Turtle Bay, Bristol

A relatively new addition to the city centre, this is much more of a Caribbean restaurant/bar rather than your traditional pub, and as a consequence the only draft offering was the Jamaican Red Stripe. There is some outside pavement seating which seems a popular spot especially in the warmer weather, and inside it appears to be predominantly aimed at diners although there is a drinking area to the left of the bar counter which has been fashioned to look like a beach hut with wooden shutters and a corrugated iron roof. It’s a good size internally, extending back some way although it probably creates the illusion of being larger than it actually is due to a couple of mirrored walls. Elsewhere the décor is mostly breeze blocks painted in bright blue or mustard and the industrial theme continues with a bare concrete ceiling and visible cable trays, etc. There is also some exposed stone walling, particularly at the rear. On the left were a number of reggae posters and pictures of Bob Marley and beyond this a large collection of vintage speakers and TV sets. An open kitchen was in the centre of the pub and elsewhere bits of corrugated iron and even part of an old shipping container had been pressed in to use to make walls. The menu continued the Caribbean theme and offered a number of “one pot” options as well as jerk chicken, goat burger, BBQ pork belly or West Indian steamed fish. Prices mostly seemed to be somewhere around the £10 - £14 mark, however we did not eat on this occasion so cannot comment on the quality. As mentioned, the only drink on tap was Red Stripe and whilst there was a small selection of bottles this did not include any beer or cider. Cocktails are the main theme here, and it’s pretty much always happy hour, except from 7:00pm – 10:00pm. The cocktail range was a little more unusual than many places with most, if not all, being rum based. My “Jammin’” was decent enough if a little heavy on the mint and included apricot jam amongst it’s ingredients. Barman was friendly and helpful, although having only one serving the punters at the bar meant something of a wait. All in all I quite liked this, and may well return to check out the food. But if you’re after something a little more “pubby” (or even at all pubby come to that) then this may not be for you. Like Pub SignMan, we also visited on a Sunday afternoon. I've been past on a Saturday night before and it just looks like chaos so it may be wise to choose your visiting time carefully.

Official site of Turtle Bay - www.turtlebay.co.uk

Official site of Turtle Bay - www.turtlebay.co.uk

Right in the heart of the city centre, this is a Caribbean themed restaurant and bar that, despite being primarily food driven, seems to attract a lot of drinkers wanting to enjoy the reggae music and cocktails on offer. We walked past on a Saturday evening and the place was packed (and pretty deafening too), with plenty stood around the bar and crammed into the designated non-restaurant space to the left. Looking for somewhere to eat the following afternoon, we popped in to find things much calmer. The place has a single room interior with an island bar opposite the front door, made to look like a shack. The aforementioned seating to the left is set aside for drinkers and stands under a series of reggae themed posters. The restaurant is over to the right hand side, with a long banquette running down the end wall under a huge blue mural of a young lady with a large afro. Small square tables are supplemented with school style chairs in the remainder of this space which is lit by large oil drum lamp shades which hang from above between a mix of exposed pipes and the like. An open kitchen can be viewed to the rear right and there is additional seating beyond this underneath a huge 'Cockspur Rum' mural. Limited pavement seating is available underneath an awning that has been decorated with lots of small up-turned buckets. The drinks range is dominated by cocktails, which seem to be the main draw for those visiting purely for drinks, but a few bottled beers are available, including West Indian options like Carib and Red Stripe, as well as Guinness. The food is typical west Indian fayre and I tried the one pot curried goat, which was pretty decent. The staff were incredibly friendly and welcoming and a real credit to the place. We enjoyed this place as somewhere to grab a decent bite to eat, but I'm not sure it's the sort of place I'd ever consider going to just for a drink. If you like Caribbean style food or cocktails, this is a good city centre option, but others may find it too niche for their liking.