Bristol has long been regarded as one of the best places outside London when it comes to good food.
Many of the city’s top restaurants frequently appear in prestigious national lists of the best eateries in the UK, as well as the influential guidebooks.
And the hard-to-please national restaurant critics are often spotted in Bristol, too, regularly making the trip down from London to write reviews of the latest culinary hotspots.
Here’s a round-up of six of the best Bristol restaurants according to those influential London critics and what they said.
1. Wilsons, Redland
Tom Parker Bowles, Mail on Sunday: “This is an exceptional lunch, no doubt about that. Probably the best I’ve had all year, with the warmest and loveliest of service. Once again, Bristol comes up trumps. Dear god, I love this city. And dear god, I worship Wilsons.”
2. Harbour House, The Grove
Jay Rayner, The Observer: “While acknowledging I should have stopped here when it was the Severnshed back in the day, I can at last confess my delight at having stopped here now that it’s Harbour House.”
3. Caper & Cure, Stokes Croft
Marina O’Loughlin, The Sunday Times: “If I had to define the place in one word, it would be generosity.”
4. Marmo, Baldwin Street
Tim Hayward, Financial Times: “Chef Cosmo Sterck is a genuine talent that I, for one, want to climb to the top of the Cabot Tower and proclaim like a muezzin.”