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Cow & Sow, Bristol
Bristol
BS1 4JZ
Reviews (Current Rating Average: 6½ of 10) see review guidelines
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Blackthorn _ left this review about Cow & Sow
A recent opening on the site of the former Graze pub, the emphasis here is very much on the food rather than drinking, with beef and pork being the primary options as you would expect, given it’s name. In theory I suppose you might be able to just pop in for a pint, but all the available tables were taken by diners on our Saturday evening visit, so unless you’re prepared to stand at the bar or perhaps sit on one of the tables on the heated patio outside, your options are going to be rather limited unless you call in at a quieter time.
Décor wise it’s quite contemporary, with dark, polished wood strip on the floor, large wraparound windows at the front and a mixture of cream and khaki green paintwork. Some pine cladding was at either end and an open kitchen was to the right. Padded benches with teal banquette cushions ran along under the window, the sills of which were dotted with various items of foliage and candles. A limited selection of artwork was on the walls, and large straw lampshades hung above the tables.
Food was very much steak focused as mentioned, although there were a small number of other options. My miso rubbed pork belly with sweet fondant potato, kimchi, sticky soy and honey glazed pork cheek was actually a very good dish, and if you’re after a nice meal I’d certainly recommended it. It’s clearly a step up from your normal pub grub though, and our three-course meal for two with a bottle of wine came to well over £100 by the time they’d slapped the 10% service charge on.
Unfortunately, despite a solitary hand pump on the bar, this did not appear to be in use and the sole beer offering was Camden Pale Ale on keg. Even worse, there were no ciders on tap at all, although to be fair they did have a couple of the excellent Orchard Pig varieties in bottles. Overall, a tricky one to mark – as a restaurant I thought it was very good, but as a pub it falls woefully short, to the point of not really being a pub at all.
On 8th March 2022
- rating: 7
[User has posted 1948 recommendations about 1861 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Graham Coombs left this review about Graze
A smart modern restaurant/bar owned by the Bath Brewery, so unsurprisingly featuring their beers. Gem and Prophecy are on handpump, with others on tap and in bottle. More of a restaurant than a pub but there are a couple of sofas by the bar and a side area of tables. Quite pleasant and the food is very good, especially the Sunday roast.
On 27th January 2020
- rating: 6
[User has posted 3339 recommendations about 3276 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Alan Winfield left this review about Graze Bar & Chophouse
This pub was not on my list to do,but my bus stopped close by so i thought i would give it a go.
Once inside the bar faces in an oblong shaped room which runs the width of the pub,the floor is bare boarded.
There is bench seating and chairs to the front and normal tables and chairs elsewhere,the left side seemed to be for drinkers and the right side for diners where there was an open kitchen.
There were three real ales on the bar,i had a drink of Bath Ales Jem,which was a decent drink,the other real ales were Bath Ales Prophecy and St Austell Proper Job.
Background music was playing and it was almost empty on my Saturday dinner visit.
Pub visited 29/7/2017
On 28th October 2017
- rating: 7
[User has posted 6113 recommendations about 6113 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Quinno _ left this review about Graze Bar & Chophouse
Situated on the site of an old post office, the name of this place gives you a fair indicator of where its priorities lie but nonetheless it stocks a couple of Bath Ales’ handpumps (Gem and Summer’s Hare on my visit) plus their full bottled range. My Summer’s Hare was in decent nick given I was only the second customer of the day and it came in at a fairly reasonable (given the location) £1.65 for a half. Staff were friendly and I got a ‘goodbye’ which was nice. The interior is open plan, with a light and airy feel due to the bank of large plate glass windows that front the building. There’s a formal dining area and kitchen to the right, with a general drinks area (though still condimented-up on every table) to the left. Fairly tasteful modern décor; a varnished wood floor with some attractive tile-work by (and on) the bar, some raised padded banquette seating. The piped muzak was more suited to an early 90s cocktail bar mind you. Sun-trap front patio with plenty of seating. All rather nicely done and a lot better than Beerd, it's nearby sister pub in Clifton.
On 24th May 2013
- rating: 6
[User has posted 5081 recommendations about 5064 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Blackthorn _ left this review about Graze Bar & Chophouse
This is a Bath Ales establishment, although a bit of a departure from their normal pubs in that it's very much a restaurant as well. As the name suggests, the emphasis is very much on steaks, although there are some other interesting dishes on the menu.
Hopefully this will do better than the previous incumbent, the Queen Square Dining Room which only lasted a couple of years. Even though it's very close to King Street and the Waterfront, it's out on enough of a limb to not attract much in the way of passing pub trade. The Bibas bar at the opposite end of Queen Square was very short lived as well, but that too was essentially a restaurant. Hopefully with this being a bar as well it will manage to attract more custom.
As you enter though the middle doors, all the tables to the right are laid up for food and the ones to the left are not, so there's clearly defined areas for eating and drinking even though it's all in one room. There's not really much of a pub atmosphere to the place, but it's a decent enough establishment and the staff seem friendly. Whilst there are four hand pumps on the bar, unusually for Bath Ales pubs, there are only two beers available – Jem and Barnstormer. Apparently their cellar is rather small. They also have their Bounders ciders, and a couple of lagers that are more interesting than the norm in many pubs – Budvar and Amstel.
On 15th March 2010
- rating: 6
[User has posted 1948 recommendations about 1861 pubs]