I needed a new front light for my bike, and in times of two-wheeled distress I normally head to Mud Dock. If I was to create my perfect place, Mud Dock would certainly bear a striking resemblance. It’s a very well-stocked bike shop with knowledgeable and approachable staff, it’s a bike workshop for when something goes wrong, it’s a bike storage facility, and on top of that, literally on top of that on the floor above, it’s a trendy bar and restaurant, with a wonderful terrace overlooking the Floating Harbour perfect for summer’s evenings.
So after the light, so powerful it can probably be seen from Bath, was purchased, I walked upstairs to the restaurant. There’s a great deal at Mud Dock at the moment, £5 for a main course and a drink, a choice of a glass of house wine, half pint of Tuborg lager, Coke, Diet Coke or lemonade.
This lunchtime, there was a choice of three dishes on the £5 menu: penne pasta served with mixed vegetables, chargrilled pork chop served with mixed creamy beans and roasted potato, and panfried sardine fillets, which they had unfortunately run out of.
I chose the pasta, which came with delicious little cherry tomatoes and rocket salad. It would have been great value at half the price, although it was a bit too peppery for my liking.
I love just being in Mud Dock’s restaurant. The chairs are from a bullring in Vigo, northern Spain, made in the 1920s and 30s; there are bicycles hanging from the ceiling; one Cannondale mountain bike over the bar chopped up and put into a glass-fronted metal case à la Damien Hirst; an amazing circular window at one end of the room; and a gorgeous view out over the water, with St Mary Redcliffe one side and Lloyds Amphitheatre the other, with boats gliding serenely past.
The restaurant was three-quarters full when I arrived for quite a late lunch, and like me several diners had their faded yellow cycling jackets over the back of their chairs. I wanted to stay all afternoon, soaking in the atmosphere and then cycling back in the dark as a newly visible presence. As it was, the world of work beckoned, but I shall be back soon.
Mud Dock, 40 The Grove. 0117 934 9734.
