Mark Taylor is a freelance journalist and restaurant critic who reviews restaurants for the Bristol Post and contributes to a number of regional and national newspapers and magazines including Crumbs.

Here are Mark’s top-five Bristol favourites:

Kingsdown
“I work from home in Cotham so there is always the temptation to have an extended screen break from the laptop, although some might simply call it part of my work avoidance scheme. Whenever cabin fever kicks in, I wander ‘around the block’, which inevitably means a meander down St Michael’s Hill – the view from the top is still one of my favourites in Bristol – and then huff and puff my back up around the steep streets of Kingsdown. I never tire of the beauty of the Georgian houses in Somerset Street (below) and Kingsdown Parade, which must rank among some of the finest in the city with views to match.”

The Dings
“It never ceases to amaze me how few Bristolians know the Dings, a tiny cluster of back-to-back terraced houses a short walk north-east of Temple Meads station. Located between Barton Hill and Old Market in what might technically be called St Philip’s, this inner city suburb has come a long way since the slums of the 1930s. Now on the fringes of the regenerated Temple Quarter Enterprise Zone, this tight-knit community has a timeless quality about it with its Victorian railway arches, cobbled streets and children kicking footballs around relatively traffic-free streets. The Dings is also home to an 18th century Jewish graveyard (below) and the excellent Barley Mow, a wonderful pub owned by Bristol Beer Factory serving some of the best craft ales in Bristol. It’s always a handy pit stop for a decent pint after a long and thirsty train journey.”

Coffee
“As a freelance journalist working from home, the kettle is always on and if it’s not Yorkshire builder’s tea, it will invariably be freshly ground coffee purchased from Two Day Coffee Roasters (below), run by the lovely Frank and Petra. They roast all the beans in their St Michael’s Hill shop and the smell that wafts down the street reminds me of the time in the 1970s when Carwardines roasted coffee in Broadmead. My coffee addiction means that I spend a daily fortune on flat whites in the many new and excellent artisan coffee houses and cafes. I’m a regular in places like Small Street Espresso and Full Court Press. And rarely a day passes when I don’t pop into the Park Street branch of Boston Tea Party, which I’ve been visiting regularly since the first week it opened in 1995.”

Hart’s Bakery
“I first came across baker and chef Laura Hart when she worked at Quartier Vert, the much-missed organic tapas restaurant run by Barny Haughton and Connie Coombes. She then moved to The Lido before launching her own bakery and I still remember visiting her on the first day she started selling her breads and cakes from a stall on Whiteladies Road. Hart’s Bakery has come a very long way since that chilly morning and her new premises in an arch beneath Temple Meads has been one of the most exciting new places for foodies in recent years. A quick detour to Laura’s for a loaf of sourdough and one of her cinnamon buns or legendary custard tarts has become the norm whenever I’m rushing for a train during the week and a leisurely Saturday morning visit for cups of good Extract Coffee is a great way to start any weekend. Hart’s Bakery encapsulates everything that is good about Bristol’s thriving independent food scene.”

The Close cricket ground, Clifton College
“I’m a huge cricket fan and my only regret is not carrying on playing after I left school – who knows, I could have enjoyed a successful career in the Gloucestershire CC third XI. Actually, I wasn’t a bad player as a kid and I’m told I was a useful left-arm spin bowler. My career peaked with a low, diving left-handed catch in the slips when my school played against Clifton College at The Close, the school’s wonderful, Betjemanesque cricket ground set against a backdrop of wonderful college buildings and spires. My dad still talks about that catch 30 years on. The Close is still one of my very favourite grounds and I often walk up there and sit on one of the benches for a quiet, reflective moment, pondering what might have happened had I become a cricketer rather than a food writer – other than a considerably smaller waistband on my trousers, that is.”