Slug & Lettuce, Bristol

Since my previous review this has now become part of the Slug & Lettuce chain, although other than some S&L branding, little seems to have changed in terms of the décor. It was surprisingly quiet on a recent Thursday evening visit, and it took some time to get served as there was nobody taking much notice behind the bar. There were two people there, one emptying the dishwasher and another carrying stacks of glasses, but neither seemed inclined to stop what they were doing and serve the customers. House-keeping was similarly shoddy with detritus from previous diners left all over the tables which we had to move out of the way before we could sit down. On the plus side, they do now appear to have some real ales on tap. I say “appear”, as despite three pumps on the bar, all had their clips reversed. One appeared to be Tribute, another an IPA of some sort, and I couldn’t make out the third. Cider fared slightly better with Thatcher’s Gold on tap.

Official site of Slug & Lettuce - www.slugandlettuce.co.uk

Official site of Slug & Lettuce - www.slugandlettuce.co.uk

A modern, purpose built bar on the edge of Millennium Square, this is one of those establishment that has a relaxed and chilled out vibe during the day and then morphs in to more of a late night party venue, open until 1:00am on the weekends. It is a corner plot with large, full height windows all the way round and a few outside tables and chairs. Inside it’s essentially all one open plan room with a writing desk in front of you as you come in. There is also a mezzanine level floor off to one side and a glass-sided bridge to the loo. The flooring is a pale wood strip whilst there is a mixture of cream wood panelling and plasterwork on the walls along with a small section of exposed brickwork just inside the door that was also displaying some artwork. Large mirrors for a backdrop to the bar and there appears to be something of an emphasis on cocktails at the expense of more traditional drinks. Seating was a mixture of high tables and chairs, leatherette bench seating and a Chesterfield sofa or two. A baby grand piano was at the rear of the pub, and apparently this is used by their resident pianist of an early evening, although there was no evidence of him when we arrived at around 9:00pm. We didn’t eat on this occasion, but a glance at the menu showed a decent looking selection of “pub grub” dishes such as Fish & Chips, Beef & Ale Pie, Sausage & Mash etc., as well as a few slightly more adventurous dishes. These were mostly priced around £12 or so although some such as the Roast Monkfish were considerably more at £19.95. There were also drinks menus on the table and as well as an extensive cocktail selection you could buy a whole bottle of spirits. These seemed expensive, for example around £100 for a run of the mill gin such as Bombay Sapphire or Hendricks. If you were feeling really flush, you could always go for a bottle of Cognac at £2,500. Unfortunately there were no ales on tap, real or otherwise. Even the “Bottled Beers” section of the menu listed predominantly lagers, with the only one that looked like ale being Meantime Pale Ale, although at the equivalent of almost £7 a pint, I don’t imagine they have too many takers. The cider selection was marginally better, although establishing exactly what was available was hard work. It was difficult to see the pumps on the bar, so I enquired what cider they had only to be told it was “Apple”. I thought I must have missed the part where he told me the brand, but no, it was just apple. After some further discussion with no sign of progress, he offered me a sample. It turned out to be the Swedish Rekorderlig which is a bit sweet for my liking, but at least t doesn’t have the horrible artificial sweetness of some brands. Overall, I was quite disappointed with this. It is, I suppose, a nice setting, and it looks as though they may make a bit of an effort with the cocktails and the food, but the lack of any beer and the attitude of the barman, not only in his inability to tell me what cider was on but also another issue which I will take up with Trading Standards, really let the place down.