Celebratory lunch at Pasta Loco

Pasta Loco hasn’t been open a year yet and it has already become one of Bristol’s most talked about and lusted after restaurants. The carbonara alone has become the stuff of local legend. To fully extend my birthday celebrations I decided to take two days off after the day itself to indulge in eating and spending time with Rich, cats and friends. I had earmarked Tuesday for a lunch trip to Pasta Loco. For £10 you can have two courses, or for £13 you can go the whole hog and have all three. An exceptional deal such as this required company, so when I saw Charlie was looking to celebrate news of her own we joined forces and she kindly booked a table of four. 

 The restaurant is small, but charming, so booking is definitely advised for the evening. However if you find yourself passing by on a lunch time you will probably be lucky to pop in and find a free table. Lunchtimes offer a simple 3 choices per course on the menu which keeps indecision to a minimum. We were welcomed in very warmly from the rain and swiftly set about choosing our lunches, after ordering a round of drinks of course. Birthdays call for Prosecco so naturally I indulged. A selection of local beers are available such as Wiper & True and Lost and Grounded so you will be in good company when it comes to hops.

 

My choices from the menu were easy to make, starting with something fairly light I opted for the roasted beetroot with goats curd and rocket. I also ordered some of the focaccia which I was informed, was still warm from the oven. My main was the option that had me particularly excited. Fettuccine with tomato, mascarpone and n’duja. N’duja is a little bit of an obsession of Rich and mine. This smoky and spicy salami is often found in the form of a spreadable pasta often stored in oil, great on pizza or in pasta. However it’s not often on many menus so as soon as I find a dish that has it in, I am there.

 

 My starter was simple but tasty. The creamy curd worked wonderfully with the earthy beetroot. Having said that it only made me more hungry for my fettuccine that was on route. My will power was strong enough to leave some of that springy focaccia to mop up any leftover sauce.  Not too long after were were brought steaming bowls of pasta. All of us, bar Chris who went for the linguine with mussels, had ordered the fettuccine. A nice sizable heap of pasta sat in front of me with a healthy grating of Parmesan on the top. The smell was intoxicating, although that could have had something to do with the Prosecco. Pasta has long been a source of comfort for me, there is never a time when it won’t perk me up at least by 25-50%. 

 

 Fork in hand I stabbed a chunk of n’duja and started twirling the nearest orphaned strand of pasta. I don’t really have enough superlatives in which to describe how much I enjoyed this bowl of fettuccine. Creamy, tangy and spicy. It was perfection that’s all I can say really. I am still thinking about it now almost two weeks later, already thinking about when I can take a week day off just to get a fix of their pasta. I had some good news this week at work and I think this calls for booking up an evening here to celebrate. 

 

To find out more about Pasta Loco visit their website. 

Birthday Celebrations at The Kensington Arms

The first Friday of January we were celebrating the birthdays of two good friends born two days apart. As we were all still recovering from New Years Eve, either from hangovers or genuine illnesses we opted for a plan of low key dinner and drinks.  Josh Eggleton has recently taken over the ownership of the Kensington Arms we thought this would be a good spot to check out. The Kenny has always been a super cosy pub with a reputation for good food, a browse of a sample menu before our visit had Rich and I both salivating at the options. Table was booked for 7.30 which was lucky as it meant we missed the downpour that followed. 

 

The menu on the night contained a varied selection of mains, including three fish dishes, some pub classics and one vegetarian option. What I was particularly drawn to was their selection of puddings mostly all containing ingredients that conjured up cosy Winter evenings. I am not normally a dessert person, it has to be something particularly intriguing to sway me, but sway me they did so I opted for a lighter main choice to accommodate room for an indulgent sweet.

Rich chose the rare onglet steak with roasted tomato, field mushrooms, chips and peppercorn sauce whilst I picked the vegetarian option; ricotta gnocchi, cavolo nero, tomato compote and caper salsa. Whilst some of our table opted for starters such as, devilled whitebait with aioli and a plate of fishcakes with warm tartare sauce, Rich and I chose a little taster of a quail scotch egg each. 

