Cow & Sow, Bristol

A recent opening on the site of the former Graze pub, the emphasis here is very much on the food rather than drinking, with beef and pork being the primary options as you would expect, given it’s name. In theory I suppose you might be able to just pop in for a pint, but all the available tables were taken by diners on our Saturday evening visit, so unless you’re prepared to stand at the bar or perhaps sit on one of the tables on the heated patio outside, your options are going to be rather limited unless you call in at a quieter time. Décor wise it’s quite contemporary, with dark, polished wood strip on the floor, large wraparound windows at the front and a mixture of cream and khaki green paintwork. Some pine cladding was at either end and an open kitchen was to the right. Padded benches with teal banquette cushions ran along under the window, the sills of which were dotted with various items of foliage and candles. A limited selection of artwork was on the walls, and large straw lampshades hung above the tables. Food was very much steak focused as mentioned, although there were a small number of other options. My miso rubbed pork belly with sweet fondant potato, kimchi, sticky soy and honey glazed pork cheek was actually a very good dish, and if you’re after a nice meal I’d certainly recommended it. It’s clearly a step up from your normal pub grub though, and our three-course meal for two with a bottle of wine came to well over £100 by the time they’d slapped the 10% service charge on. Unfortunately, despite a solitary hand pump on the bar, this did not appear to be in use and the sole beer offering was Camden Pale Ale on keg. Even worse, there were no ciders on tap at all, although to be fair they did have a couple of the excellent Orchard Pig varieties in bottles. Overall, a tricky one to mark – as a restaurant I thought it was very good, but as a pub it falls woefully short, to the point of not really being a pub at all.

Official site of Cow & Sow - www.thecowandsow.co.uk

Official site of Cow & Sow - www.thecowandsow.co.uk

A smart modern restaurant/bar owned by the Bath Brewery, so unsurprisingly featuring their beers. Gem and Prophecy are on handpump, with others on tap and in bottle. More of a restaurant than a pub but there are a couple of sofas by the bar and a side area of tables. Quite pleasant and the food is very good, especially the Sunday roast.

This pub was not on my list to do,but my bus stopped close by so i thought i would give it a go. Once inside the bar faces in an oblong shaped room which runs the width of the pub,the floor is bare boarded. There is bench seating and chairs to the front and normal tables and chairs elsewhere,the left side seemed to be for drinkers and the right side for diners where there was an open kitchen. There were three real ales on the bar,i had a drink of Bath Ales Jem,which was a decent drink,the other real ales were Bath Ales Prophecy and St Austell Proper Job. Background music was playing and it was almost empty on my Saturday dinner visit. Pub visited 29/7/2017