On Friday evening, Justina Robson and I were on a panel about politics and science fiction in Stokes Croft as part of the Bristol Festival of Literature. I had got a ticket for Paul Cornell, but he had been lured away elsewhere so I had a ticket going spare. Just as Justina and I were getting ready to leave, Shana Worthen turned up at the hotel. I offered her the ticket, and she said she’d love to come as long as she could still make her dinner reservation. The timings fitted, so off we went.
Along the way we checked out the location of the restaurant where she was eating, and it turned out to be about 5 minutes walk from the venue. Shana asked us if we would like to come along, but warned us that is might be a little pricey. It turned out that she wanted to check out one of the best restaurants in Bristol — indeed, one that was named Best Restaurant in the South West by The Observer’s Food Monthly magazine in 2004 and 2006. I’m not sure what went through Justina’s mind, but my thoughts went like this: 1) I can’t afford it, 2) but it will be much cheaper than a restaurant of equivalent quality in London, 3) and the food will be delicious. So off we went.
Stoke’s Croft is, of course, famously home to an anarchist artist collective. It does not do luxury. And yet here, in what appeared to be a converted shop in an area bright with graffiti, was Bell’s Diner, home to serious gastronomy.
It was indeed expensive, though not the most expensive meal I have ever eaten, or even paid for. As for the food — wow!
Bell’s Diner is not the place to go if you like big portions — they are far more interested in flavor than quantity. But equally they are not snobbish. This is not one of those fine restaurants that one simply must be seen at, darling. Rather it is a place where people who seriously love food can go and eat interesting meals, and discuss them with passionate staff. It is probably not a good bet if you have a lot of allergies, or are very fussy about what you eat. The menu is very restricted. But I suspect that if you gave them enough warning they would try to meet your needs.
We decided that we would each select different dishes off the three-course meal menu, but before we could even get started we got served canapés and a warm, sweetcorn-based drink that I guess was a type of Atole. Given my experience with Peruvian corn-based soft drinks, I was a little dubious, but it was delicious. Apparently it also contained hay, which led Justina and Shana into a long conversation about feeding horses.
I opted for the snails to start, because if I was going to sample unusual cuisine I might as well go for broke. They came in a wonderful parsley sauce. For main course I had halibut and butterbeans, which was pretty much as expected. There are photos of all this below, including what Justina and Shana ordered. We shared tastes, and I found both Justina’s duck and Shana’s partridge to be delicious.
The restaurant makes a point of serving “natural wine”, which is a marketing term for wine that is made with a minimum of chemical treatments. Somehow I talked my companions into ordering a bottle of sauvignon blanc, which was perfect for my food choices. It was also seriously good.
Before dessert our waiter brought us some small drinks to “clear our palettes”. I’m not sure that “clear” was the right term as they fairly exploded with flavor. At the bottom of the glass was a sloe-gin flavored layer with the consistency (but not sugar) of jam. Above that was a syllabub-like layer flavored with elderflower, and the top was sprinkled with “lime powder”. The lime rather overpowered the delicate elderflower taste, but the drinks were very good.
For dessert both Justina and Shana went for chocolate-based dishes. I opted for the gingerbread soufflé, filled with a bay leaf and ginger yoghurt. Yes, I did say “bay leaf”. I shared out tastes, took a mouthful myself, and died of pleasure. That was the best dessert I have ever eaten. Justina and Shana loved it as well.
Coffee came with delicious petits fours, but we were stuffed and had to ask to take them home.
Photos of all of the dishes are available below. This blog accepts no responsibility for any hunger that you may suffer from viewing them.
Yes, it was expensive. And yes, I am going back as soon as I can afford to.
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