My Guide to Bristol: Restaurants

So, you've had your lunch and afternoon tea in Briz (from one of my fave places, perhaps), but where are ya gonna go for dindins?

Behold, my fave restaurants in Bristol. Guten Appetit!

The Burger Joint

If you came to visit me at any point during my three years living in Bristol, it’s likely that I took you to the Burger Joint. Quite simply, my fave place to eat in Briz. What I love is that you can create your personal dream burger: choose your bun, burger (including everything from wild boar to veggie patties), toppings, side and dips/sauces.

My usual is a beef burger in a classic bun, topped with roasted red peppers, halloumi and sautéed onions, with sweet potato chips (oh, these chips!), peanut butter and garlic mayo on the side. Promise me you’ll go and you’ll get sweet potato chips with peanut butter? You may be raising an eyebrow at me right now, but everyone who has followed my advice has thanked me for it. Trust.

Also, it’s super affordable, they do student discounts, AND offer free refills on soft drinks. I tend to have at least four Diet Cokes per visit. I also love that if, say, you’re not so hungry, or maybe you’re going out out afterwards and you’re in a bodycon skirt, you can have a smaller burger.

Oh, they also do other stuff like nice-looking salads, but I’m afraid I wouldn’t know how they taste as I couldn’t possibly ever go and not have a burger.


Aquila

A relatively new but creating-quite-a-name-for-itself restaurant, we went to Aquila for my graduation dinner. And it was fabulous. It’s gorgeous inside – really stylish and modern – and the staff are delightfully friendly. The menu consists of yummy Italian dishes and we all loved what we had. I think it’s a great choice for when you want something slightly nicer than a casual student dinner (a graduate dinner, maybe?).


Beerd

If you’re into beer and pizza, Beerd is the place for you. Between you and me I’m less interested in the beer, but I do like me some pizza. It’s top-notch. They also do fab offers such as 2-for-1 Mondays and a fab lunchtime deal: a slightly-smaller-than-normal-but-perf-for-lunch-sized margherita plus two toppings for a fiver.


Maitreya Social

Veggies, this one’s for you. I liked Maitreya Social so much that I wrote a whole blog post about it, which you can check out here. It’s a little further afield and out of the student bubble, but I reckon it’s worth the trip.


The Cowshed

The classic restaurant of choice for a parental visit, the Cowshed, unsurprisingly, is one for the carnivores (although they do have veggie options too.) I actually went there with my galpals to take advantage of their fab three-courses-for-£12 lunch offer after finishing our degrees (check it out) and it was great. It has a lovely interior and the food is top-quality.


The Townhouse

Just across the road from the Cowshed, The Townhouse has an equally appealing offer for early dinner: before 7pm you can get three courses for a tenner, and you can’t argue with that, can you? (Although I have to say I find the portions a tad stingy. I mean, it’s plenty, but I like to eat, what can I say?) The food is lovely and they’re very accommodating – the Townhouse has been the restaurant of choice for many a student society dinner. I recommend the chocolate nemesis.


Tiffins

The owner of Tiffins is an absolute babe. Nick is so friendly, lovely and generous, as are the rest of the staff at this little family-run Indian takeaway. It’s just round the corner from Uni and serves up fab curries – I love the fact that you can mix and match the various meat and veggie options and choose just as much rice as you like. And if you’re feeble with spice like me, they’ll gladly give you some yoghurt to calm down your flaming mouth. Equally, Tiffins pride themselves on using natural, good-for-you ingredients which I obviously love.

So there are a few of my faves! As a student it's safe to say I didn't go out for dinner often and there were so many more restaurants I'd have liked to have tried. Let me know if you have any recommendations or what you think of my choices! I miss Bristol so much I'm definitely going to be making my way back soon.

PS. I realise there are a lot of pictures of burgers in this post. #sorrynotsorry.