The Cross Hands Pub - Bristol Food Review
Posted on: 2017-09-18
Our rating:
A warm welcome, great drinks and fabulous food.
The Cross Hands pub sits at the top of Fishponds Road like some kind of imposing, majesterial monolith - an unmistakable, inescapable towering titan to a warm welcome, great drinks and fabulous food.
Actually, in all fairness, since I moved into the area a few months ago - and up until a few nights ago - I hadn't actually sampled any of their food. Cider, yes. Oh, plenty of cider. Ask any of the brilliant, affable bar staff who, usually a few times every week, put up with my late afternoon, incrementally rambling anecdotes and tirades as the fermented apples kick in and closing time inevitably looms.
But enough my own personal, winsome nostalgia of the place. On my mid-week meander, I had to swap - Worzel Gummidge-style - my casual punter head for my professional reviewer one. It just reinforced what I always knew anyway; this place just gets better with every repeated visit. The fine wine or vintage cheese of local pubs and community restaurants, if you like.
The Cross Hands underwent an extensive and impressive refurbishment in 2010 and the place has since drawn in the locals like moths to a flame. It's huge inside; light, spacious and kitted out with contemporary decor mainly comprising lots of wood and wood paneling, well-spaced tables and the sporadically placed minimal decor such as the occasional pot of flowers or painting on the wall. A huge bonus for trade - during the summer months, at least - are its ample front and rear garden spaces which have plenty of tables and chairs for some much-needed al-fresco supping, and the back has a children's play area.
Its bar is big and displays an impressively eye-popping range of wines and spirits. An exemplary selection of real ales, lagers and ciders are available at the pull of a pump, including the likes of Orchard Pig Reveller, Old Rosie, Bath Ales Gem and a continuously rotating variety of guest ales. My pint of Reveller was in tip-top condition - so tip top, in fact, that I had to imbibe three of them.
The menu has always consisted of traditional pub classics such as burgers, pizzas, fish and chips and a mouthwatering host of light bites. Their Sunday roasts have generated enviable word of mouth and most weeks you have to book to reserve a table, while the pub's pocket-friendly offers mean you can grab a burger, skinny fries and a pint for £10.50 during weekdays from 5.30-6.30pm as part of their Early Bird deal, and on Tuesdays you can enjoy a homemade curry and a pint for a tenner. They also have a steak night every Thursday.
But my Wednesday night wander was prompted by the lure of food more exciting and exotic, namely the pub's recently launched Malaysian menu which has generated significantly positive word of mouth and commended for its authentic style, cooking and flavours.
For starters, I went for the chicken satay with peanut sauce, onion and cucumber (£4.95), which was a consummate version of the appetizer; the chicken was tender, succulent and slighted spicy, perfectly counterbalanced by the salty, piquant tang of the peanut sauce and bolstered by a nice textural crunch from the cucumber. My culinary partner-in-crime opted for the Siew Yoke (£4.95); cheeky, bite-sized cubes of pork belly that looked so good I had to pilfer one from her plate - eye-rollingly tender, melt-in-the-mouth meat with a hedonistically magnificent crunchy crackling top.
And that was just the prelude to the main act, which in my case was Nasi Goreng (£8.95); the amalgam of a fluffy pillow of Malaysian fried rice, chicken, shrimps, vegetables, garnished with a fried egg and a small crescent of prawn crackers was an exquisite amalgam of textures, depth of flavours and a pleasantly warming, but not overpowering, spicy hit.
.jpg "Nasi Goreng at The Cross Hands in Bristol")
My dining debutante went for the beef rendang (£9.95), unquestionably one of the most well -known and popular Malaysian dishes. This version was faultless, and the slow cooked beef - marinated in a rich coconut sauce with hints of lemongrass and kaffir lime - was, on its own, a good enough reason eat out for the night. Extraordinarily - almost preternaturally - tender, it was an indulgently glorious oral oscillation of flavours, softness, richness and spiciness, and the bed of fluffy steamed rice was the perfect accompaniment.
Desserts came in the form of sticky toffee pudding with butterscotch sauce and vanilla ice-cream (£4.95) for me - a perfectly adequate rendering of this traditional post-mains staple - and treacle tart with double cream (£4.95) for my culinary compadre, which was also a perfectly passable version of the pud.
.jpg "Treacle Tart with Double Cream at The Cross Hands in Bristol")
The stars of the show here, however, are the Malaysian dishes, which have been recreated with such passion, attention to the detail and authenticity you'd think you were dining in Pendang. With such astonishing versions of these Malaysian dishes and packed with such a heady, exhilarating punch in the flavour department, I can see them becoming a regular companion to my weekly pints of cider.
Stunning food in a cosy gastropub with attentive, genial staff, The Cross Hands is the epitome of the perfect, charming, unpretentious community boozer that will more than keep you well fed and watered. What more could you want?
TOP MARKS!
Atmosphere - 5
Food - 5
Service - 5
Value - 5
The Cross Hands, 1 Staple Hill, Fishponds, Bristol, BS16 5AA
Tel. 0117 965 7759
Check out The Cross Hands website or follow them on Facebook and Twitter to keep up to date.
.jpg "The Cross Hands in Fishponds menu")
Article by:
Jamie is a writer, blogger, journalist, critic, film fan, soundtrack nerd and all-round Bristolian good egg. He loves the music of Philip Glass, the art of Salvador Dali, the writings of Charles Bukowksi and Hunter S Thompson, the irreverence of Harry Hill, and the timeless, straw-chomping exuberance of The Wurzels. You can sometimes find him railing against a surging tide of passing cyclists, or gorging himself senseless on the Oriental delights of a Cosmos all-you-can-eat buffet.
