Kingsdown Restaurant Guide

“A good, no-nonsense place to eat, with outside heaters” – this local landmark is housed in an old 1870s station on the fringe of the city centre (next to the old Ironbridge railway line) and is celebrating over 30 years in business. Billing itself as a steakhouse and jazz bar – and they also do a good line in pizza – it doesn’t aim for foodie fireworks, but is well-rated across the board.

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!

PURO Restaurant & Bar is a modern venue for relaxed, yet sophisticated, eating and drinking.All our food is fresh, with a focus on well sourced ingredients, providing simple but quality, seasonal food. In addition to the food menu is a carefully selected wine list (...

“Why isn’t there a quality sausage restaurant like this in every town?” – Simon & Joy’s descriptively named feature has thrived for over twenty years on “quintessential English grub done really well”.

Flute is a distinctive all-day seafood destination in the heart of Bath offering Cornish seafood, an extensive selection of wines and cocktails with a kick. Flute consistently sources the freshest fish from Devon and Cornwall and...

Limited but positive feedback, including from a London-based reporter, on this revamped former branch of Lloyds in Totterdown, which opened in 2021 and relaunched in spring 2023 with a menu based around open-fire cooking.

“Think you know what a fish ’n’ chip restaurant is like? Think again” – this “buzzy and informal” venture (est. 2015) has really raised the bar for the genre; the “incredible” catch (“choose from the regular menu or the extensive specials board”, or profit from the bargain ‘Fisherman’s Lunch’) is “stunningly cooked” and includes “delicious alternatives to the usual cod”. On the first floor, overlooking Bath’s rooftops, is indoor-outdoor dining space The Little Scallop, while the owners also oversee popular takeaway The Oyster Shell, near the Theatre Royal.

This upscale Japanese three-year-old near the Assembly Rooms draws its name from the 19th-century author Kanagaki Robun, who introduced barbecued food to Japan – and is all about the robata grill. Not everyone is convinced of its authenticity, but the “good-value” and “beautifully presented fish bento box lunch” won raves, with “every element carefully crafted in the best Japanese tradition” (the full menu including sushi and sashimi, tempura, gyoza and a dainty afternoon tea).

The Granary is a buzzy, neighbourhood all-day eatery near Queen Square in central Bristol, with a great vibe and striking interiors and has been featured in The Telegraph, The Times & Condé Traveler.Think unique, period windows flooding the space with light, ...

“The only Michelin star restaurant in Bath and it certainly stands out from the rest” – Chris Cleghorn has been at the stoves of this celebrated cellar for over 10 years now and it continues to inspire high praise, with “inventive and delicious” cuisine and tasting menus “much better than the ubiquitous versions that are around today” (although they are a significantly greater investment than the à la carte price shown, at £160 and £190 per person). Opinions differ on the cellar location in a period property: to some tastes it is “only let down by the lack of atmosphere in the basement”, but to others “the setting is relaxing and the service just the right level of attentive”, making it “a romantic venue in the heart of a very romantic city”.