St George, British, Modern Restaurant Guide

“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”.

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”.

“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.

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”.

“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”.

Celebrating three decades as part of the Brownsword Hotels stable in 2024, this lavish getaway in two adjoining Georgian houses has much to love about it, from the four-acre gardens to the UK’s only L’Occitane spa. Dining options are split between the dining room, open for afternoon tea or a £98 per person three-course dinner showcasing “skilful cooking of delightful food”; and the more casual ‘Pantry & Terrace’ which also offers breakfast, brunch and lunch.

With its “nice cosy atmosphere” and “interesting gastropub food”, this Georgian hostelry with a courtyard garden near the Royal Crescent makes “a good mid-price choice in a wonderful city with so many charming places to eat”. It was acquired by St Austell Brewery in 2023, but no major changes are afoot.

“Been going so long it’s become an institution in Bath – and all the better for that” – this bistro set in a Georgian house was taken over three years ago from the founding Golden family by head chef Matthew Lisanti. Ratings would be higher were it not for reports of cooking that was “competent but not mind-blowing” – possibly “a problem of too-high expectations”.

“Everything is good and as it should be” at this “delicious small plates” outfit tucked in a wine shop and where, as a result, there’s a “large choice of wine by the glass and you can buy any wine from the shelves and pay an additional £15 corkage, rather than the usual mark-up”. Bonus points for the “really nice atmosphere too” (“in summer it’s an absolute sun trap to sit outside under the awnings” and “in winter it’s cosy and candlelit”). This venue is part of the growing Beckford group, which runs a series of well-regarded venues in South-West England – including, of more recent vintage, Bath’s Beckford Canteen.

“A great location in the centre of Bath” is backed up by “very competent cooking and good service” at this well-established corner-restaurant, whose level of cuisine and elegant interior are a cut-above. It’s run by chef Rob Clayton – who was formerly head chef at the posh Bath Priory Hotel for seven years – and his family.

Their original venue on Walcot Street is no more, but this “friendly and casual” sibling on Chapel Row – indie fine wine shop meets bar and small plates venue – is doing a swift trade, not harmed by its gorgeous heated terrace and garden. Alongside “wines outside the usual suspects” (they run a Wednesday wine club and tasting nights), the food is “a cut above” what one might expect from a booze merchant, even for those who are “usually not a fan of small plates and explanations”.

Launched in 2016 by Chris Tabbitt (ex-of Bibendum and the Old Bridge hotel in Huntingdon) and Sarah Olivier, this “small and beautifully formed” modern European is a “very comfortable, dependable” sort of place indeed. From the “perfectly executed”, “very well-priced” food (e.g., steak-frites, washed down with “even better value” red wine), to the “very personable service”, it offers an “intimate dining experience” that’s “hard to beat”.

Set within the Georgian surrounds of the Indigo Hotel, this indie restaurant from Harwood Arms co-owner Mike Robinson has rejigged its formula, with diners treated to cocktails in a vault-set speakeasy, before heading upstairs to the clubby dining room for a seven-course dinner showcasing the best of British wild food. Reports on the new format were limited but what there were proclaimed the food “truly epic, with plenty of slightly off-the-beaten track choices, e.g. hare” (that seem less surprising given Robinson’s reputation as a game guru). The celebrated chef is joined here by exec chef Liam Goldstone, who also runs the hotel’s more casual Brasserie Beau.