The Malago, Southville, Bristol

My third review of this establishment under yet another different name and a steadily increasing score each time, although it does still retain quite a strong food emphasis. As before, the layout is unchanged including the open kitchen at the rear, and the décor whilst on the whole quite contemporary, does have a bit of a rustic feel to it in places. The bar area is at the front of the pub with the middle and rear sections being geared up for dining, although there were also a few punters eating at the front on our recent Friday evening visit. I suspect if they were busy then the only option for drinkers would be sitting on the stools in the window. Flooring is sanded wooden boards whilst there was also some rough wooden cladding on the bar counter. One mid-section of walling was exposed brickwork, but on the whole it was all fresh cream plaster. Numerous pieces of handmade artwork were on the walls with many of the being for sale, although prices seemed a little steep with even quite small pieces being £60 - £100. There were both bar and restaurant versions of the menu available with the former offering pub staples such as burger, fish & chips and a few steaks. We went for the restaurant menu and gave this a thorough workout, with everything that we had being very good indeed. Prices here were a little more, perhaps £15 - £20 for a main course, but this was well justified. A starter of hickory smoked rabbit with celeriac, carrot and sunflower seeds was a particular highlight as was a desert of chocolate caramel mousse cake. There were no cask ales on tap unfortunately, although the solitary keg option of Independence was at least a decent offering from the Bristol Beer Factory just a few hundred yards up the road. The solitary cider meanwhile was Aston Press. All in all I quite liked this with it’s friendly staff and very good food, but then if you’re after something with a bit more of a traditional pub ambience and a better range of beers then it may not be for you.

Official site of The Malago - www.themalago.club

Official site of The Malago - www.themalago.club

Since my previous review this had a change of both name and ownership and is probably even less pub like than it was before with more of an emphasis on food. That said, there remain a couple of pumps on the bar and there’s no reason why you couldn’t just pop in for a pint. The basic layout is unchanged, although there is an open kitchen at the rear and the paintwork is now a somewhat more refreshing pale grey and white, which together with all the windows give it a light and airy feel. A large butterfly collection was on one wall along with a selection of individually names pot plants (personal names like a pet would have, not the botanical names!). Staff were all pleasant and friendly, and overall it had a very relaxed, chilled out vibe. We were here for breakfast and the menu offered a decent selection of traditional fry up’s as well as various egg based dishes and a few specials. Personally I would find chorizo or chilli a bit highly flavoured for a breakfast dish, but each to their own. My Eggs Benedict was a very good example; it can often be let down by a Béarnaise sauce instead of hollandaise, thick chewy muffins, an over cooked egg, a thick slice of ham instead of a thin and crispy Italian cut – here it was all spot on though, definitely one of the best I have had. We didn’t see an evening menu, although a small specials board offered a few options at around the £15 mark, so a step or two up from your usual pub grub. There was also a selection of cakes on the bar, and apparently these were also available “to go”. The solitary beer on tap was Wye Valley’s Butty Bach, whilst the cider was Weston’s Mortimer’s Orchard which is a new one on me. This is a tricky one to mark – what it does, it does very well and I really enjoyed it, but if you’re after something a bit more “pubby”, then it may not be for you.