Tuesday Night Dining at Fishers

Summer in the UK seems to consist of a few fairly hot spells punctuated with multiple days of humidity. It was on one of these humid evenings that I headed over to Clifton Village to meet friend Naomi for dinner. Fishers had invited me to sample their menu and I was delighted to accept. The menu at Fishers has a host of tempting fishy options, a couple of token meat and vegetarian options for those that way inclined.

We were warmly received by the restaurant and eagerly began glancing through the menu. There were many options that caught my eye but what I decided to go for in the end was the calamari with sweet chilli sauce followed by herb crusted cod fillet with spinach and puy lentils. Naomi opted for home cured Scottish smoked salmon with horseradish creme fraiche and a kilo of steamed mussels with white wine, cream and garlic for her main. Most mains come with a choice of new potatoes or chips as a side, unless stated otherwise. Whilst we waited we sipped at our rather enjoyable glasses of Pinot Grigio and nibbled at the freshly made bread.

The calamari was perfect a good portion with a crispy light coating. I personally thought the sweet chilli dip was a little too sweet for the calamari but it was just a small issue. Naomi's salmon was wonderful the quality of the salmon was excellent and the horseradish creme fraiche gave it an extra lift.

moules with cream, garlic and white wine

cod fillet on puy lentils

My fish was perfectly cooked with a crispy skin and the herbs and lemon made the whole dish wonderfully fresh. Naomi was delightedly making her way through the kilo of mussels plenty of cream and garlic sauce to mop up with some of the bread. We were both really impressed with the flavours of the mains. The one thing that I was disappointed in was the chips. They were quite dry tasting and floury so I left most of them to concentrate on the citrussy lentils below my cod fillet. We still had room for pudding so I ordered one of my all time favourite desserts, sticky toffee pudding with ice cream and Naomi had a scoop of elderflower sorbet.

Oh my word. This was quite simply the best sticky toffee puddings I have had in years. Super soft and sticky with a lovely toffee sauce I would return just for this alone. We left Fishers nicely full having been well fed. Fishers offers some great fish dishes, some classic some a bit different but what you can be assured of is a good meal. The offer a early evening deal 5.30 - 6.30 you can have two courses for £9.50, this is also available at lunch. Although our meal at Fishers was complimentary it did not impact my opinion or the outcome of this review. We were so pleased with the service we left a tip on what the bill would have been. To see what else Fishers have to offer check out their website.

Birthday Lunching at The Glassboat

The end of February is always taken up by what is known as 'birthday week'. The Tuesday I took a half day and met mum and Rich for lunch at The Glassboat. I had never visited this beautiful boat before and I decided taking advantage of their two courses for £10 lunch menu was a good way to dip my toe in the water.  If you've never been to The Glassboat it is a bit of a treat, the decor is rather plush and it makes the whole affair a little bit special. 

We sat down with the menus and pawed over the choices. Mum ordered a lovely bottle of wine to help us through the decision making process.  In the end I picked the chicken liver parfait with onion jam and duck confit with red cabbage and sauteed potatoes. Mum opted for the spiced squash soup followed by the goats cheese omelette and Rich the pork and pistachio terrine with pan fried coley with hollandaise as his main, plus a portion of fries for mum and Rich. My only slight gripe at this point was one of the options for main was an 8oz ribeye steak with fries and béarnaise, but it had a (£13) supplement which considering the option for 3 courses is £12 are you expected to pay just over double again for a steak?

spiced squash soup

pork terrine with pistachios and prunes

chicken liver parfait

The starters looked beautiful and tasted great. The onion jam was a particular hit. Lovely seeded toast to spread the rich and indulgent parfait on, just needed a bit more of it.  Mum was very pleased with her soup and I got to try the pork terrine which was accompanied by cornichons which were very crisp and gave the added tartness needed to cut through the rich pork flavour.

goats cheese omelette

pan fried coley with beetroot and hollandaise

duck confit with red cabbage and sauteed potatoes

The mains were wonderful also. The red cabbage wasn't over spiced or sweetened like some, definitely the nicest I have had. The duck was very moist and the skin nice and crispy. Mum's omelette was huge and had plenty of creamy goats cheese in it, so much so she couldn't quite finish it. Rich devoured his coley very happily. We were impressed but very full so we decided against pudding. Such lovely surroundings and a bargainous lunch menu, head down to The Glassboat for a special treat lunch.

Cheap Evenings Out For Hungry People

In this blog post I am going to try and list a selection of places where you can get a deal on your evening out. I don't know about you but I am always looking for a bargain, especially when it comes to going out. Much as I love cooking there is something extra enjoyable about a spontaneous decision to dine out.  So I have gathered a list of places where you can dine out for £10 and under.  Perfect for students looking for tasty food on a budget.

Small Bar, are beer and meat your thing? Is that a stupid question? You can order hotdogs, big meat sandwiches and sides galore, most of which are under £7 hugely filling snacking to go along side the multitude of beers they have in their drinking arsenal.  And if bread and meat are your thing then you can also fare very well at Bagel Boy. These guys, based on St Nicholas Street, offer a huge selection of bagels, I personally recommend any of the ones with salt beef in. These are all easily under £10 and it is open late into the night so you can catch up over a pint and several bagels.

salt beef bagel from Bagel Boy

Or The Clifton pub host a fixed price menu full of comforting food with 2 courses for £10 expect burger, ham egg and chips and macaroni cheese. Likewise The Social on Cheltenham Road, a firm favourite with Bristol, they take special care with vegetarian and vegan menu items so you can be assured you won't feel like a second class citizen when it comes to choosing food. On Mondays after 5pm The Social offers 25% off any item from the dinner menu and a drink. For Winter they are offering lots of comforting food items like roasted meats with seasonal greens designed to centrally heat you for the walk home in the cold.

