Tag Archives: bristol

May 1, 2020 · 4:01 pm

Bristol brunch in lockdown: Chapter & Holmes, FED 303 & Farro Bakery

We’ve all received countless emails from a myriad of brands we don’t remember buying from, reassuring us that they are here for us in these unprecedented times. Yet the thing that I found truly reassuring – strangely comforting, and a reminder of things pre-COVID – was having a real coffee made for me by someone I didn’t know, frothy milk and everything.

This was a happy accident: the Egg Poacher and I had stumbled upon a working coffee van when out on our weekends’ hunt for green space, this one parked at the Ashton Court-end of the Suspension Bridge. Chapter & Holmes had adapted quickly, with queue markers and store cupboard essentials which were to be bought alongside takeaway coffees, teas and excellent homebaked goods. Cyclists, windswept parents and dog walkers all lined up, with some of the latter looking as if the “a puppy is for life, not just for quarantine” realisation was sinking in, one twitching eyelid at a time.

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We felt a bit grubby buying up not one but two bags of flour (surely the most middle class ‘must have’ item of 2020) and scurried parkwards with our lattes, salted caramel brownie and blueberry bakewell tart. It was only on arrival that we realised the logistics of eating and drinking while “exercising” might be difficult, so instead we pushed our new-found rebellion further, found an empty sunny spot on the grass and shovelled it all in without grace. Delicious it was too, and suitably calorific to power a long-winded walk home, weighed down with three kilos of flour.

Energised though we were with our brush with the law, we felt it was time to explore brunch options from the safety of our own home. Happily there are plenty on offer, with many Bristol institutions moving to pick-up or delivery only within hours of the lockdown. Our local favourite, FED 303, are open from Tuesday to Saturday and deliver brunch, cakes and lunch alongside eggs, bread and coffee to make at home.

We opted for our usual phenomenal chocolate and hazlenut babkas with a bag of salted maple granola that stretched to two days (unless you’re like the Egg Poacher, who hoe’d it all down in one go. Gluttony is apparently all the rage during a pandemic.) Delivery slots meant this was more of an afternoon treat than brunch, but given we’ve all lost any sense of day or date, it was a welcome treat at any time. It won’t be long until we’re back. Their rhubarb and custard doughnuts are calling, and their lunch options will make any quarantined weekday much brighter. Get in early – orders are to be put in the day before, and the most popular items sell out quickly.

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Our latest foray has been with Farro Bakery, recently ensconced in Brunswick Square. With a £15 minimum for delivery I decided to brave the streets of Stokes Croft and pick up our order myself. Breathing in the fresh air I wondered at the crispness of the blue sky and clarity of the friendly faces I passed, until I realised that this was the first time I’d put my glasses on in a week.

Their set up is swift and well-organised, with my order ready to go at the door. It was another one for the triceps, having fed our habit with yet more flour (the lesser-spotted plain, this time) alongside some truly exceptional double baked honey almond croissants. They are a small outfit so deliveries and collections are limited to Thursday to Saturday, but given their reputation as one of the finest bakeries in the city, you can be sure it will be worth the wait.

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For more on local takeaway and delivery options, visit: https://www.thelockdowneconomy.com/

 

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September 18, 2016 · 7:58 pm

Door & Rivet, Stokes Croft, Bristol

Lodging in Clifton – where the Brunel bridge is a short stroll and the morning alarm comes from the peal of church bells and the occasional hot air balloon passing overhead – is no real hardship. At the weekend the streets are taken over by alfresco cafes and organic grocers and the pavements throng with freshly pressed Hilfiger shirts, boat shoes (no socks) and a menagerie of coiffed poodles, bichons and French bulldogs. The delis do a roaring trade; there’s even a man in a beret and a Breton top who sells garlic from the basket on his bicycle.

Yet it was walking through Stokes Croft where I truly felt back at home. Here the dogs are multitudinous and mongrel and the streets heave with deep bass and dreadlocks in various stages of construction. But while the setting couldn’t be more different, the creep of the ‘DIY Dalston’ mould is equally plain to see, with yet more black-walled, drop-lit, pallet-heavy bars and cafes filling shop fronts and abandoned spaces. Thankfully there are those that resist scrawling sans serif font across their plant-filled windows or hanging a fixed-gear bike on the wall to justify their prices.

One such place is Door & Rivet, hidden in the crypt of the old Baptist Church on Upper York Street. It’s corrugated frontage makes an understated welcome, but the promise of good coffee and Saturday brunch were all it took to lure me in. Inside it’s darkly inviting, with a collection of mismatched tables and chairs at the back and an open kitchen, giant coffee machine and well-used record player up front. The 70s soundtrack proved a little fierce first thing, but the narrow alleyway outside boasted plenty of space to dine, so long as we didn’t mind mingling with the pigeons.

