The TownHouse - Food Review in Bristol
Posted on: 2016-01-28
Our rating:
Nick & Vanessa have got a solid, reliable team of staff and chefs of impeccable skill and flair in the kitchen, the sum total being a restaurant that effortlessly blends a beguiling mix of style, ambience and delicious, wallet-friendly gastronomy.
There's nothing quite as satisfying as walking out of a cold, drizzly night and into the warm, welcoming environs of a restaurant such as The TownHouse Bar & Restaurant on Whiteladies Road in Bristol.
With its grandfather clocks, historic photographs, retro adverts, thick wooden tables and chandeliers, it strikingly combines a delightful mix of traditional and old fashioned - almost reminiscent of a halcyon, bygone era - with the thoroughly sophisticated and contemporary, with a dash of kitsch and quirky thrown in for good measure. It's a place brimming with laid-back personality and chilled out, vibrant cool.
Owners Nick Armitage and Vanessa Adam began running the independent TownHouse in 2011 with an emphasis on first-class quality British, Scottish, Welsh and Irish gastronomy, using top quality, locally sourced produce.
There are extensive, impressive menus for lunch, dinner and Sunday lunch while there are also special menus for larger groups.
My dad and I took advantage of the Evening Set Menu which runs from 7pm to 10.30pm Monday to Friday and which tempts the city's gastronauts with 3 courses for £17.50, which represents superb value for money.
For starters we both had the roast beef, dripping toast, parsley, capers and horseradish (£6), a thick, doorstep wedge of dripping embalmed, crunchy, salty toast topped with an impressive heap of slightly pink, wonderfully tender and tasty beef and a dollop of fiery, zingy horseradish. An awesome culinary prelude indeed.
Enticed by the beer battered cod, handcut chips, mushy peas and tartare sauce (£12), my dad revelled in the Orca-sized portion of fish with its golden, crispy batter which cracked open to reveal thick, exquisitely moist and creamy flakes of delicious cod accompanied by impressive, crunchy wedges of potato.
My 6oz Hangar steak served with thin-cut fries and rocket was similarly spectacular, the steak cut into meltingly flavoursome serrated slices and enhanced by a pot of peppercorn sauce (£1.50) which possessed the perfect consistency, piquancy and punch.
Orange and cointreau pannacotta was my dad's dessert of choice - two small mounds of thick, creamy, dreamy pannacotta - while my pear & apple crumble with double cream consisted of magnificently soft pear topped with a delightfully crumbly, buttery topping and counterbalanced by silky smooth double cream.
On a Tuesday evening The TownHouse was throbbing with diners and the atmosphere of this homely, modern restaurant was wonderfully relaxed but infectiously buzzy.
Nick and Vanessa have evidently got a solid, reliable team of genial, efficient staff and chefs of impeccable skill and flair in the kitchen, the sum total being a restaurant that effortlessly blends a beguiling mix of style, ambience and delicious, wallet-friendly gastronomy.
5/5
Reviewed by Jamie Caddick for 365 Bristol - The leading events and entertainment website for Bristol
Article by:
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.
