Pubs Galore - the UK pub guide

No. 1 Harbourside in Bristol

This is a large, open plan bar and restaurant with an ideal setting on the Harbour. The interior is formed of a shallow, but wide single room with exposed floorboards and a servery along the rear wall. The bar has a rough stone counter with graffiti-style doodlings on the front, plus a plain wooden bar back topped with some lovely old ceramic spirit dispensers. A row of pillars runs through the centre of the room, each painted in stripes, with standard tables and chairs arranged in between and sofas and armchairs at either end. Some large bookcases stand next to the bar, full of tatty old books, whilst a few paintings add a dash of colour at one end of the room and a bicycle is suspended from the wall at the other, next to a series of gig posters. Large floor-to-ceiling windows along the whole of the front wall allow for some excellent people watching opportunities and there are quite a few tables set outside along the busy walkway, most of which were under cover. Music played quietly in the background during my stay and there appeared to be a small performance area near a piano at the far end of the bar, perhaps for the occasional bit of live music.
The pub has made recent editions of the Good Beer Guide and there were five hand pumps in operation when I visited, offering Bristol Beer Factory Independence, Belgian Swipe Right and Fortitude, Sharps Atlantic and Butcombe El Toro. My pint of Fortitude was served to me by a rather distracted barmaid, but was in pretty good shape and I enjoyed sipping it whilst watching the folk outside get caught in a terrific rain storm!
The bars down on the harbour are mostly generic chain venues which don’t have a lot to recommend, so it was nice to try this place out and enjoy some of their locally sourced ales. The place felt a bit more like a restaurant than a bar to me, but having said that, I didn’t feel particularly uncomfortable drinking here and was able to take my time until the weather cleared up. Worth a look if you want a drink down on the water, but there are many better pubs back in the direction of the city centre.
Reviewed by Pub SignMan