Pub of the Week: Clockwork Rose

Unimposing from the outside, you could easily miss the simple golden decal in the window of this ordinary building tucked in between Corn Street and Baldwin Street. But ascend the steps and push open the double doors and you’ll find yourself in a dark steampunk fantasy where no detail is too small.

Greeted at a heavy mahogany desk before even getting to the bar, Clockwork Rose take table service to the next level as a waistcoated barman picks out a seat in the corner and delivers a glass of water and bowl of salted pretzels (that get refilled when empty), along with the menu.

Burgundy Chesterfield sofas sit around the edges of the room with vintage wooden chests and suitcases as their respective tables, while a set of impressive stools, made from repurposed industrial pipes, offer perches around the spectacular curved bar.

Clad in tarnished brass and topped with wood, it dominates the room. A huge set of ornate shelves at the back is stocked with beaten copper mugs, cocktail glasses of all shapes and bottles of spirits, climbing vertiginously towards the crop of beautiful vintage glass pendant lamps delicately lighting the dark space.

The extensive cocktail menu is built around the story of Captain Sebastian Commodore, master and commander of the Clockwork Rose, a fictional steampunk-style airship sketched in detail on the first page of the menu.

The cocktails designed in-house by the team are named for the adventures of this debonair gent, including Far Flung Shores (£9) made with Kraken spiced rum and tequila, and the Carbolic Spray (£12) with Monkey Shoulder scotch whisky and Cointreau. There’s also a plentiful selection of gins, rums, whiskeys and aperitifs, plus wines and non-alcoholic cocktails.

I opt for the Darker By Nature (£8.50) with courvoisier, ginger liqueur, lime juice, coffee and chicory syrup, angostura bitters and smoked sea salt, all topped up with ginger beer.

The waistcoated barman mixes it up without any ostentatious shaking, just measured precision and a vigorous stir in a large cut-glass vessel. He pours it into one of the copper mugs with plenty of ice, and, a final flourish, adds a lime cut into the shape of a boat.

It is deliciously smooth and refreshing, with a crisp flavour and a smoky ginger kick to finish that lingers on the back of the tongue. The metal beaker keeps it ice cold as I sip leisurely – absolutely no danger of it melting into a disappointing lukewarm puddle.

There’s nothing for it but to sink deeper into the Chesterfield, listen to the eclectic music and absorb the impressive attention to detail – from the metal dinosaur skull in a jar on a shelf, to the trio of clock faces on the wall with attached barometers.

There’s a meticulousness here that many of Bristol’s more generic bars could learn a lot from, and a light touch with a theme that could so easily have veered towards grating. Instead, it’s a genuinely interesting cabinet of curiosity that doesn’t feel either excluding nor gaudy.

Come as you are, and be prepared to stay longer than you thought you would.

Clockwork Rose
16 St Stephen’s Street, Bristol BS1 1JR
www.theclockworkrose.com