 

 

The scotch eggs arrived with a runny centre, as expected and a blob of smooth chutney. I couldn’t quite put my finger on what flavour it was, it reminded me of fig but I was told that it was a branston pickle puree. It was tangy but sweet, hugely enjoyable. The crumb round the scotch egg was crisp but I found the actual sausage meat lacking in seasoning which was a bit of a shame.  

The pub was busy so we waited quite a while for our mains. Once our plates arrived most of the portions seemed generous, except mine, it was a touch on the small side. However gnocchi is deceptively filling and it looked appetising so I ventured on in. I have to say I loved this dish. The cavolo nero came crisped in part which added a nice texture, the tomato compote was my favourite element, full of rich tomato flavour. The only thing I might have added was some toasted nuts of some description for even more crunch. Was I hungry afterwards, a little, but that was the objective, to leave room for dessert. Rich’s steak was plentiful, juicy and rare as expected. A wonderful cut of meat, lovingly prepared and cooked, a triumph. The only downside was the absence of the listed mushrooms, these did not make an appearance on the plate.

It was time to pick a dessert. There are only a few flavours that if they make an appearance on the menu I have to order them. Chocolate is not one of them, caramel or toffee is however. So I ordered the sticky toffee pudding with Christmas pudding ice cream which Rich chose the orange pannacotta and burnt orange caramel.  Other offerings included a chocolate mousse cake with peanut butter ice cream and maple and pecan tart with clotted cream ice cream.

 

 

I would say that the dessert, for me at least, was the highlight of the meal. It’s a course that for some places can be a bit of an after-thought.  However the sticky toffee pudding was as light as anything but coated in a rich buttery toffee sauce. What elevated it was the Christmas pudding ice cream. When I first tasted it I described it as complex, for which I was some what derided, however they agreed it had layers of flavour. What you get is a spiced ice cream and then you gradually tasted the soaked fruit and then the torched whiskey at the end. In a word, wonderful. Rich loved his dessert he said the burnt orange caramel was smoky and filled with a deep orange flavour. A pretty successful visit and we were sleepy, warm and full. 

We all enjoyed our trip to the new Kensington Arms definitely would return for dinner again. It is important to note that the service, though friendly, was slow. Replenishing drinks was a little tricky as was asking for the bill. There seemed to be enough staff on the ground but perhaps not as attentive as they could have been, but perhaps this is something you might expect on a busy Friday night. To find out more check out a sample menu on their website. 

A Rainy Lunch at Bellita

Last week on a rainy Friday Bristol Bites and I had arranged to try newly opened Bellita on Cotham Hill for lunch. I had only heard high praise from Instagrammers and Tweeters I was rather excited to be sampling the menu. Bellita, opened up by the Bell's Diner team, at the Flinty Red site follows a similar theme of Flinty, offering up small plates for sharing or hogging all to yourself. Influenced by Spanish, Moroccan and the Middle East flavour wise, the menu itself offers hugely enticing dishes separated out into veg, seafood and meat categories. I could have ordered everything it all sounded so delicious. 

But we decided to sample an Iberican ham croquette, regular readers will know my obsession with these is well documented, and potato and parmesan fritters from the bar menu. As well as rice, feta and saffron filo parcel with pumpkin borani and pistachios, artichoke, chicory, manchego, pear and almond salad with truffle oil from the veg menu. Finally from the meat menu pork cheeks cooked in Pedro Ximenez with cauliflower puree, wild mushroom and sage.

potato and Parmesan fritters

artichoke and manchego salad

saffron filo parcels

slow cooked pork cheeks

I was blown away by how good the food was. The salad was one of the best I've had in a long time, Wintery flavours with the right amount of truffle oil to bring it all together. It was earthy and yet slightly creamy and the artichokes were sliced wafer thin so they almost melted with the other ingredients when you took a bite. The filo parcels had a nod to Middle Eastern flavours and they were wonderful. Autumnal, nutty with a hint of  sweetness from the pomegranate. Those pork cheeks. Hugely rich, melt in the mouth, strong gutsy flavours I would order these again and again they were perfect.

I bow down before Bellita as food gods. I cannot wait for my next visit although with food this good I have a feeling it's going to be busy. To find out more about Bellita pop over to their website. 

