Tapas at The Tipis for Eat Drink Bristol Fashion

On the penultimate day of Eat Drink Bristol Fashion, I headed down to the tipis to check out some of their tapas. Before doing so I had canvassed Twitter for some of the best dishes to order, ribs and scotch eggs rated highly.  Our group arrived around 7pm Saturday and boy was it busy, almost all of Queen Square had been turned into a mini festival, there was dancing, long queues for portaloos, extremely drunk people and lots of music.  After taking a bench outside we decided after being harassed by a group of drunk guys that we would head on inside the tipis.

The tapas menu, is pretty extensive, more British inspired twist on a tapas than traditional Spanish fare, the prices weren't too expensive, although £5 for grilled asparagus and £4.50 for a mini burger I did think was a touch steep. Anyway we sent the boys to the bar to get us some cider whilst we pawed over what to order. We decided a mix of dishes, including the smoked sticky ribs, to share between the 6 of us and sent Jo off to order. 

field meets disco

asparagus and roast garlic lemon mayo

smoked sticky ribs

deep fried macaroni cheese

garlic and spelt risotto, battered sausage and a scotch egg

If I am honest I found the food a little bit hit and miss, the mess of the queues aside, there was a lot that was sold out and the seasoning for some of the dishes was lacking.  I was expecting a proper sticky barbecue rib but this was more like a slow cooked rib stew, although the meat did fall off the bone rather nicely.  I found the risotto astoundingly bland as was the deep fried macaroni cheese. The cheese plate was served with Carr's water biscuits which was a bit of a cop out, classic as they are I was expecting something more local, also the chutney was far too sweet an accompaniment for the cheese.

As for the good elements, the Butcombe and English truffle rarebit was marvellous, hugely indulgent and flavour packed. I also rather liked the battered sausage, a very light a crispy batter that came with a delicious grain mustard dip and the asparagus was perfectly grilled and fresh tasting.  So there were good elements but I felt that maybe it was lacking somewhat plus it was pretty chaotic in that tent, maybe I expected too much for a Saturday night. The atmosphere outside completely jarred for me with the inside however there is no doubting the popularity of the tipis and I expect they will be even more so next year. Did you get to sample any of the tapas? Or get to go to any of the Eat Drink Bristol Fashion events, although they were too rich for my pocket I know from the first year the food you get is pretty good.

To explore more of what Eat Drink Bristol is about check out the website and wait for next year to see what events they are planning and what chefs they have caught in their net. 

5 Course Menu by Ronnie at Eat Drink Bristol

Friday it was finally time to enjoy my second Eat Drink Bristol event. I had chosen the 5 course a la carte menu from Ronnie's out of all the great choices available. I was so glad I did because it turned out to be some of the tastiest food I have had in a good long while.

Rich was unfortunately too poorly to attend so our friend Phil stepped up to the challenge and continuing in the weather theme for the country we arrived, rather chilly to the giant tepee. Before I continue I must add how difficult a process Amiando, the ticket company used to set up this event, made of actually attending the event. Even though I had paid for my tickets I had been left off the list, apparently I was not the only person to have this happen to. I only found this out when I rang The Muset to find out what time I should show up on the evening, as required to do by Amiando. Luckily Ronnie himself sorted out squeezing Phil and I in on a table and the staff could not have been more sympathetic.

The tepee looked beautiful once again, there seemed fewer tables than when we went for Sunday lunch and the atmosphere was very relaxed. After sipping my large glass of Malbec and chatting to Phil the food began to arrive. Everyone was brought an appetiser of garden pea soup with soured cream foam, this was really delicious really fresh and brought the best flavour out of the peas.

We then had the difficult task of choosing our starters and mains, although the main for me was no contest I was going for Mussel End Farm lamb, herb crust, leek & onion compote and dauphine potatoes. I mulled over the starters with Phil, whether to go for the duck rilette: duck speck, black truffle mayonnaise and pickled wood blewits or the wild mushroom risotto with Champagne. I have a bit of thing for mushrooms, but mushroom risotto is rarely done well in my book. It often comes out bland and very disappointing, I put my faith in many a restaurant hoping this time that they will come through for me when I order it, it rarely does. Tonight however, I was feeling confident of a good result, so plumped for the risotto, whilst Phil went for one of his favourites, scallops.

Wild Mushroom Risotto with Champagne

I could not have been happier with my decision. My first forkful and I was in heaven. If I had left that tepee after just sampling that risotto alone I would have floated home on a cloud. A big mushroom flavour that really made them the star of the dish and white truffle oil to bring out the earthiness. It was rich, creamy and very indulgent, easily the best mushroom dish I have ever sampled, it was the stand out dish for me and I hoped that one day I would get to eat it again. I noted later when checking their menu that The Muset does do a mushroom risotto on it's lunch menu so with any luck this foodie dream could be fulfilled.

Lyme Bay Scallops with Pancetta

Phil's dish, Lyme Bay scallops, pancetta, garlic puree and sage was also a winner. The scallops were meaty, perfectly cooked and melted in the mouth and were beautifully flavoured, although once he sampled my dish, Phil declared he preferred it ever so slightly to his. So far the evening was a delicious delight.

Herb Encrused Lamb with Dauphine Potatoes 

Phil and I both opted for the lamb, as you can see from the photo, it was nice and pink inside, which is how lamb should be. The creamy garlic flavour of the potatoes really complimented the meat, which was wonderfully juicy, the quality of the lamb was superb. The sign of a good meal for me is when you don't want it to end, although you know the plate won't refill itself you try and eat really slowly to savour each and every mouthful. That was definitely how I felt about the starter and main courses.

