We have grown accustomed to ordering our groceries online and having our fruit and veg turn up at our front door. At Bill’s, now open on the Clifton Triangle, there is another new way to do your shopping. “A Bag of Bill’s” sees cards left on each table which can be ticked and then juices, jars and jams arriving on your table having been found by your waiter or waitress.
My own waiter made sure to inform me of this, even telling me that the strawberry jam I had liberally spread on my croissant is allegedly the same jam served to Her Majesty the Queen at Buckingham Palace.
It’s not just food that can be ordered to your table either. Fancy a big ball of twine with your blueberry and buttermilk pancakes? Yours for £6.20. An enamel billycan with your eggs? Yours for £8.95.
Bill’s began life as Bill Collison’s greengrocers shop in East Sussex, later morphing into a cafe before turning into what it is today: the all day cafe and restaurant, winner of an Observer Food Monthly award and now with 19 locations across the UK.
The food and other assorted products for sale are a nod to Bill’s early life as a simple shop, and the beer served here is brewed by Harvey’s Brewery, which sits opposite their original premises in Lewes near the south coast.
A nice touch on opening day yesterday saw a basket of apples for passers-by to take, left out on one of the pavement tables of a double-fronted premises that used to be Papa Costa and Bang & Olufsen.
The two long and narrow shops have been knocked together to create a deceptively large restaurant, with exposed brickwork and ventilation ducts as fashion dictates, produce stacked artfully on shelves like Hall & Woodhouse in Portishead, and red peppers hanging up to dry.
Breakfast is served here from 8am to midday and was a leisurely affair when I visited, soundtracked by the likes of Erica Badu and Jose Gonzalez on the stereo.
Options include those aforementioned blueberry and buttermilk pancakes (£5.95), served with banana, strawberries and maple syrup; a Bill’s breakfast (£7.95) – basically a full English of sausage, eggs, tomatoes, mushrooms, bacon and toast; or for something kinder to your waistline, the healthy breakfast board (£5.95) of granola, honey, natural yoghurt and fresh fruit.
Lunch and dinner feature salads, burgers and steaks, with the most expensive option a 10-ounce chargrilled rib eye steak (£15.95).
Fish features predominantly, with the pick being Cornish monkfish stew with warm sourdough bread (£12.50), described as “a light and delicately spiced broth” with fennel, potato, olives, lemon, tomato, coriander and green peppers.
Then there are the puddings, some of which are included in the separate tea time menu: Eton mess, warm chocolate brownie, rhubarb and custard crumble, lemon meringue pie, creme brûlée with raspberry and white chocolate, warm pecan pie with malted banana ice cream, mini cinnamon doughnuts.
Blimey, this place is heaven for those with a sweet tooth and should make a popular addition to the food options in this part of Bristol. Be warned, however, you may be leaving with more than just a full stomach.
Bill’s, 67-69 Queen’s Road, Clifton, Bristol, BS8 1QL. 0117 929 0035.
Bills Bristol, had three course meal tonight with my husband before going to see Mick Hucnell at Colston Hall, food very good, service very polite, atmosphere warming with good music, prices very reasonable, will definitely return again thank you.