Congratulations to the Albion in Clifton Village, consistently one of the best pubs in Bristol, for being highly acclaimed for its food in the Old Speckled Hen Top 50 Gastropub Awards 2010. It is at number 33 and the only pub in Bristol to be listed. More than 700 industry experts including chefs, food writers, pub guide editors and suppliers voted in this year’s awards. Want to visit officially the best gastropub in Britain? Head to the Star Inn in Harome, North Yorkshire.
But for now, let’s stick with the Albion, that not simply content with being one of the best pubs in Bristol, is also easily one of its most picturesque, accessed via a cobbled courtyard off Boyce’s Avenue.
There are seats outside in the courtyard, now thankfully under heaters, while inside as you walk into the grade two-listed building, the kitchen is to your right and the bar to your left, serving a good variety of beers including Butcombe, Cheddar Valley, Gem and the splendid HPA from Wye Valley.
The cider on tap when I visited was Stowford Press, while wine is also a big deal here, wine of the week last week being Cotes du Rhone Samorens at £24 a bottle.
Like the Kensington Arms over in Redland, the Albion has always very much been a winter pub for me. There is currently the wonderful smell of mulled cider and winter Pimm’s, and the roaring fire and logs piled up were welcome sights even though I could only just make them out through my steamed-up glasses.
I have always eaten very well at the Albion, with two meals in particular sticking in my memory: a plate of huge succulent oysters when my aunt Jenny visited from Wimbledon, and a beautifully-presented and delightfully tender steak tartare with my parents in the sun-drenched courtyard this summer.
The menus change daily here, with different food for lunch and dinner, a bar menu, children’s menu and Sunday lunch. Some choice examples include overnight roast fore rib of beef and horseradish, and wild mushroom risotto and truffles.
The Albion is a worthy winner of its most recent accolade, with owner Owain George and head chef Clarke Oldfield going great guns in showing just what top food can be served in a pub.
The Albion, Boyce’s Avenue, Clifton, Bristol. 0117 973 3522.
you say stowford is the cider on tap and you list cheddar valley among the beers. cheddar valley is a cider, and the best one in the world, at that!
good review – lovely pub