Mushroom and miso bao, Edit on Cheltenham Road, Bristol

Edit: Audiophile restaurant on Cheltenham Road

One of Cheltenham Road’s newest offerings, Edit, is a unusual blend of classy tapas restaurant and cosy music bar. Labelling itself as an ‘audiophile restaurant’, the concept is inspired by Tokyo’s food and drink scene; offering Asian-inspired tapas style small plates, with an impressive Klipsch heritage sound system playing a range of ambient, soul, funk, electronica and world music. The idea is to delight all of your senses, and it achieves this, for the most part.

It’s very much a ‘drop-in’ place, with long high tables and bar chairs – making it feel casual yet a little sophisticated at the same time. The drinks menu is extensive and impressive, prepare yourself to be dazzled by a wide range of spirits, sake, beers and wine.

We decided to order and share a variety of their small plates and snacks; mushroom and miso bao, kimchi, fried squid with mango chilli sauce, chicken dumplings and prawn dumplings. For five dishes and two drinks it came to £32.

While the food arrived in seemingly random dribs and drabs (including one of our plates being delivered to the couple sat next to us), it was all incredibly delicious.

The slightly spiced, fried chicken dumplings in gyoza style parcels, were the standout dish for us. But the fried squid was a close second; it would be a perfect dish to pick at while having a few drinks. I would advise ordering quite a few dishes if you’re hungry, they’re little and delightful and definitely leave you wanting more.

Despite the slightly disorganised service, and a missing dish, we will definitely be returning.

As a concept, Edit is unique and quirky, just right for the Cheltenham Road/Gloucester Road junction that it finds itself on. However, it’s definitely more of a drinks,snacks and music venue, than somewhere you want to come for ‘dinner’ and leave completely filled up.

Find out more about Edit on Cheltenham Road, Bristol here.

Bristol Roast Dinners

Restaurant Reviews

Before living in Bristol I could probably count the number of roast dinners I had had on my fingers, but it quickly become clear that Roast Dinners in Bristol are a big thing.

After a Saturday night of light (or heavy) drinking, and a week of unhealthy food, a Sunday Roast is usually the perfect way to end the weekend.

Bristol Foodie’s blog on roast dinnners in Bristol has been really useful for finding great places to eat, so I thought I would start my own.

The Lazy Dog
112, Ashley Down Rd, Ashley Down, Bristol
BS7 9JR
0117 9244 809
Price: £10.95

A modern, cosy pub in Ashley Down, The Lazy Dog is a great place to end the week with a Sunday Roast.

Roast dinner at The Lazy Dog

We turned up at about 1.30pm, without booking and it was pretty busy but we found a little table in a corner. The beef was perfect, the yorkshire was huge and just the right combination of fluffy and crispy, and there was plenty of roast potatoes and vegetable.

Roast dinner at The Lazy Dog

Yurt Lush
Plot 3, Isambard Walk, Temple Quay, Bristol,
BS1 6DG
Price: £13

Right next to Temple Meads is Yurt Lush, is the one permanent home of Eat Drink Bristol Fashion. Inside is pretty warm in the summer so we sat on one of the benches outside. We didn’t book a table even though you can, but at 2pm on a Sunday there were two or three empty tables. The Yurt Lush roast is a little more than some others at £13, but the setting and the food make it worthwhile.

Appetisers

The appetisers were delicious, and an added bonus to a great roast dinner.

There was a fairly long wait for the food, and intially I was a little disappointed with the amount of vegetables, but there was a generous helping of meat and a huge yorkshire pudding.

The Social
130, Cheltenham Road, Bristol
BS6 5RW
Price:

Stepping inside The Social feels a bit like going into a Tardis, a brief look in the window made us think it was quite small and very busy but when you go in it’s suprisingly big – we easily found a table towards the back at about 1pm for our roast dinner.
The atmosphere is laidback and cosy, perfect for recoperating after a heavy night or meeting up with friends.
However, the wait for the Sunday Roast was well over 45 minutes, and by the time they arrived we were desperately hungry!

The size of the roast dinner made up for the wait though, plenty of tender beef as well as a generous amount of perfectly cooked vegetables. It might not look fancy, but it was just want a Sunday roast should be – delicious, fresh comfort food.

The Volunteer Tavern
9, New Street, Bristol
BS2 9DX
Price:£11.95

I’d heard really good things about roasts at The Volunteer Tavern, so I was pretty excited to try it out. We tried to book in advance, but apparently you can only book if you’re a party of 8 or more. When we arrived at 1pm all the empty tables inside were reserved, so we ended up sitting outside at the back.

We both went for the beef, and the food came out within about 5 minutes of ordering. Unfortunately, this was the only really impressive thing about the roast.

For me some of the meat was a little fatty and chewy, so much that I couldn’t cut some bits with a knife. However, there was plenty of meat that was tender and delicious.

The vegetables were a little on the stingey side – one brocolli floret, boiled carrots and cabbage – all well cooked but nothing special. And the yorkshire pudding was minimal. The roast potatoes were the highlight, crusty but fluffy on the inside.

