Despite its small span, the Bristol neighbourhood of Stokes Croft makes a resounding impact on the city’s restaurant scene, with some truly creative and impressive restaurants; we list 1o of the best.
Surrounded by an atmosphere as alive and hip as Stokes Croft, The Runcible Spoon is an oasis of calm with a cosy and old-fashioned setting perfect for any meal of the day. The dark furniture and open fireplace creates the perfect ambiance to retreat for a delicious late-evening meal. In the spirit of Sunday roast season, a time when British and Irish food-lovers feast on traditional roasted meat and roasted potatoes, The Runcible Spoon serves one of the best Bristol has to offer. If that doesn’t tempt your tastebuds, this restaurant offers a wide variety of dining choices from Cornish hake with leek and samphire in a seaweed butter sauce to a crisp pigs’s head with smoked apple. This restaurant ultimately succeeds in sourcing fresh ingredients and local produce and turning it into a fine-dining experience worth trying.
Bringing bohemian-chic to the Stokes Croft neighbourhood, Poco Café Bar serves some of the best tapas and cocktails to be had. Poco has firmly established its presence with its dynamic seasonal tapas menu and fine-dining experience. Poco prides itself on creating its award-winning tapas with only the best ingredients sourced exclusively from England, regularly bringing fresh new recipes to the table.
Café Kino is a hippie’s nirvana: a not-for-profit co-operative owned space, this restaurant is known for its quality grab-‘n’-go all-vegan menu. Everything is handmade, organic and ethically sourced, from the cakes and burgers down to the dressings and dips. If you prefer to sit in, it regularly hosts live music events, political and cultural think-sessions called TruthJuice.
Biblos offers its customers a unique fusion of Mediterranean and Caribbean cuisine for budget-friendly prices and fast-paced busybodies. They’re most known for their authentic falafel mix and jerk seasoning recipe; using fresh herbs and spices, the falafel mix is made to order. The jerk seasoning which blesses many of their meaty fillings is a secret recipe. Biblos’ unique selling point easily makes them one of the best restaurants in Stokes Croft.
No. 51 is one of the oldest public houses in Bristol, sitting in the core of the city’s cultural quarter of Stokes Croft. Home to Stokes Croft’s best wood-fired pizza, No. 51 provides an intimate and cosy environment to sit down and have a gourmet meal. The rather large venue provides ample variety within the restaurant itself: downstairs is lively as customers enjoy the house DJs and vast selection of ales, ciders, lagers, wines and spirits.
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Rice and Things is a true culinary and cultural experience; Rice and Things grew from a hole-in-the-wall to an established restaurant and bar serving traditional Jamaican lunches and dinners from well-known Jamaican jerk chicken to the more obscure Jamaican delicacies, like sour sap leaves. The décor is humble and the menu straightforward; with all spices and herbs imported from Jamaica.
Take 5, a Malaysian restaurant cum student club venue, has an architectural history as diverse as its customer base. Originally a shoe shop illegally housing wine over 200 years ago, the Take 5 building was turned into a clandestine free-of-charge rave site in the early 90s. Since then, Take 5 has become a hotspot for Bristol’s young creatives not only to get their curry fix but to enjoy the likes of bands such as Dissident and up-and-comers, like Pengsound, into the early hours of the morning.
At The Crofter’s Rights, ‘Beer, Pizza and Music’ is their ethos. The restaurant and bar aims to provide a positive and versatile space for locals to use to their liking, and so plays host to any and every kind of event. Upon entry, this restaurant and bar’s centrepiece is the wide expanse of chalkboard with an impressive and enticing array of fine craft beers from around the UK.