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We lingered over coffees as we waited for our food – here everything is freshly made and demands a little more time. Having opted for the small breakfasts (one veggie, one meat) we were greeted with a great pile of good food – well-seasoned bubble and squeak, homemade baked beans and excellent eggs, alongside delicious sausages or grilled halloumi and a proper portion of sourdough toast. It was all so excellent we decided to stay, ordering more home-roasted coffee to enjoy in the unseasonable September sun, the friendly staff taking the time to chat and explain why decaff coffee is the work of the devil and therefore banished from this, the holiest of breakfast places.

Brunch lovers, rejoice.

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Price: from £2.50 (granola) to £9.50 (Big breakfast).

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August 21, 2016 · 6:20 pm

Tobacco Factory Market, Raleigh Road, Bristol

On a grey and windy Sunday that surely heralds the start of Autumn (apologies to those who blinked during summer – you missed it) the Tobacco Factory market still shines, cheerily decked in candy-striped awnings and bright white tablecloths, summer tunes blasting in an attempt to drive the clouds away. There’s an eclectic mix of things on offer here: tiny clay dolls huddle together on one stall, retro jumpsuits and faded slogan T-shits hang from another. There are bottled potions to spice up your morning tea, handmade furniture and homemade curry kits, local art and enough LPs to make Fat Boy Slim feel positively malnourished.

While there’s plenty to peruse and many a trinket to buy, one of the main draws is the food court that sits near the back. Having packed our Macs and set off with our usual food-based enthusiasm, we’d actually arrived before the majority of the stalls were open. Luckily (and in what is surely a clever marketing ploy) the Rolling Italy coffee stall was set up early and doing a steady trade.

As we drank our first, very excellent coffees the market slowly began to fill with a cross-section of Bristol’s (mostly) middle class. Cyclists in full gear swinging by to pick up fresh bread packed carefully in to panniers, grey-haired couples being led by dogs that ranged from bear to floor mop and arty students with canvas bags and turned up trouser cuffs all mingled, carefully stepping between the market’s most obvious clientele: young families. The market, is seems, offers a kind of Mecca to those with tiny people in tow; there’s enough confined space for toddlers to roam while dishevelled dads and morning-eyed mums make haste towards sustenance and the ever-necessary caffeine. As the day progressed the child population increased, many adding tricycles, scooters and the occasional well-staged meltdown in to the mix of legs and leashes.

Turning our attention back to our own bellies we decided it was time for round two and were drawn to the chalkboards of The Muffin Man & Co. I opted for the breakfast classic: fried egg, sausage and bacon jam between a lightly toasted English muffin, while the Egg Poacher upped the ante with the addition of melted cheese and a chunk of pork belly. After a minutes’ pause while we figured out how best to tackle the stacks before us, we were soon tucking in and following the golden rule of breakfast – don’t think about the mess, and clean up once at the end.


Round two duly demolished, we considered removing ourselves from temptation. It didn’t last – Rolling Italy called once again, this time with the addition of a sugar coated ricciarell, a Tuscan macaroon filled with almond and orange, and surely too light to be truly bad. Finally setting off for home we braved the knee-high hoards and emerged into the open – highly caffeinated, full of food, and very happy indeed.

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March 8, 2015 · 11:06 pm

The Cosy Club, Corn Street, Bristol

IMG_1926[1]Corn Street is having something of an identity crisis. Once the Stella-spattered playground for sports fans and students on the hunt for cheap beer and an argument, it’s now the home of some rather classy establishments helping to raise its reputation from the spew-flecked gutter: Pata Negra and The Ox are doing good things for Bristol’s carnivores, while The Birdcage and Small Street Espresso round the corner are bringing quality coffees to the sleepy masses.

The Cosy Club (newest edition to the relatively well-known chain) seems to fit in the middle of this new mould, serving breakfast through to dinner in the stunning situation of a former church and banking hall. Think vaulted ceilings, cornices and marble floors, all set off with chandeliers and a family of stuffed deer heads nestled amongst oil paintings and ancient flags. The staff are dressed in natty waistcoats and deliver jugs of water while menus are perused; a gleaming bar is tended by similarly fashion-conscious baristas who polish glasses and concoct mid-morning cocktails.

There’s no doubt the setting is sublime . And yet. When coffees come there’s something lacking in their construction, with flat IMG_1927[1]whites quickly dissolving into a tepid milky americano, and, though the menu is well stocked, the food is delivered a touch to soon to be truly freshly made. The ingredients are fine, with local sausage, bacon and black pudding, but the execution a little lacklustre (the Egg Poacher’s potatoes were underdone, my mushrooms somewhat sad and cold). There’s nothing that couldn’t be solved with a little more time and care, but for now the style outweighs the substance. A shame, as with such a large and unique space, this could be an excellent and popular addition to Bristol’s ever-blooming foodie reputation..

