We try the new ‘Alpine’ dishes on the menu at Côte restaurant in Bristol 

‘No skis required’ - that’s the reassuring message at Côte, which is currently running a new Alpine menu that offers diners a ‘taste of the mountains’.

As somebody who has never been tempted by the lure of the slopes, and has enough trouble negotiating icy pavements in Bristol, it was music to my fur earmuff-free ears.

Actually, the temperature outside Côte in Cabot Circus was almost freezing when I arrived for dinner so there was almost a sense of entering a cosy log ski cabin as I felt the warmth of the dining room on my frozen face.

Côte was surprisingly busy on a January weekday evening. It may have been a school night but that didn’t stop a large group of teachers and international language students from bagging a large area for a celebratory dinner. 

Anyway, it all added to the international ski resort atmosphere as I studied the small Alpine Specials menu presented alongside the usual menu with its French brasserie favourites.

Côte is still my favourite restaurant chain. It has rarely let me down over the years, and that’s not something I can say about most big chains, which can be more unpredictable than the slippery slopes of Chamonix.

The Alpine specials are running until the restaurant brings in its Valentine’s menu and that’s the thing about Côte - they like to keep things moving with different deals and menus, which makes it interesting for regular diners.

The Alpine menu includes a starter, main and dessert. There’s also a sharing-size main course - the Tartiflette Luxe for £28.95.

I started with the Diots (£8.95) - dish of bite-size pieces of smoked Toulouse sausage and cherry tomatoes cooked with white wine, thyme and caramelised onion.

The plump slices of sausage were firm, juicy and full-flavoured, the tomatoes were soft and yielding. I mopped up the buttery juices with pieces of sourdough baguette. 

If there’s one classic French Alps dish it has to be Tartiflette (£14.95) and this version - served in the dish it had been baked in - was a proper winter warmer.

The slices of potato were layered with caramelised onion and smoked bacon lardons before being covered with a blanket of melting Reblochon and Comte cheese. It was rich, comforting and probably not what any visiting cardiologists might order, but it was delicious.

A well dressed and vinegary green salad was just the right accompaniment as it cut through the richness. 

I didn’t really have space for dessert after those two dishes but I ordered the pear tart (£15.95 to share) purely for research reasons. Maybe a lighter dessert for one person might be an idea for this Alpine menu next year.

Still, the warm almond frangipane tart was studded with pieces of soft, ripe pear and topped with a drizzle of melted white chocolate and a few pert blueberries, which provided a much needed acidity to the buttery and indulgent tart. It was served with a jammy blueberry compote and a decent vanilla ice cream.

There were also a few edible flowers on top, but the less said about them the better - call me an old stick in the mud, but I like my flowers in a vase not on a plate. Still, the Instagrammers will love them.

Feeling as pot-bellied as a well-packed snowman, I politely turned down the offer of the après-dinner Alpine Chocolat Chaud (decadent hot chocolate with warm milk and vanilla Chantilly cream).

Well, like any novice skiier, you have to know your limits sometimes.

Côte, 6-8 Quakers Friars, Broadmead, Bristol, BS1 3BU.