The Christmas Steps - Sunday Roast Review in Bristol

Posted on: 2016-02-12

Our rating:

The Christmas Steps is a cracking, homely pub full of cosy charm and a welcoming ambience, steeped in history, staffed by convivial, friendly people, and renovated as one of the most appealing, laid back pubs in Bristol.


 

Ahar me hearties! Christmas Steps may have once been frequented by hordes of smugglers and pirates, but now it's home to a superlative Sunday roast thanks to those rather splendid folk at The Christmas Steps.

The Christmas Steps in Bristol

It's always been one of my favourite parts of the city. Small, historic, brimming with character and charm and home to some of the more niche shops such as a stamp dealer and master bow maker, it's a delightful spot that always beguiles and enchants.

Many of you - myself included - will remember this Georgian pub, which dates back to the 1600s, when it was the Three Sugar Loaves. It underwent refurbishment and was reopened in 2014 as a joint venture between the owner of The Spotted Cow in Bedminster, Dave Smeaton, and the publishers of Bristol's independent Crack magazine, and now has a more open, lighter feel with its thick wooden beams and original stone walls. 

It's a snug little haunt set across three levels with plenty of cosy nooks and crannies, while behind the bar there's still the original 17th century fire that was used to refine raw sugar cane into sugar, which is now used to store some of the pub's bottled beverages. As well as the historic features there are also contemporary additions, including - appropriately enough for a pub that's part owned by a music magazine - a jukebox where you can pick out your own pop hits. 

Chicken Sunday Roast at The Christmas Steps in Bristol

There's a superb range of real ales and porters from local breweries as well as a good stock of farmhouse ciders, and food is served during lunchtimes and evenings.

Ever eager to sample a roast, my visit on a grey, cold, drizzly Sunday afternoon was the perfect antidote to shake off the winter blues and fill my grumbling stomach with some first-class fare. My organic chicken breast with pork stuffing (£12.95) was marvelously cooked, exquisitely tender and agreeably moist, while my mum's Frampton of Severn Salt Marsh Leg of Lamb (£10.95) was similarly, faultlessly cooked and packed with flavour, while the homemade mint sauce was divine. 

Both roasts were accompanied by a very generous portion of vegetables including carrots, red cabbage, a pot of awesomely intense, rich, blissfully mouthgasmic cauliflower cheese, as well as several impressively sized, impeccably cooked roasties and a Herculean proportioned, deliriously spongy homemade Yorkshire pudding. The bountiful puddle of richly potent red wine gravy elevated an already consummate meal to another gastronomic level. 

Lamb Sunday Roast at The Christmas Steps in Bristol

For dessert, my mum and I both went for the cardamom and red wine poached pear with hazlenuts and vanilla ice cream (£4.50), a mighty, heady combination of flavours and textures that brought things to a resoundingly satisfying finale. 

The Christmas Steps is a cracking, homely pub full of cosy charm and a welcoming ambience, steeped in history, staffed by convivial, friendly people, and renovated as one of the most appealing, laid back pubs in Bristol. It also takes its Sunday roasts very seriously, using the finest quality produce from local suppliers and plating up culinary concoctions of a roast that really is something to rave about.

5/5

Reviewed by Jamie Caddick for 365Bristol.com - The website where local information matters

For further info please visit www.thechristmassteps.com, their Facebook page or Twitter.

The Christmas Steps is located at: 2 Christmas Steps, Bristol, BS1 5BS

Poached Pear at The Christmas Steps in Bristol



Article by:

James Anderson

Born and raised in the suburbs of Swansea, Jimmy moved to Bristol back in 2004 to attend university. Passionate about live music, sport, science and nature, he can usually be found walking his cocker spaniel Baxter at any number of green spots around the city. Call James on 078 9999 3534 or email Editor@365Bristol.com.