Bristol’s harbourside on a Friday night is an overwhelming place. Women with painted faces like china dolls and short skirts stretched taut across cellulite thighs totter on cobbles to the raucous fleshpots which line the waterfront. It wouldn’t exactly be the top of the list if I were going to open a restaurant-cum-bar with an ambitious menu. But there is a growing interest in regenerating the harbour area and The Harbourside is an attractive view of the future.

Inside, it is a tastefully executed melange: polished concrete bar, candy-cane poles, bare wood shelves and plenty of junk shop chic scattered around. Service is attentive and charming, and very much in the modern mold - find a table and order at the bar. You get the sense that the staff genuinely enjoy the place, and genuinely like the food. As is the fashion, the menu is based on small tapas sized portions with three main courses and two puddings for bigger appetites. The food is, I suppose, modern British with the usual global influence. We honed in on the more ambitious dishes on offer. They didn’t disappoint.
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“Be not among winebibbers; among riotous eaters of flesh: for the drunkard and the glutton shall come to poverty.” So said Proverbs 23:20-21, and let that be a lesson to you. Saint Thomas Aquinas, the levitating priest of Sicily took a pretty hard line on what constitutes gluttony, and it is a line which I have most certainly crossed. There are, said Aquinas, six ways in which one commits gluttony: eating too soon; eating too expensively; eating too much; eating too eagerly; eating too daintily; eating wildly. I don’t know about you, but that sounds like an average meal in my household. So are we going to hell? Probably yes: my sloth and wrath alone is probably enough to tip the balance, even leaving gluttony aside.

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Wagamama on Clifton’s illustrious triangle is jam packed day or night each and every day of the week and heading up there on a dark autumnal night was likely to be no different. Luckily the canteen style lends itself to fast turnover and the large queue heading out of their door is quickly dispersed as we are led to our seats in the brightly lit restaurant; thank goodness, we’re starving.

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Friday 24th until Sunday 26th September 2010 @ The Amphitheatre, Bristol

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As she got up to leave, I stood with her- to check. Her mug was nearly full. She had rejected my tea. Again! I wasn’t insulted (well, a bit), but surely you just ‘make’ tea? What’s the flippin’ secret? Looking back, I have to say: I blame my parents – dunk, dunk – litre of milk. Now, uh, I shudder. Pasty tea, not a hint of tealeaf, there’s so much to behold in a really good brew.
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Sunday 26th September 2010 @ Paintworks, Bristol

www.lovefoodfestival.com

Situated on Gloucester Road, The Royal Oak pub has undergone something of a transformation over the last year. Before known as The John Cabot, it is no longer a bit seedy but newly welcoming and tastefully decorated; it strikes a good balance between pub and restaurant. It’s definitely a contrast to the MaXin Chicken across the road: instead of greasy nuggets think marinated olives and a pint of Peroni, old books on the window sills and a palm tree in the garden. A mishmash of styles come together to create a sophisticated yet easy-going atmosphere, although, strangely, it all seems a bit familiar. The shiny Italian coffee machine and the traditional stove, the gentleman’s club easy-chair and the pretty French waitress should clash but don’t and represents the bold but successful assimilation of cultures that has swept the UK over the last ten years.
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There is a lot of importance placed in gold these days, not that gold hasn’t captivated the minds of men for millennia, but what I mean is in these more recent days of the most recent millennium the importance of gold seems to be growing. I don’t remember a point in my childhood of being asked by television adverts to send them gold. This is probably for the best as I mastered the intricacies of the Royal Mail before understanding the finer points of morality, which both now baffle me, but it kept mother’s jewellery safe from my klepto-paws.

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My Milkshake Brings All The Boys To The Yard

When hearing the word “Milkshake”, the naïve among you will no doubt already have a firm favourite from the exhausted choice of strawberry, chocolate, banana or vanilla. This is all well and good if you are content spending those long-awaited summer days sipping on your usual mundane beverage but for some, this does not suffice. To ensure that you are not disappointed with your milky treat, my plan is to delve much deeper into the world of milkshakes in search of weird and wonderful flavours to satisfy the needs of the milkshake thrill seekers of Bristol. There will be six contenders, each marked on originality, generosity of portion and value for money. Let the Bristol Milkshake Challenge begin!!

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Nestled in the middle of Bristol’s heart, between the fantastic central library and the brand spanking Harbourside developments, is a restaurant with a menu so diverse on a day to day basis you would be forgiven for thinking the chef was Michelin starred. With themed and gourmet evenings, it’s natural to assume that Bristol has sired a new soon-to-be celebrity chef. On closer inspection, The City Restaurant - The City of Bristol College’s restaurant - is the breeding ground for many a great chef; a training ground for all our aspiring chefs, maître-de and front of house staff.

The setting is contemporary and modern, with high ceilings and a sense of occasion. You are fully briefed that the staff are trainees but I have had a great deal slower service in some of the city’s most exclusive restaurants; to my mind the service was punctual, friendly and professional.
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