upper floor of a restored and operational mid-Victorian swimming baths in Clifton, so diners have “unique views of the swimmers below, making an interesting change from the standard restaurant experience” – “in summer, life here feels a little Mediterranean”. Top Tip – the £50 all-in swim, spa and eat packages.

This “brilliant neighbourhood Italian” from chef Pegs Quinn (ex-River Café) and his wife Mary Glynn is “so friendly and welcoming, it’s like being a guest in someone’s home” – “the room is nothing to speak of, but that doesn’t matter as it’s about the conviviality and the awesome cooking”. Top Tip – “the set lunch is tremendous value for cooking of this quality”.

“Lovely neighbourhood restaurant worth travelling for” from Craig Summers & Giles Coram (ex-Wallfish Bistro) – “producing superb food with intense and complementary flavours”, backed up by a “wide range of wine available by the glass and carafe”. There’s “lovely relaxed service”, although “more soft furniture is needed – it’s very noisy when full”. All in all, “not cheap, but excellent value given the quality of the cooking”.

Jan Ostle & Mary Wilson have established their “truly exceptional” if apparently modest Redland outfit as “one of Bristol’s best” in the past nine years, offering “superb clarity of tastes and textures throughout a perfectly judged no-choice menu in a laid-back setting”. Much of the produce is home-grown on their two-acre plot, then transformed by “fine, imaginative and superbly executed cooking”. It is also “a relative bargain”.

Chef Freddy Bird and his wife Nessa (of Little French in Westbury Park) have taken over the former Rosemarino site in Clifton for this latest venture. Early feedback in our annual diners’ poll is upbeat and, in his February 2024 review, the Telegraph’s William Sitwell felt like he was being “pummelled by waves of gorgeous food”.

This comfortably decorated national chain feels akin to dining in a hotel, but minus the bedrooms; and its two London branches – near the Tower and in Putney – benefit from attractive Thames-side locations, where “it’s lovely to sit outside on a warm day by the river, or year-round in one of their igloo pods”. “There’s a warm fire inside with cosy armchairs”, too, which make the venues “fine for coffee or snacks”, although for more substantial meals “the food is only OK”.