The five exciting new Bristol restaurants you must try in 2023 - including Muse Brasserie and Grano

The number of Bristol restaurants closing their doors for good may currently outnumber the tally of new openings but there are still plenty of reasons for the city’s diners to get excited about 2023.

One of the big new city centre launches is Muse Brasserie, which replaces the short-lived Prince Street Social on the ground floor of Crown House in Prince Street.

Chef Director Franck Grillet has built up a formidable reputation at the original Muse Brasserie in Cheltenham and the restaurant’s fusion of European and Asian cooking is sure to prove equally popular in Bristol.

A typical meal at Muse Brasserie could kick off with king prawn chettinad, crab cake and bisque and follow on with ‘Le Tiffin’ (Malai chicken tikka, cumin rice, paratha and papadums. Leave room for the apple tarte tatin with vanilla ice cream.

If proper Italian cooking is more your thing, 2023 is already promising plenty of exciting new dining opportunities.

After a series of brief residencies and pop-ups around Bristol, including a short stint at the Bristol Old Vic, Grano has just opened its first permanent site in Old Market.

It has taken over the site of Glitch, which is where it held its first pop-up in 2018, and Piedmontese chef Alberto Noriega is serving fresh seasonal pasta dishes, meat and vegetarian main courses and, of course, Grano’s much loved tiramisu - regarded by many to be the best in Bristol.

Sticking with an Italian flavour, Pizzacci is scheduled to open on the Promenade at Gloucester Road in early 2023. It’s the latest venture from the team behind Bosco Pizzeria on Whiteleadies Road and although they are keeping the menu a secret until they launch, pizzas (whole or by the slice) and soft serve ice cream are promised, as well as frozen cocktails.

Bristol’s blossoming plant-based food scene promises to get even better when the city gets its first branch of Pastan, which is due to open soon in the old Friska cafe site on Prince Street, just off Queen Square.

There are already Pastans in Manchester and London and these vegan pasta restaurants offer a range of enticing plant-based options including ‘Smooth Operator’ (pumpkin and sage tortellini dressed with sage butter and deep-fried sage leaves) and ‘Umami stroganoff’ (paccheri pasta coated with a creamy rich porcini and shiitake mushroom sauce drizzled with truffle oil and a sprinkling of tarragon).

Delayed by the pandemic, Boxhall food hall is now due to open in the summer of 2023. The converted sheds on Welsh Back will feature seven kitchens for local independent food businesses, chosen by well known Bristol chef Josh Eggleton.

The concept started in London’s trendy Shoreditch and then expanded into Croydon so the Boxhall team will be hoping Bristol foodies will embrace the multi-million-pound project, too.