The Stable, Bristol

A new addition to Bristol’s waterfront in a building that at one time housed the Chicago Rock cafe, this is now a Pizza/Pies/Cider venue according to it’s strapline, although going on the choice of cider offered I think Cider/Pizza/Pies would be more appropriate. It’s a large, open bar with bi-folding glass doors all along the front giving good views across the water, and there are also a few benches out on the quay side. Seating is mostly chunky wood canteen style tables with church candles on and in addition to this there were a couple of red leather benches on a raised area to the left and a few old beer barrels dotted around that you could rest your pint on. The open kitchen is on the right where you can see the chefs hard at work. At the back is an exposed brick wall giving a somewhat rustic feels to the place whilst the flooring is small orange tiles. The food offering as previously mentioned consists mostly of pizzas and pies and there were menus on all the tables as well as options chalked up on numerous large blackboards. Most of the pizzas looked to be around the £10 mark with many of the choices being somewhat more unusual than the ubiquitous Meat Feasts and such like and had local names such as Avonmouth Angler and Portishead Piggy. We enjoyed what we had and would happily return, although whether I would want to go as far as a pizza for pudding (hazelnut, chocolate and mascarpone) I’m not entirely sure. Ciders are the real star of the show here though, and the menu proudly proclaims that there are 60+ available. Over half of these are on draught or bag in box which means that they have a far better selection than established cider house such as The Apple and The Orchard. It will be interesting to see if this range is maintained. Ciders on draught were Symonds Founders Reserve, Dorset Draft and Dorset Dabinett from the Purbeck Cider Company, Thatcher’s Copper Press, Weston’s Old Rosie, Sandford’s Devon Red, Lilley’s Fire Dancer and Bee Sting Pear cider. In addition to this there were 26 (yes, twenty six!) boxes racked up behind the bar and numerous bottles as well. If cider’s not your thing, there was also St. Austell’s Proper Job for the beer drinkers. All in all this seems to be a welcome and interesting addition to Bristol’s bar scene and well worth a visit.