Bristol Archives - Happy eats

FoodieVietnam, St Nicholas Market, Bristol

I spotted this Vietnamese place in St Nicholas Market recently on my venture out from the office searching for lunch. The venue used to be Source which was a food hall and café that I had never been into whilst it was still there. The menu looked pretty authentic and as a good comparison (and also because it is one of my favourite Vietnamese dishes) I ordered the Bun thit nuong (grilled pork with noodles that comes with a Nuoc cham, Vietnamese dipping sauce) and a side of Cha gio (spring rolls) as I didn’t realise the Bun thit nuong came with spring rolls but it was a Friday so nevermind!

I find Nuoc cham that goes with Bun is usually a good tell tale of flavours for a restaurant as every family has their own recipe.

Whilst waiting for my takeaway, I found out they opened during the pandemic in April 2021 and after riding through the pandemic storm, the place seemed pretty popular for working lunches as the customers kept coming in asking for tables. Some even ordered ahead. It’s a big space with seating and a counter to order your takeaway but where it is situated at the main entrance it does look a bit confusing as to whether you’re waiting to collect your food or waiting to order. There was an empty deli shelf opposite the counter and I understand their plan when they opened was to launch this to cater for more takeaway food.

I must say that the food coming out of the kitchen for diners whilst I sat there waiting for my order looked very appetising with good portion sizes. The Pho bowls and dine in Buns looked delectable so I was expecting my takeaway to be of a similar standard.

After quite a long wait before finally getting my order, I trundled back to the office with much anticipation. Unfortunately when I opened the boxes I was a bit underwhelmed especially given what I had seen the dining in dishes look like. The takeaway portions seemed a lot smaller and given the cost was the same dining in and takeaway, I was a bit disappointed. The taste was fine as far as Bun thit nuong and Cha gio goes. The Nuoc cham was on the sweet side which I like but I can’t say that I was bowled over with my takeaway order completely. It was a bit disappointing as I had been looking forward to a good Vietnamese in Bristol city centre as they are a bit few and far between.

I think I’ll return and try dining in next time.

FoodieVietnam – St Nicholas Market, 1-3 Exchange Avenue BS1 1JW

@foodievietnambristol

🤤🤤🤤/5

16/04/2208/04/22

Nailsea Fish Bar

A very popular ‘chippy’ in Nailsea and it is easy to see why. They stick to the basics and certainly do them well. This isn’t a place where you might find a halloumi fry or faux sausage but good old fashion fish and chips. Light, crispy batter on the fish and the chips were not too greasy. As usual, the plaice is freshly fried on order.

Curry sauce was tasty and my dining companion reliably informed me that their pickled egg was top notch too!

A regular cod and chips was £7.30 and a plaice and chips was £7.70 – prices were comparable to other similar chippies (correct as at the time of writing).

Very friendly staff and not too long a wait. Highly recommended!

Happy eating! 🤤🤤🤤🤤

Nailsea Fish Bar, 128 High Street, Nailsea, BS48 1AH

23/03/2223/03/22

The Athenian – Greek Souvlaki and Gyros @ Wapping Wharf, Bristol

Wapping Wharf in Bristol is a trendy area which has been running for a few years. Using the concept of reused shipping containers like Box Parks in London, it houses a number of local retailers and eateries, both in a take away style and sit down restaurants.

The Athenian is a takeaway eatery occupying one shipping container on the first floor of one of the original sections of Wapping Wharf. It’s been there since Wapping Wharf first opened and I recently returned post Covid to continue to find the same, delicious gyros wraps.

Because of adjustments to Covid though, The Athenian has done away with the option of going up to the till to order and all orders have to made via your phone using their QR code. Although this set up makes sense during the height of Covid when visits to eateries were prohibited and not recommended, this set up was somewhat cumbersome and confusing now that in store purchases are available again. It meant there were a number of us just standing around outside the shop heads buried in their phones trying to navigate their online ordering system. The online system reflected their reduced menu but it took really long to set up an online account which, let’s face it, most people will forget passwords for once this transaction is done!

Despite the larger than normal posters on the outside of the shop where the menus are, I still managed to miss the notice saying ‘Scan this code to view menu and order‘ and embarrassingly had to ask a young lady who was waiting for their order whether they were in the queue only to be pointed to yet another larger than normal poster at the counter! Really showing my age there! Haha

Anyway, despite the slightly lengthy ordering process on my phone, once the order was made the food was ready swiftly. The Pork Souvlaki with added halloumi were worth the wait.

Well marinated, moist pork cubes were enveloped in the plant based, Athenian sauce. The crispy oregano fries work really well in the wrap without going soggy. The fries remained crispy enough for the duration of the wrap that a certain little person was able to have some too. The flavoured wrap was also sufficiently toasted on the outside giving some structure to the wrap without the sauce soaking through. Deliciousness in a roll!