Fancy some Japanese cuisine but don't want to break the bank? Just look to Yume and Bento Boss. Yume's ramen, katsu and teriyaki dishes all come well below the £10 mark, some cheap enough to squeeze in ordering a side as well. Likewise Bento Boss does a vast selection of ramen, fresh baos and bento boxes for £10 and under you will still be spoiled for choice.

tempura prawn ramen at Yume

sungal pelek village rojak from Bento Boss (chef's hometown specialty)

Feel like pigging out on a burger, there are a number of deals. Racks does 2-4-1 burgers on a Monday evening which work out as £5 each. Start the Bus also offers 2-4-1 burgers, but on Tuesday I recommend the chorizo and grilled halloumi burger but if you're feeling adventurous then they do offer one with pickled onion monster munch and emmental. However you don't have to restrict your visit to just Tuesday the hot dogs, burgers and fried chicken all come in under the £10 mark as it is.  The Aviator on Chandos Road offer a couple of burgers for £8.75 which includes some delicious seasoned chips.

Chomp will do you a burger and fries for £10 and it's one of the best in Bristol.  If you are looking for a quick feed after a couple of drinks then YoYo burger may surprise you, some seriously delicious burgers and a huge menu to choose from, even a wagyu burger.

Start the Bus burger and skin on fries

I am always on the look out for pizza deals, mainly because they are Rich's favourite choice for going out, so Planet Pizza's 2-4-1 on Mondays and Tuesdays between 5-7, is a firm favourite. Super thin bases and generous toppings, the mushroom, walnut, artichoke and blue cheese pizza is one of my favourites. All pizzas at Al Bacio are under £10 I personally recommend their calzone it is huge and the dough is really moreish. Or The Stable for pizza, side salad and a drink from 5pm every Tuesday. In addition Flour & Ash on Gloucester Road will do you two pizzas and two glasses of wine for £20 before 6.30 and they are my favourite pizzas in the whole of Bristol.

Flour & Ash -Chorizo and Pickled Chili

pizza from The Stable

Planet Pizza yumminess

Other bargain dining venues include Mathilda's Chili Bar in the Bear Pit with offers from £6.95 for 3 bean chili or £8.95 for Texan brisket chilli, all served with rice, jalapenos, guacamole and sour cream, perfect for any cold snaps. I also really like Thai Pepper a neat little BYO on Gloucester road with a pretty extensive menu all mains are under £10 and the corkage charge is just a couple of pounds.  

Or for an extra special treat The Ox does a deal Monday-Friday until 7pm, a 6oz rump, fries, sauce and a drink for £12.50.  I am keen to try this myself, it is meant to be the best place for steak in Bristol. So enjoy seeking out frugal dining out in Bristol, these are my personal recommendations, if you have any favourite tips pass them on and I'll add them in. Happy dining! 

A Thursday Evening at Be in Bristol

Well I have been officially married two weeks now, it was such a beautiful day. I shall be blogging on wedding and minimoon food at some point, but first  before the big day Jane and I decided to catch up over dinner and picked Be in Bristol on Whiteladies Road to try.  Be in Bristol used to be a bar called The Ranch, which closed a long time before someone decided to re-open it as the aforementioned. Be in Bristol had a huge floor space to fill which is no mean feat, they have decided to entice people in with live music, jumble sales and a very reasonable food menu. 

The menu is fairly small but large enough to give you a bit of choice standard burgers, the ubiquitous pulled pork but also mussels and local fish dishes. They pride themselves on locally sourced food, which is mentioned in the menu where possible, which is a nice touch. I scanned the menu and my eye was caught by the roasted butternut squash and goat's cheese pancake stack with dressed salad leaves, whilst Jane went for the fish of the day, which was coley served with samphire, new potatoes and leaves. I also decided to order us a side order of onion rings to share.

pancakes with butternut squash and goats cheese

coley with buttered samphire

so many onion rings

Firstly the portions here are very generous, no main exceeds £8 which is great value. Jane was clearly the winner with her choice, the fish was perfectly cooked with a nice crispy skin and the samphire was actually her favourite part, the saltiness of the capers worked very well. Mine I felt a bit mixed about. The seasoning and flavour of the butternut squash and goats cheese was really nice as were the crispy new potatoes and vegetables. The main gripe was the thickness of the pancakes it certainly wasn't a stack as I had imagined and definitely needed to embrace the French style crepe because this way was too stodgy.

Despite my slight disappointment I was spurred on by how great the onion rings were, seriously some of the best I've ever had. A really well seasoned batter and plenty of them. The only thing I would change is the sweet chili dip that comes with them, it is too thick and too sweet to go with onion rings of such superbness. I definitely will be returning to Be in Bristol because it did shine on a number of things, especially value for money, I would definitely recommend them changing the pancake dish I had though as it was a shame that the texture outweighed the flavours.

Luckily Be in Bristol are also putting on a lot of live music nights, most nights you can find jazz, blues or funk styles floating out of their doors which is a nice extra. If you want to find out more about the events they are putting on or just a look at the menu check out their website.