The GRAK, Bishopston, Bristol

The Gloucester Road Ale House and Kitchen is a decent looking pub,so it was a bit of a surprise once inside to find a very modern looking single roomed pub,the room is square shaped with the bar facing,the floor is part tiled and bare boarded,the seating is comfy bench type to the front with comfy chairs and tall tables and chairs in the middle of the room. The pub is run by Wickwar brewery,so there was a good selection of their beers on the bar,i had a drink of Wicwar Bob which was a decent drink,the other Wickwar beers were Star,Porter and Cotswold Way,there was also St Austell Proper Job on the bar. Background music was playing which was good as the pub was empty on my Saturday dinner visit. Not really my sort of pub.

Extensively refurbished and re-opened under a new name since my previous review, this is now run by Wickwar Brewery and despite the pub incorporating the word kitchen in to it’s name, it is nonetheless a pub that does food rather than anything too gastrofied. The basic layout of the pub remains unchanged, although the staircase has been relocated to the front of the building. Flooring is predominantly wood strip with some Victorian style tiling around the bar counter. An exposed brick wall was down the left hand side, with plain white plasterwork elsewhere, and white butcher’s tiles behind the bar counter. On the whole I thought the effect was a little plain and sterile, although there were also a few pictures dotted around the walls, including some of old Bristol such as the Suspension Bridge and Clifton Rocks Railway. The upstairs room continues in a similar vein, albeit with somewhat more exposed brickwork as well as a couple of large mirrors and a plasma screen in the corner that was showing an old black and white film. There is also a smaller bar counter up here with a reduced range of drinks although I also noticed that the Thatcher’s Gold I had from here was somewhat warm and flat compared to the one that had been served up to me downstairs. The menu offered a fairly concise selection of dishes such as a pie, sausage & champ, pork belly, burger, pulled pork bap, etc., which were mostly priced around £9 and in addition to this there were also a few light bites available. The two things we tried were both decent enough and came with some very chunky chips and an apple slaw. Beers on tap were predominantly from Wickwar as might be expected with their Bob, Cotswold Way, Try Time and Falling Star. The guest ale on this occasion was Colchester’s Red Diesel. Ciders were well represented with Thatcher’s Gold, Strongbow Cloudy Apple, Mortimer’s Orchard and Thatcher’s Traditional. All in all whilst I thought this was a decent enough place, it didn’t have quite the cosy ambience that I like in a pub and I’m not sure I’d make a point of popping in again, especially if it were just for a drink rather than a bite to eat.

Official site of Gloucester Road Ale House & Kitchen - wickwarbrewing.com