Phoenix, Bristol

As Pete has mentioned below, this is certainly a transformation from it’s previous incarnation. It’s quite dark, although not gloomy, with much black paint on the walls and ceiling as well as a dark wooden floor. There’s a long bar on the right with a few wines chalked up on a board. The furniture is a mix of different styles, with some leather sofa’s, an old leather bench car seat from a Jaguar and an interesting table with a comic book set in to the top. The bar is illuminated with some unusual “bird cage” lamps, complete with a small model bird inside. The remainder of the lighting is pendant lights with over-sized orange shades. A rather jazzy mirror made up of small mirror sections all set at different angles completes the interior. There is also a few tables outside, overlooking a tiled square, which seems to have been much improved since my previous visit. Beers on tap were Doom Bar, Butcombe and Arbor’s Citra, the latter being priced at a very reasonable £2.50. The solitary cider was Thatcher’s Gold.

A proper, traditional old boozer. Certainly no airs or graces, but it does what it does wello enough. I'd never been to this until recently as it was a bit out the way, but with the CC redevelopment, there's no excuse. In case you're not sure where it is, go over the new bridge to the car park and as you get to the end it's pretty much right underneath you on the right hand side.