Sunday Roast at Brewhouse Bar and Kitchen

The other weekend Brewhouse Kitchen opened on Cotham Hill, taking the place of The Hill, place of pizza and sport. As we lived nearby we got an invitation to have a roast on them so Beth, Rich and I decided to take them up on that. They have really spruced up the decor it's much cleaner, brighter and more stylish. It was also really busy, but when you offer up a free roast that is what you'll get. As Brewhouse is also a microbrewery Beth and Rich decided to sample some of the in house brews after a quick look at the menu we decided to share the beer can chicken, who can resist a whole chicken to share around?

Realising that we were bereft of crackling, we sneakily ordered a side order of it, as this is on the starter menu usually and it was a roast day so we thought, why not? I was pretty hungry after making sure I had extra room and attending the gym in the morning and eating lightly until our lunch appointment. The food arrived on a big dish so we could divvy up the portions family style, I was particularly glad to see a Yorkshire for each person, despite the fact we'd ordered chicken, why should beef get all the fun?

yorkshire fest

all the crackling

I'm not sure what I was expecting really but I was pretty impressed with the quality of the roast at Brewhouse. The portion was very healthy indeed, the whole chicken divided very generously between three and there were more than enough roasties to go round. The chicken was nice and juicy, no doubt from imbibing a whole can of beer. The cabbage was finely shredded and really creamy, almost stole the whole show, which for cabbage is quite a feat. The gravy was flowing free and more importantly it was fairly thick, cannot abide a watery gravy. The crackling was perfectly crunchy and salted, the only let down was the apple sauce was flavourless it needed some tang, so it would be good if this was tinkered with because the crackling is superb.

For £11.50 I was pretty impressed with the roast that was served up at the Brewhouse, the atmosphere was relaxed and the service on the day we were there was good. I would definitely go again, it was probably the most home made tasting roast I've had out, a solid effort, recommended. To find out more about the menus at Brewhouse check out their website.

Neighbourhood Exploring at Aviator Bar

We've been in our new flat just over a week now and last week we decided to check out The Aviator with our friend Michael in tow. On a Tuesday evening this little bar was pretty quiet but we welcomed the warmness of the place after the dipping temperatures of Autumnal nights. Beer lovers rejoice, the selection here is excellent and you will be spoiled for choice. I took advantage of the Prosecco on tap and pretty tasty it was too so we sat among the aviation paraphanalia.

The food on offer at Aviator is kept to a small menu of mainly burgers, ribs and pies, Pieminister of course. So keen to sample as much as possible and because we are pretty hungry we ordered one of their sharing platters as a starter and a burger each for main. The sharing platter consists of some cured meats, olives, bread, cheeses and half a rack of ribs.

meats

ribs

For £10 we all agreed this was exceedingly generous a portion.  The cured meats were extremely tasty particularly the bresaola, the blue cheese was creamy and not over poweringly strong like I was expecting. Although I do enjoy a cheese that knocks your socks off as well. The ribs were juicy and had a great sauce on them. My main gripes were that the bread provided was really soft, almost brioche in texture which didn't suit soaking up the oil and balsamic. Speaking of which, the oil to balsamic ratio was way off so next time if the oil wasn't quite so high up the dish so the bread can have a bit of both liquids that would be better, after we poured some out it was tastier.

bacon and cheese burger

seasoned fries

Soon after the burgers arrived. We had all gone for the cheese and bacon burger, aka The Beaufighter, which came with a side of seasoned fries and Michael managed to wangle a pot of chili jam on the side.  The burgers looked quite small but the patty was chunky so with a massive pile of fries, for £8.75 this was also great value. The burgers were juicy and the bacon was thick.  If you can sample the chili jam, do, it's really very tasty on top of the burgers. The star of the show was the fries if I am honest. The seasoning on these beauties was epic really moreish and highly recommended.

The Aviator has a charming vibe about it, the staff are friendly and are happy to recommend you a beer as if you were an old friend. I can see this fast becoming my preferred local bar and not just because of the proximity. To see what else the Aviator has to offer check out their website.