The Ashville - Bristol Food Review

Posted on: 2017-04-19

Our rating:

Despite being right in the heart of the city, The Ashville has a bright and seaside-y feel with its white and blue colour scheme, and stripped wood flooring.


There are a variety of classic starters such as soup and pate, but at The Ashville the steaks are the stars of the show, so we decided to skip the starters and head straight for the steaks. While we were looking at the menu, the food arrived for the table next to ours and my thoughts of maybe having the 8oz sirloin disappeared as I caught sight of the t-bone steaks on offer. It’s a cut that I’ve not had before and looked amazing. There’s a variety of steaks for all appetites. Starting at the smaller end, there’s the 8oz sirloin is £16.95 and the 10oz rump £15.95. Then for the heartier appetites, there’s the 22oz t-bone for £25.95, 36oz t-bone for £38.95 and a whopping 52oz t-bone for £52.95. There is also a 32oz tomahawk £32.95.

The Ashville - Bristol Food Review - Steak

Having seen the generous portion of chips that comes with the steak, I decided to pass on those, and have mine with just the salad and peppercorn sauce. Simon has a bigger appetite than me, so he kept the chips, mushroom and tomato that come as standard. The smallest t-bone is 22oz which I know sounds like a huge amount of meat, but I promise that once the bone is taken out, what you’ve got is a really good, but not unmanageable, portion size.

The Ashville - Bristol Food Review - Rare Steak

I opted to have my steak cooked rare. It was beautifully cooked. When choosing how you would like your steak cooked, consider that meat closer to the bone cooks less than meat away from it. The flavour of the steak was outstanding, with a good level of char on the outside, and a succulent and juicy interior. In the interest of journalistic research, I tried a couple of Simon’s chips, and they were really excellent too. The salad was dressed with a citrusy dressing and the lightness worked really well with the steak. Accompanying the steaks is a wonderful peppercorn sauce. Creamy and full of flavour, it was wonderful for dunking in chips and chunks of steak.

The Ashville - Bristol Food Review - Cheesecake

After a little break, we managed to find some room for pudding. I opted for the £4.95 Lemon Posset and Simon had the £5.95 cheesecake. With a subtle vanilla flavour, the cheesecake was very creamy and had a mousse-like texture. It is served with fresh fruit for added flavour. The lemon posset was really delicious and was a textbook version of this classic pudding.

The Ashville - Bristol Food Review - Lemon Posset

It’s great to see The Ashville paving their own way in the Bristol steak scene by offering cuts that are less common. The service is excellent and it’s a lovely place to go for quiet dinner, or as a larger group celebrating a special occasion. As well as their evening menu, The Ashville is open for lunch, and offers a lunchtime deal of one course for £7 and two for £10 which is available Tuesday to Friday from 12 – 3pm.

Food - 5

Value - 4

Atmosphere - 4

Service - 5

For more info please visit www.theashville.co.uk along with their Facebook and Twitter pages. The Ashville is located at: 15 Leigh Street, Southville, Bristol, BS3 1SN. Tel: 0117 939 6897



Article by:

Sarah Starling

Sarah is a writer and blogger, as well as running workshops and teaching. Her passions are food and travel, and you can follow her on Instagram at YesStarling and find her website at www.yesstarling.com .