The Old Bookshop, Bristol

This is a quirky bar with an unusual layout, located on a main road through what appears to be a fairly hip part of town. The name suggests that the pub was previously a bookshop and its location in a row of shops seems to bear this out. However, the pub certainly doesn’t feel like your average shop conversion, with two units connected by a single doorway meaning that it doesn’t have the opened out feel you might otherwise expect. You enter into the lower of the two units, now used as a seating area with a turquoise paint scheme, white tiled walls and a few tables and chairs squeezed into the compact, L-shaped space. The room extends a little to the rear, where a dark wood panelled room with more standard seating and a small unused servery can be found. Some weird collections of items can be found back here, including pulleys and blowtorches, and there is access to a small, unexplored garden from here too. Moving through to the right hand side of the pub, through the aforementioned doorway, you emerge into the main bar area. This is a stone tile floored room with tables and stools under the foldable front windows and opposite the bar, with a few more tables and chairs to the rear. The bar is to the front right and has a white tile bar back and a remarkable counter made from a deconstructed piano, with the keys in front of the serving area and the upended innards fronting the bar’s glass collection area. Lots of random light shades hang down from the ceiling, including one made from a French horn and there is a good deal of taxidermy on show too, rounding out the pub’s bric-a-brac shop vibe. To the rear left, there is a small stage for live music performances and there was a suggestion that further rooms exists behind, but I didn’t venture further back. There was just the one cask ale available – Bath Gem – alongside four craft keg beers and a couple of real ciders. I tried the Gloucester Demi God, which was a nice drop but at London prices at £5.00 a pint. The barmaid was very nice and talked me through the pub’s upcoming events which were being put on to coincide with a street art festival taking place that weekend. I liked the mad antiques shop feel of this place and thought it was quite a fun and quirky bar that probably rewards repeat visits. The friendly welcome was a definite bonus and my only reservation would be the reliance on keg beer, although it seems they try to source these from reliable, quality suppliers.

The Old Bookshop is a new pub that is in an old building. Once inside there is a smallish oblong shaped room which is on two levels,the bar is to the right on the upper level,for some strange reason there is a piano in front of the bar,the seating is a few tall tables and chairs and normal tables and chairs. There were two reals to choose from,i had a drink of Wild Weather Little Wind Bitter which was a decent drink,the other beer was Purity UBU. Food was being served and funky background music playing. I found this to be a decent pub to have a drink in,it was also quite busy on our Saturday afternoon visit. Pub visited 23/1/2016

Official site of The Old Bookshop - www.theoldbookshop.co.uk

Official site of The Old Bookshop - www.theoldbookshop.co.uk

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.