Best new Bristol food and drink 2013

Best new restaurant
1) Bell’s Diner & Bar Rooms
2) The Ox
3) Wallfish Bistro

Pinching head chef Sam Sohn-Rethel from Manna was a masterstroke for the revitalised Bell’s Diner & Bar Rooms under new owners Connie Coombes and Kate Hawkings. Fine dining has gone, to be replaced by a daily-changing menu showcasing Sohn-Rethel’s skills and lightness of touch, with inspiration from Spain, North Africa and the Mediterranean.

Bells Diner and Bar Rooms Montpelier Bristol

Best new pub
1) Small Bar
2) The Beer Emporium
3) The Crofters Rights

BrewDog opening last year was a game changer for the beer scene in Bristol, meaning every new pub has to be matched against the success of the Baldwin Street venue. So it’s perhaps no coincidence that former BrewDog director Bruce Gray is behind this new King Street pub which next year even plans to brew its own beers on-site.

Small Bar Bristol bar

Best new bar
1) Red Light
2) The Office
3) Be.In Bristol

Finding Red Light is half the fun. Look for the red glow in a graffiti-strewn doorway. Pick up the converted pay phone. And then make your way down the stairs. Richard Tring, formally head bartender at the Milk Thistle, has created a subterranean lair for the discerning drinker, with some classy cocktails and service from impeccably dressed and highly knowledgeable staff.

Red Light bar Bristol

Best new cafe
1) Full Court Press
2) No. 12 Easton
3) Didn’t You Do Well

Full Court Press on Broad Street had the remarkable distinction of being named in the Independent as one of the UK’s best coffee shops several months before it had even opened. Their crystal ball was working impeccably, however, as like BrewDog and pubs, Mat North’s cafe is now the standard all other new Bristol cafes have to be judged against.

Full Court Press cafe Bristol

Best new street food
1) Pickle
2) Chomp
3) Edna’s Kitchen

In a year which Bristol’s food and drink scene has in many ways been characterised by its street food, with both Meat & Bread and Bagel Boy moving to new indoor premises, Pickle stands at the top of the tree of those hardy souls operating outside. Their sandwiches are lovingly created and are reason alone to move your office to Redcliffe.

Pickle Bristol

Best new pop-up
1) Beef & Beer
2) Klauren Events
3) bEATS

Beef and beer, two of mankind’s finest foodstuffs. Chomp and Wiper & True first joined forces this year in 40 Alfred Place in Kingsdown, and then moved to Bocoso, an Aladdin’s cave of delights in a hidden corner of St Werburgh’s. The dream combination will continue next year as the pairing move into new premises together.

Wiper True Ashley Down brewery Bristol

Most missed
Lahloo Pantry

With splendid new openings must unfortunately also come sad closings. And the saddest closure of this year was Lahloo Pantry in Clifton, its speciality teas and groaning counter of delicious food laving a gaping hole in Bristol. Best wishes must go to founder Kate Gover in her new home in Bath.

Lahloo Pantry Clifton Bristol

3 Responses so far.

  1. Bob says:

    Top choices! What a year its been for Bristol this year.

  2. Joe Clayton says:

    Pickles!!? You gotta be forkin kidding me!!

  3. Luke says:

    I would suggest that all three of the best new pubs are actually bars not pubs. I like all three of them and go to them regularly, but personally class them all as bars.

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