Reviews

The Old Bookshop | Bristol Food Review

Posted on: 2018-03-01

There aren't many places you can order a hearty meal for under a tenner. With mains costing from £7.50 to £9.50 the food we enjoyed represented excellent value for money.

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The Old Bookshop is one of many pubs on North Street in Bedminster, Bristol, and could easily be considered my local. It’s safe to say that this visit wasn’t my first rodeo. If you haven’t been to The Old Bookshop before then you won’t be aware that the bar is literally a piano bar - a fully functioning multi tap bar atop a piano. It’s the kind of pun that tickles me and makes me smile. Vintage style lampshades hang from the ceiling and light darts off the equally pun-tastic, shiny brass chandelier fashioned from an array of brass instruments. Taxidermy and Victorian photographs adorn the walls. I adore the homely but quirky decor and, importantly, the good selection of ale available. I went into the visit excited to try the new, recently launched menu.

The erupting war raging between The Beast from the East and Storm Emma meant it had been snowing all day. The city of Bristol was a whisker away from being on red alert but fortunately The OId Bookshop is just a few minutes walk from home. Snowflakes danced and flurried around us but we were glad to leave the bitter air and enter the warmth of The Old Bookshop which was almost as warm as the welcome we received. All the staff were helpful and friendly.

We made ourselves at home and perused the menu. The main dinner menu was mostly vegan with a few vegetarian choices and a fish option. My dinner companion, a hardened meat eater, wasn't enamoured with the menu and struggled to find anything that stood out. For him, no meat was a massive turn off. Especially given that a variety of meat products are available on the brunch menu served earlier in the day.

To whet my whistle I opted for something I hadn’t tried before, a light pale ale called Bunny Hop which was really lovely. My dinner date went for Werrrd by Electric Bear which again, and as expected, was really very good.

We eventually settled on the beetroot and chilli burger and aubergine katsu curry.

The curry sauce was sprinkled with pumpkin seeds which was a great added texture, and it had a fantastic flavour too. The rice was the perfect kind of sticky, not too glutinous and not too dry but just sticky enough to hold it's form. The aubergine, coated in breadcrumbs, was wonderfully crisp.

I was skeptical about the burger as I worried it could be dry but I could not have been more wrong. The burger was moist with the perfect hint of chilli. The winter slaw, balsamic dressing and toasted seeds offered a fantastic contrast of textures and flavours. I was really excited about the bun as it heralded the return of sesame seeds to burger buns - hurrah! In all, especially with the addition of halloumi, it felt like a proper, old fashioned dirty burger - just sans meat.

We also ordered a single portion of salt and thyme fries which were seasoned well and just enough for two as a side dish.

There aren't many places you can order a hearty meal for under a tenner. With mains costing from £7.50 to £9.50 the food we enjoyed represented excellent value for money.

Whilst my dinner companion felt the dishes were missing the main event (meat) we agreed that the quality and flavour of what we were served was exceptional.I may not make the conversion from beef to beetroot when it comes to burger preferences in the long term, but The Old Bookshop produced fantastic tasting mains. I’d definitely recommend it, especially to those who choose not to eat meat, next time I'll just bring a different friend.

To warm us up prior to leaving we had a latte each which arrived quickly and was much appreciated before the cold, but fortunately short, walk home. My marks out of 5 are:

Food: 4

Atmosphere: 4

Service: 5

Value: 5

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