Reviews

The Prince of Wales - Sunday Roast Review in Bristol

Posted on: 2016-01-15

My slow cooked belly of pork was a revelation. The thick strip of meat representing a faultless example of consummately cooked, melt-in-the-mouth perfection and topped with a salty, crusty layer of heavenly, crunchy crackling.

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Sunday roasts have always been popular but the competition across the majority of the city's pubs has become palpably more impassioned and intense over the past year. Bit of luck then that The Prince of Wales on Gloucester Road in Bristol is serving up a plateful of what is unquestionably one of the best of the nation's favourite meals.

The Prince of Wales and I go back many years, having been a regular haunt during my university, post-university and adult years. If I'm ever scouring Gloucester Road's abundant charity shops for a well-spotted, thrifty bargain on a Saturday afternoon then I'm partial to popping in for a quick, mid-peruse pint and a bite to eat. 

The Prince of Wales - unsurprisingly on a lengthy of road that takes great pride in boasting some of the best independent shops in the city - is equally unshackled and stoutly independent. It's also one of the most instantly recognisable buildings in Bristol, with a gloriously vibrant graffiti frontage depicting various real ale hand pumps and multi-coloured glass windows alongside original Victorian tiles. Distinctive, individual and, unlike the relentless identi-kit beigeness of pub chains and commercial brands, utterly unique.

While the outside may have been given a fresh coat of graffiti paint, the inside decor has remained refreshingly, reassuringly the same for as long as I can remember. Like a comfortable pair of old shoes, there's something endlessly warm, cosy and welcoming about The Prince of Wales. The front houses two rooms decked with flagstone floors and large tables with what I've always thought were rather funky cast iron claw feet, while the covered garden at the back has always been popular with drinkers and those partial to lighting up a Lambert and Butler. 

Drink wise, there's an impressive selection of soft, alcoholic, locally sourced and organic beverages. Real ale drinkers can revel in the choice of Bath Ales Gem, Otter Amber and Butcombe Gold, while connoisseurs of the fine fermented apple juice can quench their thirst with Symonds, Ashton Press or - my personal favourite - Addlestones. 

Food is served Monday to Saturday from 12pm to 8.30pm with an extensive selection of lunch, dinner, light bites, mains, sides and dessert options.

My visit on a rather grey and rainy Sunday afternoon, however, was to sample one of their much-trumpeted roast dinners, which costs £10 for the roast and £4 each for starters and desserts, or £12.50 for two courses. 

My slow cooked belly of pork was a revelation. The thick strip of meat representing a faultless example of consummately cooked, melt-in-the-mouth perfection and topped with a salty, crusty layer of heavenly, crunchy crackling. My dining partner in crime went for the topside of beef, which was still slightly pink as she liked it so it retained its fullest, juiciest, most potent beefy flavour. 

Both roasts were served with Maple roasted carrots and parsnips, kale and savoy, braised leeks, red cabbage, roasts potatoes - all cooked to text book, impeccable magnificence - and topped with a gargantuan Yorkshire pudding which was a first-class combo of adequately moist and perfectly puffy. 

We managed to crowbar down a dessert of apple pie with custard and carrot cake with vanilla frosting, both of which were top notch, and finally built up sufficient energy to bloatedly, rather inelegantly galumph our way out of the building.

Pub manager Toby Summerell-Youde may have only taken over The Prince of Wales just over a month ago but he's clearly a man who knows what he's doing to keep the PoW fan base and city's food and drink collective happy. It's very much business as usual for a pub that has plenty of character and charm and Toby has no intention of changing a well-established and very successful formula. Business is very good and long may it continue; Toby's an affable, hardworking chap who was mucking in pulling the pints and serving the food to tables of hungry punters, and he deserves to do well.

He's also surrounded himself with excellent, efficient staff in the form of Charlotte Milton and exemplary head chef Adam Gregory, who uses food from local suppliers and free range and organic produce where possible, including the Gloucester Road butcher Murray's. With them at hand to keep the pub's well-lubricated wheels of industry turning The Prince of Wales triumphantly carries the torch as one of the best, much-loved, most fiercely independent venues in town. 

5/5

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

The Prince of Wales is located at: 5 Gloucester Rd, Bristol, BS7 8AA. For more info head over to www.powbristol.co.uk

Tags : Recommended Sunday Roast in Bristol, Sunday Lunch in Bristol, Best Sunday Roast in Bristol, Best roast dinner in Bristol, Bishopston pubs, Gloucester Road Sunday Roast

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