I wasn't sure how I felt about having two desserts. I am not an overly sweet toothed being, though don't get me wrong a good pudding can really hit the spot, I usually leave most of the sugar eating to Rich, he is quite the connoisseur.  The fourth course was Ronnie's bread and butter pudding followed by a choice of two desserts or cheese. Normally I am a cheese fiend but I was won over by the sound of strawberry sundae with clotted cream ice cream. Luckily for me Phil picked the cheese so I would get to sample a bit of that as well.

Ronnie's Bread and Butter pudding

My bread and butter pudding some what fell apart so the photo doesn't do the flavour justice. It was very creamy a bit like a creme brulee and bread and butter pudding hybrid, the apricot jam on the top was delicious, which is saying something considering I am not a huge fan of apricots. It was a nice dessert but if I had to pick a course to come last it would be this one, but only because the second pudding was just so good.

Strawberry Sundae with Clotted Cream Ice Cream

Selection of Local Cheese, Pear Chutney and Crackers

The cheese was tasty but what made it was the pear chutney, it was quite unlike any fruit chutney I've had before. I could taste Chinese five spice in it which really worked especially with the blue cheese. Phil was almost positive he had located popping candy in the bruschetta cracker, I thought I could taste it but wasn't entirely sure. It would have been nice to have some sort of indication as what each cheese was and where it was from.

My dessert was very sweet, mainly thanks to the honeycomb but also very tasty. The strawberries were fresh and vibrant without being soggy like they can be in some desserts and the ice cream was beautifully creamy. There was quite a lot of things to try in this one dessert, as I dug down deeper I found strawberry mousse. I think my favourite bit though was the pistachio marshmallow, totally unexpected, wonderfully quirky and very tasty.

My experience of Eat Drink Bristol this time round could not have gone better and I really hope they do another one next year. After having a quick impromptu chat with Ronnie as we paid for our wine I left with that excited buzzy feeling that I sometimes get after a brilliant meal. Although I was sad for poor Rich missing out on such a great meal we are planning on lunch at The Muset on our next day off. For info on Ronnie's Restaurants visit the website here. Reviews to come include our visit to Hotcha, by Rich and our trip to newly renovated Cosmo.

Sunday Carvery at Eat Drink Bristol Fashion

The past week has been, to quote Blackadder, wetter than a haddock's bathing costume, Sunday was no different. Fearing a completely waterlogged Queen's Square we walked down in time for 12pm, our allotted slot. There was a lot of waiting around not knowing where we should be, we bought some drinks and waited whilst watching the rain pour into huge buckets at the corners of the teepee. Overall I think the ticketing system for this event has been a bit haphazard, having to ring the restaurants for start times and then not even being on the list for the carvery event  even though my ticket clearly stated April 29th. For a new event this is probably to be expected.

We were waiting quite a long time to get seated and started but I have since learned, once I returned home, that there was flooding in the kitchen. In all honesty I am surprised the teepees didn't collapse under the unrelenting wind and rain, so the staff deserve a complete round of applause for carrying on regardless.

Inside the giant teepee was beautiful, lots of ivy and fairy lights made it feel really cosy and friendly. We were sat on one of the first tables so were called to line up for our lunch first. The Pony and Trap team had cooked us a choice of lamb, beef or pork and a variety of vegetables including cauliflower cheese, red cabbage and honey roasted parsnips. What was nice was that you got a giant Yorkshire pudding no matter what meat you chose. I went for the pork whilst Rich chose the beef which had a wonderful pink tinge throughout.

Roast Pork and all the Trimmings

Roast Beef and all the Trimmings

Rich and I rarely go out for roasts and when we have they have often been a disappointment in flavour or quality, only The Grapes in Clifton have exceeded our expectations with their 24 hour roast pork, although I am not sure whether they still have the same quality of roasts as we haven't visited there for at least a year. My own roasts, especially the potatoes, are worth the couple of hours slog in the kitchen for. This carvery you could tell the high quality of the meat, it was extremely well flavoured and perfectly cooked. I did think they were a bit stingy with the meat portions though, I got two small slices of pork, Rich fared better, but not by much. The roast potatoes were nice but not astounding and the veg was nice and crisp. The biggest surprise for me were the honey roast parsnips, not being a big fan of parsnips, I really enjoyed mine.  One of the diners on our table managed to charm his way into seconds which made him the secret envy of the whole table, I would have loved to try a slice of each meat. It was a nice roast, but I did think I was going to be bowled over.

Apple and Rhubarb Crumble and Cream

Lemon Posset with Tea Soaked Prune

Lunch came with dessert which I wasn't expecting so it was a nice surprise. The choices were Lemon Posset with Tea soaked Prune or Apple and Rhubarb crumble. The plus point to the crumble was the rhubarb was definitely the best cooked rhubarb I have experienced. The crumble part was terribly dry, I did not even finish mine. Rich said the lemon posset was refreshingly sharp and cleansing.

I think for £20 they should have thrown in a glass of wine or something as for a roast it was a little steep in price, plus the cheapest bottle of red wine was £18. I really love the Eat Drink Bristol concept and hope that they do the same thing next year because if they tweak a few things it could be the envy of the South. I have a feeling I will have a better experience on Friday when I go to the Ronnie's five course taster menu, which I am really looking forward to.