Friendly Records Bar, Bristol

Reopened under new ownership and renamed since my previous review, this now has a rather unusual name but it seems appropriate since there was a very friendly welcome from the landlord and there is indeed something of a record theme, with a number of album covers displayed on the walls and a couple of turntables on the bar counter. Presumably it’s under the same ownership as the record shop next door. Don’t think though that this is some sort of trendy DJ joint, there was a low jazz soundtrack playing when we were there, and with the low lighting from red lampshades it rather reminded me of Ronnie Scott’s. It consists of two rooms, a light and airy front room with dual aspect windows and a much cosier rear room. The front room includes the bar counter and has mottled cream tiling on the floor, khaki green paintwork on the ceiling, large windows with some stained glass at the top and butcher’s tiles below whilst the seating is a mixture of stools at the bar and regular wooden chairs with tables covered in some sort of red Formica. The rear room had similar tables, but padded wooden bench seating fitted around much of the perimeter and dark red paint on the walls. The entire back wall had been made in to a display of album covers, predominantly from the 60’s by the looks of things and a large selection of spirit bottles. Unfortunately, there were no real ales on tap, although the keg selection looked interesting with four or five options, mostly from local micro’s including Arbor Ales and Wiper & True. The solitary cider meanwhile was North Street, appropriately enough. Despite that though, overall I really liked this with it’s friendly welcome and laid back ambience.

A new addition to the North Street strip, this is housed in a corner plot on a site that was at one time, as it’s name suggests, an old butcher’s shop, although it has more recently been trading as an antique dealers. It is a joint venture by the nearby Old Bookshop and the local micro-brewery Wiper & True. Internally it has a very stripped back, minimalist look with what is probably the shop’s original tiling on the floor and fresh white plasterwork on the walls. Large dual aspect windows make the most of the outlook, whilst a couple of small black and white photographs were on the walls. There is further tiling behind the bar counter, some of which looks as though it may be quite old. Seating was a mixture of tables and chairs and high stools, all in a school type style of utilitarian black metal and wood. Staff all seemed genuinely friendly with smiles all round and lots of attention to detail, such as turning your glass so that the logo is facing you for example. The obligatory bearded barman was in attendance and he was enjoying playing with the sound system, including having The Clash on at a particularly high volume. Although there is a bar counter, it is apparently table service only here. Whether that’s due to licensing constraints or not, I don’t know. Furthermore all beers appeared to be keg rather than cask and only served in ⅓, ½ and ⅔ measures rather than full pints. The choice on this occasion were all from the owners and were their Kaleidoscope, In The Fines, Quintet, Small Beer and Hard Shake, the latter coming in at the equivalent of a hefty £10.50 per pint, although it is 10.7% ABV.

A new opening with only 1/3's, 1/2's and 2/3rd's available complete with table service. I suspect all the licencing laws new tick boxes have been ticked to get a licence. All in all though despite not being my sort of place it was enjoyable.