Price: from £1.75 (toast and preserves) to £8.95 (steak and eggs).

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February 7, 2015 · 3:18 pm

No. 12, Easton, Bristol

wpid-img_20150207_140941.jpgAt 10am on a Saturday morning, No. 12 is stacked floor to ceiling with children. They spill out onto, under and into the handful of tables available, cosying their way onto window seats and other people’s chairs. As you’d expect, there’s a sense of weekend chaos in the air: toast crusts and pastry crumbs fly, and over-caffienated parents read stories at a rate of knots. The staff assure us this is nothing new, and indeed they squeeze past tiny heads and adult legs like pros, delivering piping hot coffees and plates of fresh breakfast with a patient smile.

Having hovered long enough to bag a table, we set about devouring crisp, fresh pastries and well-made coffees before moving on to the main event. The menu is short and satisfying: there are bacon or sausage sandwiches and a pork pattie creation that stands 4 inches tall. Veggies (a popular breed in Easton) are served by scrambled eggs or waffles with fresh fruit, and trays of freshly made granola bars and cakes wend their way from the kitchen at the back. As well as café food (for which they won a Bristol Good Food Award) there’s a deli that provides artisan cheese, charcuterie and craft beers to the foodie masses; take-away coffees prove popular, too, with the barista ready to share a laugh while whipping up the perfect flat white.

By 11, the children have dispersed, their parents no doubt taking them on to their third breakfast or pre-lunch snack. Meanwhile, those unencumbered with heirs can order another coffee and settle back (perhaps letting a soupçon of smugness creep in). A popular spot, and rightly so – just pick your times carefully if you want to avoid the miniature hoards.

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August 25, 2013 · 4:34 pm

Bear Pit Social, City Centre, Bristol

20130825-163447.jpgBristol is a city full of change: once drab walls become beautiful design projects, empty shops turn into temporary theatres and, occasionally, homeless pianos are left for the public to play. So it seems particularly apt that one of it’s most infamous eyesores is slowly transforming into an arts space, home to a shipping container that now hosts the Bear Pit Social coffee shop.

Much of the rough patina remains, of course – market stalls and ping pong tables mingle with cans of Scrumpy Jack, broken phone boxes and muscly, ankle-height dogs and there’s no getting away from the fact that you’re in the sunken centre of one of the city’s busiest roundabouts. The view to the Premier Inn does little to inspire, and the locals’ welcome is not always one you’d expect… but it’s Bristol to the core.

The Bear Pit opened it’s sides to the public in January this year and has been doing a decent trade ever since. It’s run by a lovely couple who’ve graduated from hastily assembling gazebos in winter to the more solid walls of the container, their professional coffee maker brightly polished whatever the weather. As well it should be, for the coffee is great.

Most coffees comes with 2 shots of espresso – though the faint of heart need only ask for less of a punch – and there are shelves full of loose leaf teas that can be served in proper teapots (fans of the former Lahloo Tea Shop will be well served here). Cakes, meringues and friands add something sweet, while the artistic amongst us can borrow chalks to make the Bear Pit all the brighter. A lovely space indeed.

Price: from £1.50 (filter coffee) to £2.20 (latte).

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August 21, 2013 · 9:59 pm

Zazus Kitchen, Gloucester Road, Bristol

20130821-220004.jpgZazus has been a Bristol regular for a few years now; for a time, they moved restlessly from area to area, not quite content in their pokier spaces in Stokes Croft or Clifton village. Finally they’ve settled in the northern quarter of Gloucester Road and it seems a perfect match: as couples move towards Horfield in search of a strip of grass and space for a toddler, ZaZus offers a family friendly space around the corner with just the right amount of street cred to keep their friends coming, too.

Toby stays at the helm, moving around the floor like a foodie, moody rock star, but with time to greet familiar faces. The rest of his staff are good looking and efficient, though less warm in the bustle of a busy Saturday service. And they are busy – it doesn’t take long for the wooden tables to be filled, and even in gloomier climes the outdoor area will fill. There’s a distressed, Scandinavian feel to the surroundings with wooden floors and cool tones, there’s modern art on the walls and an electro soundtrack playing in the background. As you’d expect from the crowd, there are crayons, high chairs and stickers books to keep small ones entertained – and noise. Lots and lots of noise.

The food, however, is dependably well-sourced, using quality ingredients from largely local sources. Egg fans are well served: the Egg Poacher’s chorizo and black pudding hash with poached eggs and hollandaise were declared “awesome”, while you can have them served every which way elsewhere on the menu. I was less impressed with the veggie breakfast – the bubble and squeak was slightly bitter, the spinach a little too well-cooked – but in fairness my own ovaphobia had it’s part to play here. Their coffee, however, is excellent.

