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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Top choices! What a year its been for Bristol this year.
Pickles!!? You gotta be forkin kidding me!!
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.