Best of 2015: New food and drink openings

BEST NEW RESTAURANT

1. Bulrush

That head chef George Livesy and his partner Katherine Craughwell chose to move from London to open their first restaurant in Cotham speaks volumes for the buoyant state of Bristol’s food scene.
21 Cotham Road South, BS6 5TZ
www.bulrushrestaurant.co.uk

2. Aron’s Jewish Delicatessen

Don’t let the name mislead you – this is a restaurant serving modern Jewish soul food who plan to open a second restaurant on Stokes Croft in 2016.
19 Chandos Road, BS6 6PG
www.aronsdeli.co.uk

3. Historical Dining Rooms

Like stepping into the pages of the most elaborate cook book you can find in the best antique book shop you know.
The Black Door, Windsor Terrace, BS3 4RY
www.historical-dining-rooms.co.uk

4. Pizza Workshop

The pizzas here immediately appear in the Premier League of Bristol pizza, vying for first place with Flour & Ash on the Gloucester Road and the nomadic Bertha’s Pizza.
232 North Street, BS3 1JD
www.pizzaworkshop.co.uk

5. Flow

Bristol has been looking for a top notch new veggie restaurant for some time. With the arrival of Flow in the rejuvenated Haymarket Walk between the Bearpit and the bus station, the search is over.
9A Haymarket Walk, BS1 3LN
www.flowbristol.co.uk

BEST NEW PUB

1. The Lime Kiln

Owned by Paul Wratten, a former landlord of the Severn Stars in Redcliffe, the Lime Kiln is well worth taking a detour off Park Street to locate. All of the beers on cask and on keg have tasting notes chalked up on a blackboard, in a small one-room pub with oak beams and a roaring fire.
17 St George’s Road, BS1 5UU
@LimeKilnPub

2. The Knowle

The Knowle is a handsome Victorian boozer standing proudly back at the heart of its community
Leighton Road, BS4 2LL
www.theknowlebristol.com

3. Adam & Eve

Taken over late this year by the Small Bar team with beers from some of the best small breweries across the UK.
7 Hope Chapel Hill, BS8 4ND
www.adamandeve.pub

4. The Drapers Arms

The Drapers Arms is Bristol’s first micropub. All the beer and cider here are served straight from the cask and sourced from small independent producers throughout Bristol and the surrounding area.
447 Gloucester Road, BS7 8TZ
www.thedrapersarms.co.uk

5. Nettle & Rye

If you’re familiar with the Royal Navy Volunteer on King Street, you’ll know what to expect here. Beer drinkers in Bristol are becoming spoiled for choice.
16 Kings Road, BS8 4AB
www.nettleandrye.co.uk

BEST NEW BAR

1. Spoke & Stringer

This tapas bar with a shop selling bikes and surfboards next door is a terrific addition to the Bristol scene, its food bringing to mind Poco with the addition of harbour rather than hobo views, and always with a great selection of mostly local beers.
The Boat House, Unit 1, Lime Kiln Road, BS1 5AD
www.spokeandstringer.com

2. Bellita

For the purposes of this list we’re going to call Bellita a bar, but it’s also one of Bristol’s best new restaurants of the year whose food has already been praised by Marina O’Loughlin in The Guardian as “simply lovely”.
34 Cotham Hill, Bristol, BS6 6LA
www.bellita.co.uk

3. Bar Des Amies

Cappuccinos by day and craft beer by night – much of which is commendably local.
86 Whitehall Road, BS5 9BQ
@baramies

4. Her Majesty’s Secret Service

The team behind Her Majesty’s Secret Service are new in town, escapees from London’s Cocktail Trading Co. who have been tempted to Bristol by its flourishing drinks scene.
Whiteladies Gate, Whiteladies Road, BS8 2PH
www.hmssbristol.com

5. Southside

Polished concrete, exposed brickwork and weathered metal create an industrial New York-style interior in this Totterdown bar.
172 Wells Road, BS4 2AL
www.southsidebristol.co.uk

BEST NEW CAFE

1. Tradewind Espresso

The coffee here is in the premier league of what Bristol has to offer, thanks to this Blackboy Hill cafe owned by the same team behind Roasted Rituals coffee roasters of Hengrove. Try the brilliantly named Biggie Smalls, an espresso swiftly followed by a flat white.
118 Whiteladies Road, BS8 2RP
www.tradewindespresso.com

2. Ape About Coffee

This small espresso bar can be found within the gallery area of their host business Paper Arts in Broadmead.
51-53 Merchant Street, BS1 3EE
www.apeaboutcoffee.com

3. Salt

Check out the small deli upstairs and don’t leave without trying a homemade cake. Watch out for more film screenings and live music in the new year.
120 St George’s Road, BS1 5UJ
www.saltcafebristol.co.uk

4. Club Haus

One of this year’s more unusual openings takes up the reception area of Vivo Sports & Gym Club.
Welsh Back, BS1 4SB
www.clubhaus.bar

5. Beyond the Wall

Triathletes need refueling so it makes perfect sense for a cafe to open in the UK’s biggest triathlon shop in the Harbourside.
Millennium Promenade, BS1 4SZ
@beyondthewall

BEST NEW STREET FOOD

1. Ickle

The little sister of Pickle only a few hundred yards away has two different items on the menu each week, with new choices every Friday including Mediterranean stewed chicken, Lebanese beef stew and chipotle bean and sweet potato chilli.
Outside 100 Temple Street, BS1 6AG
@icklebristol

2. The Pickled Brisket

Get some Friday night street food action @Bristol_Eats @TFSundayMarket tonight. From 5pm. #Bristol #streetfood pic.twitter.com/tQ3c3Subec

— The Pickled Brisket (@pickledbrisket) November 27, 2015

Deli-style salt beef sandwiches found across town all this year at markets and events.
www.thepickledbrisket.co.uk

3. Hooper Coffee

Rich Brady has converted a tuk-tuk into a marvellous mobile cafe.
Greville Smyth Park, BS3 1RU
www.hoppercoffee.co.uk

4. The Magnificent Muffin

pic.twitter.com/a2D4nL9oba

— Magnificent Muffin (@muffintimes) November 8, 2015

Find these delicious toasted muffins at the Harbourside Market every Saturday and Sunday.
@muffintimes

5. The Pizza Bike

What is believed to be the world’s very first portable pizzeria is powered by high quality ingredients, bespoke hardware and software, highly professional team “and of course a little bit of magic to keep everything in place”.
www.thepizzabike.co.uk

Read what we crowned the best of food and drink in Bristol 2015