Zazus’s has a loyal following and it’s serves it’s neighbourhood well. Perhaps in a few years’ time we’ll be back with our own bundle of joy in tow; for now, I’ll leave the colouring-in books for someone else to enjoy.

Price: from £3.50 (bacon bap) to £7.50 (chorizo and black pudding hash).

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May 13, 2013 · 1:58 pm

Havana Coffee, Cotham Hill, Bristol

20130513-140159.jpgNicely ramshackle and comfortably worn in, Havana Coffee provides a welcome relief from the “boho-local-mimosa” joints so easy to come by in Clifton. Che Guevera and Diego Rivera look down upon the mismatched tables and worn tiled floor, with rumba music continuing the Cuban theme. There’s a sense of timelessness about the place: students in slogan’d T-shirts delving into fry ups and deep bowls of filter coffee, the owner and his cronies putting the world to rights in the corner, bathrooms that haven’t seen a paint brush for a decade or two.

The food itself has both a North American theme – thick milkshakes, pancakes of all denominations – and a more traditional bent; the full English comes with artery clogging hash browns, boiled, buttery mushrooms and square toast. Seeking some grease to soak up last nights’ excesses their excellent (and enormous) bacon butty hit the spot, while their coffee is as unforgiving as you might hope.

Compared to the organic options nearby (HFW’s River Cottage Canteen is just up the road), Havana isn’t sophisticated – but, happily, it isn’t trying to be. Instead, it serves no-nonsense breakfasts cooked to order from a small kitchen out back, with not a jot of pretension in sight.

Price: from £2.90 (beans on toast) to £7.50 (Big Breakfast).

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March 24, 2013 · 5:37 pm

River Cottage Canteen, Whiteladies Road, Bristol

20130324-164005.jpgWith the right honourable Hugh Fairy Whipping-Boy’s passion for all things local, organic and seasonal, it seemed almost inevitable that River Cottage and Bristol would come together. And they have: a church-cum-post-office on Whiteladies Road has been transformed into a high-ceilinged, wood bedecked “canteen” serving the best of the south west’s ingredients, the shining open kitchen and young and enthusiastic staff welcoming in the wind-chapped masses from morning ‘til night.

It’s very much more restaurant than café (or indeed Cottage): polite and smiling waitresses bring water to the table and will hang up your jacket before offering to bring you beverages as you peruse the breakfast menu. Despite the famous name and benevolent HFW looking down from book covers above the bar, it’s surprisingly good value, with most meals sitting around the £5 mark. We opted for muesli topped with extremely creamy yoghurt, spiced figs and poached apple and a Proper Round of Toast (anything under 4 slices and the Egg Poacher will start to eye up the napkins as another source of sustenance). The locally-roasted coffee is excellent, and a peek at the breakfasts around me showed well-crisped bacon, perfect globes of poached egg and sausages that brought murmurs of appreciation from the diners around us.

You’d be advised to phone ahead and, if you can face it, get there early: a 9am start on a Saturday gave us the pick of the place, but by 11 the floor was full; a late brunch may be a quick one if you have to give up the table for an early lunch booking. Children are welcome and catered for with their own menu, quiet music plays and you can watch the resident baker do his thing at the wood-fired oven – no doubt this place will do very well indeed.

Price: from £1.50 (toast & jam) to £8.50 (Canteen breakfast).

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February 17, 2013 · 10:22 pm

The Bristolian, Stokes Croft, Bristol

20130217-212421.jpgThe breakfast stars have aligned over Stokes Croft. The Bristolian has been a familiar sight in Picton Street for years, though its once grubby interior has had a spit and polish and it’s come up shining: on a sunny Saturday the pine floors, bright lanterns and fairylights make the place the feel like the inside of one giant toy box. And it’s full of good food.

The Bristolian is the best of what this city represents – all are welcome, from St Andrew’s poi performers to dads on the morning shift, freelance parents with free-range toddlers and last night’s casualties, invited in from the walk of shame and offered a sympathetic ear and a constant supply of coffee. In fact, this place is the perfect hangover cure, with Bloody Mary and her mates making an appearance, as well as an impressive breakfast menu that will suit all appetites.

Top of the list is the Bristolian Fusion, a Mediterranean delight full of deliciously spiced chorizo, salsa and fried potatoes; their full English is a carnivore’s dream with their bacon and sausages declared the best ever by the Egg Poacher – praise indeed.

This microcosm of Montpelier comes with all the extra options you’d expect – vegan and vegetarian, soya milk and super salads; there’s bread for sale from the wonderful Hobbs Bakery, home-baked cakes, proper leaf teas and a full-bodied coffee. Get here early to avoid the rush – by 11 most of the ‘Croft residents are awake and ready to descend on the tightly packed tables. But it’s worth the squeeze – this counts as one of the best breakfasts yet.

Price: From £3.50 (muesli & yoghurt) to £7.95 (Bristol Fusion).

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