They also have vegan friendly options. Highly recommended.

Happy eating! 🤤🤤🤤🤤

The Athenian, Unit 16, Cargo 2 First Floor, Gaol Ferry Steps, Bristol BS1 6WD

04/02/2225/02/22

Dawkins Ales, Bristol

There are a number of local breweries in Bristol. Some of them supply chains of local pubs as well. We first came across Dawkins Ales at The Hillgrove Porter Stores in Kingsdown, Bristol when trying out Kensai Kitchen, the resident restaurant serving delicious authentic Japanese food out of the pub (more on that another day!). We really liked the Dawkins Ales Bristol Best ale that was on tap at The Hillgrove Porter Stores and decided to go and track them down in person a few months before the Covid lockdown in 2020.

Tucked away in an industrial estate in Easton in Bristol, Dawkins Ales has a small tasting area on site where they brew their wares. We bought a mini keg of Bristol Best along with a selection of bottles and loaded them up into the back of our car.

During Covid, the brewery developed their online ordering and delivery service which we have continued to support over the last couple of years. I remember when their system started off as a Google spreadsheet link which tells you their stock levels at any one time and then you submit your order on an online form. Now they have a slick website with an online ordering system to rival any e-stores – https://dawkinsgeorgesltd.selz.com/

With a mini keg you can get around 8 tall glasses (not quite a pint). Otherwise, each bottle is 500ml.

Another one of favourites from Dawkins Ales is their East Bristol Session Porter, a dark, fruity and malty porter.

Definitely one to try if you like your ales!

Happy Drinking! 🤤🤤🤤🤤🤤

Dawkins Ales, Easton Brewery, Unit 2, Industrial Units, Lawnwood, Lawnwood Rd, Bristol BS5 0EF

http://dawkinsales.com/

03/10/20

Chef’s table, Bristol

I’ve often walked past this place over the years whilst in its catering company form with an enticing table display that one can see from outside. I always wondered what it would be like to eat in there if one could eat in there.

I’ll be gladly corrected but I only recently noticed during the recent Covid period that this place became a food serving bistro that is The Chef’s Table. As soon as I spotted it, I knew I had to find an excuse to go and try it.

And we did, as our first proper meal out since Covid started, and my expectations were more than exceeded.

Nestled in this unassuming corner of Avon Crescent by Underfall Yard is this intimate gem of an eaterie next to the Nova Scotia pub. Because of the Covid restrictions, they only had tables for 7 covers at a time with the kitchen in full plain view of the diners behind a glass partition. The menu was a seasonal feast which I understand changes every week with ingredients sourced from local producers.

As it was lunchtime, we opted for beers rather than wine. Serving a well selected choice of beers and ales from local breweries such as Moor beer in Bristol.

We had mixture of dishes from the printed menu and the specials, the latter of which proved to be very popular as we overheard they ran out of some of the specials.

We could see the freshly made trays of focaccia through the kitchen partition so of course we had to have some. The focaccia flaked and was still warm. You’re offered a choice of either light and dark balsamic to be added to your oil as a bread dip.

My mackerel was just rightly pickled and not too over powering. The creaminess of the crab meat potato salad complimented the fish beautifully. The lightly seared beef Thai salad had a beautifully balanced dressing. What can go wrong with a good old chicken liver parfait with crostini and onion relish which devoured in no time. We were particularly impressed that they actually provided you with sufficient pieces of crostini to go with your parfait so you didn’t have to end up eating the parfait on its on as you often do with this dish!

I learned that a rossini is a tower and a tower my fillet of beef certainly was! Topped with sauteed mushrooms and served on a bed of chicken liver pate and bread, the fillet of beef was beautifully seasoned and just cooked enough not to offend those that are medium beef eaters.

I was reliably informed that the cod and the chicken supreme were equally impressive based on the clean plates at the end of the meal.

The only criticism I would have of this place which are factors that a lot of modern restaurants suffer from are their acoustic and air flow. The minimalistic decor that is the trend, coupled with the intimate venue unfortunately made the dining room a cacophony of sounds and made it impossible to have conversations with your fellow diners without feeling like you’re shouting at each other. As the dining room filled with tables, the heat of the kitchen and the number of people in the dining room also made the restaurant feel rather stuffy towards the end of our meal. In a time when air flow is emphasised in indoor settings during this Covid landscape, it perhaps was not doing as well on this front but clearly this was a limitation on the property itself as it did not seem that any of the windows were capable of opening. Otherwise, we were made to feel very safe whilst on site with the lovely and friendly staff both donning their face masks and hand sanitisers were available for use.

All in all, I really enjoyed this our first proper meal out since Covid began and would return without hesitation.

🤤🤤🤤🤤

Happy eating!