Reviews

Bordeaux Quay – Bristol Food Review

Posted on: 2017-04-11

Enjoy a delicious lunch whilst watching the boats go by

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On a beautiful sunny day in Bristol you might wander down to the harbourside as many others do, and find somewhere to have lunch where you can look out at the water. Bordeaux Quay has just that, and even though it is at the end of a long row of restaurants by the harbour, it is worth walking the extra few minutes for. This is what we thought when we went to try their food:

There is a lovely fresh atmosphere in the Bordeaux Quay brasserie, as there is a lot of space and it feels very airy and bright. There is also some seating outside, so if it’s really warm you can enjoy close up views of the boats going by on the river, whilst tucking into your lunch! The complete wooden décor makes it feel upmarket, thanks to the light wooden floor, wooden tables and chairs. It’s modern and there is also a deli on the ground floor serving freshly baked goods to takeaway.

We were seated near the window, to take advantage of the views, and as we looked at the menu we thought that it was quite a small concise one (the less choice there is usually means the quality is better) so we assumed the quality of the food must be good. The food is made fresh to order and this freshness was evident in our starter of Grilled Portobello Mushroom Bruschetta (£6). Large chunks of mushroom were piled on top of a slice of potato sourdough bread (unique to the restaurant), along with wild garlic and walnut pesto. The earthy taste of the mushrooms went well with the walnut flavour and there was pesto on the toast as well as the dollop on top. It was a large portion and well worth the price.

For the main course I asked for the fish of the day, which was Pollock, and it came served on a large bed of roasted vegetables and chorizo (£14.50). Two fillets of well-seasoned Pollock sat on a fabulous mixture of colourful vegetables, including broccoli and onions, and it tasted absolutely delicious with the contrast of the spiciness of the chorizo. There were lots of flavours and textures which made it thoroughly enjoyable and I would order it again in a heartbeat.

My dining partner went for the good ol’ fish and chips (£12.50), as we were by the harbour it seemed fitting, which was good quality and not greasy at all. If you love mushy peas you’ll enjoy the huge dollop of mushy peas that go with the dish, and the fish was perfectly cooked. It was served with a wedge of lemon and a little bowl of tartare sauce. We shared a portion of polenta chips, which it was nice to see on the menu because very few restaurants offer them, but they are a different texture to normal chips which I enjoy once in a while. Polenta is a type of grain, which can be made into all sorts of things from cake to mash. So if you haven’t tried polenta chips before they’re worth a try!

When it came to dessert we found that the freshly made cakes were much more worthwhile than the desserts on the menu. The freshly baked cakes change regularly so it’s nice to be able to choose something new, like the apple and almond cake I tried with vanilla ice cream. We tried the Compressed Apple Tart from the menu but unfortunately found it was a little underwhelming, so we would definitely recommend the cakes on the counter instead as we really enjoyed the cinnamon flavour in the crumbly apple and almond cake, which had nice chunks of apple inside. 

 

Being at Bordeaux Quay was a lovely way to spend a sunny afternoon, so next time we get some warm weather in Bristol we'll be back!

 

Atmosphere 5

Value 4

Food 4

Service 3

 

Address: V-Shed, Canons Way, Avon, Bristol BS1 5UH. Check out Bordeaux Quay's website here and find them on Facebook and Twitter.

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