Overall, for the price I wasn’t impressed with The Volunteer Tavern, there was nothing wrong with it, but I’ve definitely had better roast dinners in Bristol.

Under The Stars

Restaurant Reviews

Located at the top of the harbourside in Bristol, Under the Stars is a lovely little bar and restaurant on a boat.

I’ve been wanting to try Under the Stars for a really long time, particulary in the summer when you can sit out on top and enjoy the harbour.

We finally went on a dark January evening, but this didn’t disappoint. Downstairs inside the boat is a lovely eating area with a small bar, we had a little table by the window perfect for looking out over the harbour.

Under the Stars serves tapas and Pizza, all of which sounded too good, so we ordered both!

Oak Smoked Trout and Spanish Chorizo

The tapas:

Oak Smoked Trout with roasted piquilo peppers, sherry vinegar and chilli oil (£5) Incredible flavours, the chilli was an amazing twist to the strong fish flavour.

Spanish Chorizo cooked with Somerset Cider, red onions and garlic (£4.50) You have to order this, the meat is soft and deliciously infused with the flavours of the cider and red onions. Use the extra bread to soak up the leftover sauce – don’t waste a drop!

Patatas Bravas with tomato chilli sauce and alioli (£3.75) Not the most exciting of the tapas dishes, but the chilli certainly added a kick. It worked well with the other two intensely flavoured dishes.

Patatas Bravas

The pizza:

Calabria – Italian nduja chilli salami, buffalo mozzarella and black olives (£10.00)
Thin and just a little crispy on the crusts, there was plently of cheese and the salami was just the right amount of spicey, and of course the olives- a pretty perfect pizza!

Under the Stars is a lovely little boat perfect for a romantic meal, or a quiet evening with friends. I look forwards to going back in the summer and sitting outside enjoying the sunshine and harbourside atmosphere.

Fuego, Bristol

Restaurant Reviews

“Fire your soul” – Despite being a lot smaller than it’s next door neighbour Turtle Bay, it’s hard to miss Fuego with it’s bright yellow exterior.

Inside it’s equally cheerful and bright, with distressed, reclaimed tables and chairs, and colourful vintage posters.

Fuego was created by Columbian-born Gonzalo Trujillo who was involved with Bristol favourites Pieminister and Grillstock, and Spanish-born Esmerelda Martin-Rivera who was a founder of My Burrito that was previously at 7, Broad Quay.

Their Latin American inspired menu is packed with fiery and flavoursome dishes. The second time I went, last Friday, I had to try one of their burritos – and compare it to my favourites, Mission Burrito.

I went for the Bar-ba-cow-a burrito, with no sides, and we shared a portion of Nachos.

When we were ordering food, we started to order our drinks and were informed that we could get a free Sol with a burrito – which was great news, but I hadn’t noticed this offer anywhere in the restaurant or on the menu, so it seemed a little strange but it made us happy.

The food came all at once, which was perfect, and I have to say I have never seen Nachos piled quite so high! A generous amount of tortilla chips were topped with Guacamole, frech Pico de Gallo, plenty of melted cheese and black beans with sour cream on the top.

These were up there with some of the best Nachos I have had, stingey toppings is the thing that usually lets them down, and these had it all. I was only slightly disappointed with the small amount of sour cream.

The Bar-ba-cow-a burrito was a lovely soft wrap filled with smoked beef braised with Mexican spices and dark beer, and the usual rice, beans, cheese, sour cream, salad and pico.

Bar-ba-cow-a: Burritos can’t help looking messy, but they taste so good!

It was smaller compared to a Mission Burrito, but that’s not necessarily a bad thing! The meat was delicious, full of flavour, and the choice of sauces to add was great.

I would definitely go to Fuego again, it’s burritos really don’t compare to Mission Burrito but that’s okay because I can’t wait to try their empanadas and quesadillas!

The Good Earth, Wells

Restaurant Reviews

This is only a brief post about my favourite restaurant in Wells, which to my surprise is a vegetarian restaurant. Everytime I go to Wells I make sure to have lunch at The Good Earth, they offer great fresh and diverse vegetarian dishes that never disappoint.

Their menu offers two main courses which are different every day – but that shouldn’t worry you because they are without fail delicious. The Good Earth also offer four different salads, quiches and baked potatos with amazing fillings.

Today I had Roast Sweet Potato and Aubergine Tian, topped with Goats Cheese. The other option was a black bean chilli with rice, but I love anything with Sweet Potato in so I had to give the Tian a try.

The vegetables were delicious as usual, but the generous topping of goats cheese gave it a perfect twist.

Ljubljana

Travel food

I’m excited to write about Ljubljana because I had no idea what to expect from the city and it was amazing. Despite being the capital of Slovenia, Ljubljana has a small-town friendly feel, especially in the old part of the city.

We found some great places to eat in Ljubljana, although I did struggle a little as there was a lot of venison, veal and lamb on the menu, which I don’t eat.

Eating fresh, homecooked food is a big part of Slovenian culture – they have a market every day in Ljubljana selling all kinds of produce and you can really tell that Slovenian’s pride themselves on the quality of their food.

