Lupe, Bristol

A relatively recent opening on North Street, this is at the opposite end of the road from the more trendy establishments such as the Lounge and the Tobacco Factory, but nonetheless seems to have established a good reputation and was full to capacity on a recent Saturday evening visit. It’s divided in to a couple of different rooms, neither of which is particular big and it has quite a quirky ambience with all sorts of bits and pieces scattered around. Staff seemed friendly enough, especially the shaven headed and heavily tattooed gentleman who greeted us on arrival. Décor wise it has black tiling on the floor with grey/blue paintwork on the walls and some exposed stone walling at the rear. The bar counter itself appears to be made out of an old piano and still incorporates the keyboard, whilst some of the light fittings above it are made from old trombones. Elsewhere there was numerous paraphernalia, including a whole row of old typewriters on the wall above the window, milk jugs, old lampshades and various stuffed animal heads, birds and antlers and even a couple of old copper engines of some sort. A couple of large speakers and a stage area at the rear suggested that there may be live music on occasions, and a few flyers on the wall seemed to support this. At the rear was a covered courtyard that had something of a nautical theme with a couple of old rowing boats, oars and even some outboard motors with propeller shafts still attached. Food wise, a menu chalked up on a board in the corner offered a selection of tapas style dishes in the £4/£5 range, as well as a couple of more substantial options such as paella. These looked very tempting, and I shall return on another occasion to check it out. As in the vogue in many such places, a selection of cakes were on one end of the bar counter. The solitary beer on tap was BBF Sunrise, although there was a second pump that had apparently run out and there was also keg Gem. Ciders were Orchard Pig Reveller and Sandford Orchard’s Devon Mist. There were a few other unusual drinks on tap including the British Freedom lager, Urban IPA and something with a picture of the space shuttle on the pump clip – no ideas what that was. Overall I really liked this, and thought it a welcome addition to this end of North Street.