Open Kitchen

If you’re planning a trip to Ljubljana then make sure you are there for a Friday. They have an incredible food market where restaurants from all over Slovenia come to the city and set up a stall. It’s the best place to eat amazing, and cheap, food in Ljublana – plus your dining choices are almost overwhelming.

We went there for lunch after we had done the free Ljubljana tour, and then in the evening we walked around looking at restaurants and eventually ended up back at the food market having shrimp noodles and chicken from two different stands.

Hood Burger

We had heard that Hood Burgers were the best burgers in Ljubljana – but they were based a little further out from the city than we want to walk. So when we stumbled across the Open Kitchen we were even more excited to discover there was a Hood Burger stall.

For just €5 I had one of the most delicious burgers I have ever had – I went for a cheeseburger while Chris had one with bacon. If you don’t make it to their Open Kitchen stall on a Friday I would definitely recommend making the trip out to Yams Road 105, Ljubljana.

Klobasarna

On one of the main streets in the old town, look out for the giant sausage hanging in the air. Here you can sit outside in the street enjoying the sunshine and eat delicious, traditional Slovenian sausage.

We both had half a sausage with mustard, horseradish and bread for just €3.50. Klobasarna is the ideal place for a quick lunch in Ljubljana.

Most

The riverside in Ljubljana is lined with restaurants and bars, and it’s a beautiful setting for an evening meal. All of the restaurants had great menus and we had a hard time choosing where to eat. Eventually we decided on Most, which is just next to Butchers Bridge. They have plenty of tables outside where you can enjoy the buzzing atmosphere along the riverside, but if it’s cold they also have a huge inside seating area.

We both had the Beef Broth with Noodles to start, as we had seen it on almost all the restaurants’ menus. When it arrived it looked watery, but the flavour was strong and delicious.

For the mains I had a really difficult time choosing between the Home-made Buckwheat Ravioli filled with porcini mushrooms and truffles in a leek and shrimp sauce, or the Spelt Spaghetti with Smoked Trout with champignons and semi-dried cherry tomatoes. I settled on the spaghetti (despite having sworn off pasta and pizza when we left Italy), and Chris went for the Tagliatelle Most with chicken breast, green peppers, home-made basil pesto, plum tomatoes, and roasted pine nuts.

The pictures don’t do them justice, but both dishes were delicious, and you could taste the freshness of the ingredients. The combination of trout and curry flavours with the pasta made it a completely different dish to the pasta that we over indulged in in Italy. If I ever make it back to Ljubljana, I will definitely be going back to Most to try the ravioli.

Take a look at Most’s menu here.

Cat Caffe

Not strictly somewhere to eat, but we loved Ljubljana’s cat cafe so much that we went twice in the two days we were in the city! It’s a little way out of the main area in the old town, but it’s worth the walk.

The cat cafe is a great place to sit down and relax with a glass of local Slovenian wine, in the company of five lovely cats – perfect if you’re having feline withdrawal.

Travel Tips and Recommendations

I can’t recommend enough the Free Map for Young Travellers for Ljubljana – pick up a copy as soon as you arrive! We had no guidebook and very few recommendations, so this map with useful tips and places to see, eat and drink was indespensable.
Do the Free Ljubljana Walking Tour – they run every day at 11am, starting in front of the pink church in Preseren Square and take about two and a half hours.

Rome

Travel food

I love nothing more than excessive amounts of pizza, loaded with cheese and delicious toppings..so a trip to Italy has been heavenly.

Here’s where I ate and what I found were the best places to eat in Rome on a budget because even for amazing Italian food I’m not willing to break the bank.

Tomoko Tudini

Via Principe Amedeo 27, 00185 Roma

We left Bristol at 6am and by the time we arrived in Rome at midday we were absolutely ravenous. So we dropped our bags at the hostel and headed out in search of some hearty Italian food.

Walking down from Termini Station we stumbled across Tomoko Tudini on a little side street with tables outside.

The ‘tourist’ offer of margerita pizza or lasagna with a glass of wine and tiramisu for €8 might give you the impression that the food will be quick and cheap.

However, the lasagna was well presented and tasted delicious. The layers of pasta were soft and there was plenty of cheese – so I was content! It was absolutely ideal for a relaxed, casual lunch at a great price.

Florians

Piazza dell’Independenza, 9, 00185, Roma

Again, we left finding somewhere for dinner until we were starving, and also pretty tired. So we just wondered around the corner from our hostel and happened on Florians.

Sitting outside on the pavement the restaurant had a laid back, friendly atmosphere. We went straight in for the pizza, I had the Cappriciossa and Chris had the Pizza Paza (salami).

As our first experience of genuine Italian pizzas it was pretty good, the edges were crispy and the middles were laden with cheese and toppings. My only dislike was the toppings not being mixed up, but that was easily solved and there was generous amount of olives which is always a bonus! The pizzas were around €8 each and a bottle of wine was €18.

All round a successful first day in Rome.

Verity May eats

Always hungry, always eating.

dining

Edit: Audiophile restaurant on Cheltenham Road

Bristol Roast Dinners

Under The Stars

Fuego, Bristol

The Good Earth, Wells

Ljubljana

Rome